The rise of CleanTok: Is the pressure to have perfect homes making us ill?

TikTok videos with the hashtag #CleanTok have more than 150 billion views, with influencers broadcasting themselves scrubbing their sinks, descaling their dishwashers, and using increasingly bizarre and extreme methods to make their homes shine. Ellie Muir asks if they are setting unattainable standards, or if we really can learn something from them

Cleanfluencers are using eyebrow-raising techniques and ASMR (Getty/iStock)

Louise knew she had a problem when she dedicated a Friday evening to neatly organising her period products into acrylic storage boxes. The 26-year-old had been spending hours every day watching cleaning videos on TikTok, in which influencers with millions of followers glamourise everyday mundane chores. Initially, watching them gave Louise a sense of calm, but slowly, she began to feel a nervous urge to continuously organise her home. “I’m not really interested in TikTok trends but it became addictive,” she explains. “It began to fuel my compulsion to clean and organise my life, which I was doing to feel like I’m in control when I’m feeling anxious.” When she told her therapist about her habit, she was advised to stop watching the videos altogether.

This genre of TikTok video, dubbed #CleanTok, has had more than 150 billion views on the platform and sees influencers give elbow grease to scouring their sinks, descaling their dishwashers or deep cleaning their rugs in an aesthetically pleasing fashion. It’s oddly satisfying to watch, but that’s because these videos are designed to indulge your senses. Sharp transitions are coupled with ASMR effects – such as the sound of whispering, tapping or scrubbing a surface – to elicit a sensory response from the viewer. And the cleaning methods are often eyebrow-raising, and sometimes extreme: from putting ice cubes down your loo to sprinkling baking soda underneath your mattress. It’s easy to come away from watching these videos questioning whether you’ve been doing Sundays wrong your entire life. But actually, are some of these videos performative versions of cleanliness that are completely unattainable for mere mortals? Or can they inspire us to be more productive?

Courtney Morgan is a therapist and founder of Counseling Unconditionally in Kentucky. She tells me there’s an extremity to these videos that can be worrying, with the dizzying amount of gadgetry bringing them to a whole new level. Viral products used by cleanfluencers include an electric tile scrubber, a scented penguin that keeps your fridge smelling fresh, or elaborate storage systems for a large Stanley cup collection. “There are some users on CleanTok that take things to the extreme, such as using 12 different types of cleaners for a bathtub,” says Morgan. “Although it may be visually satisfying to watch all of the colours come together, it’s important to note that this level of excess is not necessary to clean and disinfect a bathtub,” she explains. “As long as viewers understand this as being excessive, they’re likely able to watch the videos without any negative implications.”

The types of videos on CleanTok vary widely. Viral cleanfluencer Rochelle Stewart, who posts under the username @operation_niki, broadcasts herself deep cleaning hotel rooms to her 4.3 million followers. Jack Callaghan, AKA @jack.designs, has become famed for his Sunday reset videos, in which he efficiently makes his entire apartment look spick and span. And if you prefer food restocking videos, then @Catben films herself restocking her snack drawer and meal-prepping her children’s packed lunches.

These videos became overwhelming for Louise, but for others, they are motivational and therapeutic. Decluttering has always had an allure: Japanese organisational consultant Marie Kondo went viral for her “sparks joy” mantra in her viral series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, and British TV presenter Stacey Solomon is currently making a sixth season of her ongoing BBC One show, Sort Your Life Out.

Britini Campbell, a 27-year-old professional hair artist and seamstress, tells me she’s been watching cleaning programmes since she was a teenager, but CleanTok feels like a new era. She puts the videos on in the background while she cleans her own home, and looks to cleanfluencers for extra tips. “I like the advice that cleaning influencers give, like taking one step at a time and setting a 30-minute timer to do each room,” she says. “I find that the videos are efficient and motivate me to do the same with my own cleaning.” Campbell has found that the audio element of the videos makes them even more captivating. “They’re therapeutic especially if they have more ASMR, if the person has a soft relaxing voice – and I like the sounds of hoovering and scrubbing,” she says, mimicking the white noise of a vacuum cleaner.

The benefits of watching cleaning videos, in moderation, are recognised by mental health professionals, too. “Watching someone transform a cluttered, chaotic space into a clean, harmonious environment can bring us a real sense of calm and control,” says Michelle Beaupre, a behavioural health therapist. “These videos provide us with an instant sense of accomplishment without us even having to lift a finger or do any of the hard work.” She adds that the ASMR elements can be almost meditative for some people, because the satisfaction can sometimes cause the brain to release certain neurohormones. “For many of us, seeing a clean, well-maintained space is pretty inspiring, motivating us to strive for similar cleanliness and tidiness in our own lives,” she explains.

There’s a striving for total perfection that has become aspirational in these videos, though. Not only do they all follow an identical format, but aesthetically, the influencer’s homes are almost carbon copies of each other. They are muted and colourless, with grey walls and beige furnishings. These mess-free interiors are so normalised online that when model Julia Fox gave a virtual tour of her normal-looking New York City home in 2023, there was internet-wide shock. Her Harlem townhouse apartment was cluttered, her son’s toys were scattered across the floor, and her shelves were actually full. Even the furniture had proper charm. Onlookers didn’t know whether to be disgusted or pleased. Louise remembers when that video went viral. “Julia’s house looked actually like someone was living there and people were really talking about it. We’re so used to seeing pristine things and spotless homes but it’s normal to have a messy house,” she says.

I have to remind myself that most of the people making these videos do this full-time as their job, and so it’s not realistic

Louise

Beaupre adds that it’s easy to become stressed by the pressure of being perfect 24/7. “When we get too caught up in keeping things perfect, we might miss out on truly enjoying our homes and the moments we share in them,” she explains. “At the end of the day, a home is meant to be a place where we live, not just a showroom to keep spotless.”

Under her therapist’s advice, Louise has managed to pull herself away from CleanTok. “I have to remind myself that most of the people making these videos do this full-time as their job, and so it’s not realistic,” she says. “You can spend so much money on getting all the gadgets, and it’s basically a form of consumerism.” Campbell, though, still enjoys learning cleaning tips and tricks.

Her favourite thing about CleanTok? Seeing the results. She’s even started taking her own transformation photos of her hard work. “I take pictures before and after I clean so I can look back and be proud of the progress I made,” she says. “Even just taking a picture of my chair covered in laundry and looking at it after I’ve done it all… that makes me feel good.”