Why Am I So Fascinated With the Gory Mess of CleanTok Videos?

I went down the rabbit hole of cleaning videos on TikTok, and now I worry about my sanity

AI image generated with DALL.E by the author

I’m not sure if there is a support group for people who have a concerning obsession with cleaning. After all, there’s one for every quirk. But just in case there isn’t, I’m going to start one now. Hi, my name is Ronke — I watch people clean.

I’m not sure how it got to this point. I’m not a big fan of doing chores. I find it monotonous and boring, and the results don’t last. No sooner have you tidied something up, it’s dirty again. You’re Sisyphus without the epic rock, and nobody tells stories about you.

So it’s not like I’m looking for tips and tricks. I’ll do anything to avoid having to clean myself. I consider paying my cleaning lady an essential expense.

But I just can’t resist a good cleaning video.

I’m not talking about the mundane feel-good stuff like folding a triangle at the end of a roll of toilet paper or folding sheets. No, good means cleaning at an Olympic level. Making the impossible possible.

Tackling places that others would sanitize with a cleansing fire.