The smell is unbearable and the mess is staggering – but a top cleaner says repairing hoarding houses like this is the ‘most rewarding’ job she’s ever had.
Arlene Jayne Batefrom Victoria, was forced to leave her corporate job in 2019 and didn’t know where to take her career.
“I had a bit of a mental breakdown,” Bate said.
‘I was suffering from burnout and I didn’t want to go back to business.’
But she eventually found purpose in helping people who have ‘lost control’ of their homes and have been unable to maintain their properties properly for years.
Arlene Bate found purpose in helping people who have ‘lost control’ of their homes due to hoarding. Above a dirty kitchen
…And how it looks after a deep clean – something that feels satisfying to Mrs. Bate
Many tend to unfairly judge hoarders – unable to see past the build-up of filth and waste – but Ms Bate understands that it is the symptom of a complex mental health problem.
‘The general perception is that hoarders are lazy bastards – which is far from the truth,’ said the cleaning expert.
Ms Bate, from Victoria, started a cleaning business after being made redundant from her corporate job and says it’s the most rewarding job she’s ever had
‘We get thousands of comments on our social media pages with people calling them “filthy pigs” and all sorts of horrible names.
“But what most people don’t realize is that hoarding is often a condition that is usually triggered by some kind of trauma.”
Such triggers range from a death in the family to a physical injury.
Mrs. Bate, who is now running Ms. Muscle Cleansinghas been working hard to dismantle the harmful stereotypes about hoarders – rebranding them as ‘collectors’ to alleviate the stigma.
Sometimes hoarding is a learned behavior.
For example, Ms. Bate has had clients who grew up in a collector’s home and then became collectors because it’s the only way they know how to make a living.
“People don’t live this way by choice or because they’re lazy,” Bate said.
Throughout his career, Bate has worked hard to dismantle dangerous stereotypes surrounding hoarding
Mrs. Bate gave an example of a young man she helped a few months ago.
‘He was living with his mother and they had a pact that no matter what, he wouldn’t send her to a care home. But unfortunately she developed dementia and it became challenging to look after her alone.
“He eventually decided to put his mother in a care home and she was really horrible to him the first night. The mother was not ready, she was not in the right state of mind – she told him that she hated him and that she would never forgive him.
‘The client went home after the fight and his mother died that night.
‘The traumatic incident triggered his hoarding and he started collecting things he thought his mother would like.’
Ms Bate admitted that hoarding can be deadly.
“Hoarders live in an environment that creates a fire risk,” she said. ‘
Many house fires are not due to the condition of the home, but because it is messy.’
Bate emphasized that hoarding was a complex mental condition that many can die from. Hoarding is a fire risk
Sometimes people hoard items because they have an emotional attachment to them. Above a cleaned up scene
There are several different types of hoarding and sufferers collect items for different reasons, according to Ms Bate.
Sometimes it’s because they have an emotional attachment – for example, the cleaners may walk into a home that contains a lot of baby clothes, despite the fact that the residents have no grandchildren.
“They think they’re going to have grandchildren and want to be prepared,” she explained.
‘It is difficult to work with the client under these circumstances because those things are not necessary right now.
“Then you have those who collect things that may just be useful one day – like jam jars. If someone has an empty one, they can’t get rid of it because in the future they can fill it with something and give it away. There is no way to get rid of that item.’
Sometimes customers become obsessed with an item.
‘They might have a can of beans, but they want to be able to see all four sides of it – so they buy three more and put them together on a shelf.’
The cleaning company’s longest job was 200 hours and took over a month to complete.
The cleaning company’s longest job was 200 hours and took over a month to complete
Mrs Muscle Cleaning consults with their customers during every step of the process
‘We consult our customers during every step of the process. We get two people to go and work with a client to clear out things in their home that they don’t need. We typically do a large emptying and then a deep industrial cleaning.
‘Another approach is called the ‘get sh*t done’ method. We go in, take out all the rubbish, remove everything in the home. There is no intervention from the customer – we just clean until the home shines.
The one thing that Bate always finds while cleaning out the home is spiders
‘But the other kind of hoarding is when you can’t clean everything out because it creates additional trauma and it can trigger the disease to get worse.’
Ms Bate also revealed that it is a myth that hidden treasures are often found under piles of possessions.
“What collectors have is generally not valuable. They collect cardboard boxes, old newspapers, furniture from the streets, empty jars, cans of beans.’
The one thing that Bate always finds while cleaning out the home is spiders.
“There aren’t always cockroaches, other insects or rodents – but there are always hundreds of spiders,” she said.
‘We just worked on a house where hundreds of redbacks came out.
‘We found dozens of nests everywhere – everywhere dark and dirty. On the back of a laundry basket, under trash on the floor, they were literally everywhere.’
Mrs Bate and her team move the spiders when they can, but this is not always possible.
Despite the hard work and difficulties, Bate revealed that she far prefers cleaning hoardings to simple domestic jobs.
“In my opinion, home clients are far more demanding and are never satisfied with the work you do,” she said.
‘They are often not grateful for the hard work involved in cleaning – unlike our hoarders.
‘Now I know that we provide a service that gives customers the opportunity to make a huge positive change in their lives. You don’t get the same satisfaction from being a cleaner.
‘I like that we provide an environment where customers can go from living in chaos to living in peace and quiet. Hopefully the transition in their home will allow them to work with it in the challenges they experience in their daily lives.’
Despite the hard work and difficulties, Bate revealed that she much prefers cleaning hoardings to simple domestic jobs