Let's talk about (clean) cleaning

How and why I began my #cleancleaning odyssey

Some people have laundry liquids for whites and separate ones for colours, scented fabric conditioners, specialist silk and wool washes, even distilled lavender water to pour into deluxe steam irons. Not to forget fragrant polishes for wood, more for stainless steel and pretty microfibre cloths for glass.

These are my people. For I'm not remotely ashamed to admit that I love to clean. The hum of the washing machine and converting tangled dirtiness into soft stacks of neatly folded clothing is my kind of happy. I choose to view it as a form of meditation. In other words, cleaning is the act of tending myself through the medium of my possessions. It acknowledges the importance of my home as my sanctuary and is my pathway to a state of mindful contentment.

After all, as far as I'm concerned, one of the best ways to appreciate your home is to touch it. Because, through the gleam of shiny stainless steel and the sparkle of clear windows you can begin the all-important journey of emotionally engaging with your home. Putting my house in order feels like putting myself in order, it grants me solace.

Quite the conversion then to see me relinquish all my beloved fancy uguents for five fantastically mundane items in ugly packaging: liquid soap, washing soda, Citric acid, white vinegar and eco bleach (a plant-based oxidising whitener not to be confused with chlorine bleach). After all you have to use different products for different surfaces and fabric softener is a must, right?

Wrong. So very wrong, as I soon discovered.