GAZING around the farmhouse kitchen in my hazmat suit and gloves, I could barely see the floors or walls for stinking piles of rubbish and rotten food.
The smell of rat urine was overwhelming and there were droppings everywhere.
Laura and her team clean up some of the most grisly scenes[/caption]
The owner of the house had been burgled, but the property was in such disrepair, he couldn’t tell what had been stolen.
My biohazard cleaning company was called in to help.
Most people would have turned and run, but I couldn’t wait to get stuck in.
That was a five-day job, with the owner helping us clear the mess into skips, while watching out for any resident rats.
It made me feel sad knowing he was living like that, but having seen many hoarders’ houses, I empathised.
After our clear-up, the owner realised a couple of items had been taken, including his grandma’s folding clock.
He was so grateful to us and we left exhausted, but satisfied we’d been able to restore some normality to his life.
I set up my cleaning company in 2022.
With just £5 in my account, I could only afford a couple of spray bottles of cleaner, but now I employ 50 people.
In May 2024, I was able to buy my first home, where I live with my partner Ryan, 25, and our two dogs.
I haven’t always been a successful entrepreneur, though.
Aged 20, I was homeless and living in my car, after becoming addicted to drugs, which I started taking after the death of a close family member caused my mental health to deteriorate.
I’d always liked cleaning. It helped turn off the noise in my head and, one day, I decided to put up an ad on Facebook offering cleaning services.
I built up a list of clients, and staying busy kept me away from drugs.
Within days, I was so booked up, I needed to take on staff.
Six months later, I found a biohazard cleaning course online, which my team and I signed up for.
‘EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED’
We now have a special licence to do biohazard cleans.
Every day is different in my job – I’ve learned to expect the unexpected.
My company, Sleek Easy Clean Ltd, deals with everything from cleaning up murder scenes following a police investigation to hoarding and clearing areas of used needles.
Some jobs stand out in my memory, like the woman whose toilet had been broken for two years, and who, instead of getting it fixed, had used her bath as a loo.
She contacted me through TikTok after realising she just couldn’t live that way any more.
The smell was so bad, I felt nauseous.
Once the toilet was repaired, I had to scoop the poo into the toilet using a bucket and flush it away, before disinfecting everything, which took two hours.
Another job I’ll always remember is a clean we did for a social housing company, where we found drug needles sticking out of the children’s cuddly toys.
I can relate to clients whose lives have spiralled, and I don’t judge them
Laura Summers
That was a difficult one, as was one of the first murder scenes I attended.
There was blood everywhere, from the ceiling to the cupboards, and it was pooled on the floor.
I can relate to clients whose lives have spiralled, and I don’t judge them.
As well as deep-cleans, we offer building work and provide support with a listening ear or by referring them to professional help.
Though I love my job, it’s incredibly tiring.
I work 14-hour days, six-and-a-half days a week, often witnessing traumatic scenes
If a body has been left for weeks and it’s decomposed, there will be maggots and flies.
They can also explode if gases have no way of leaving the body.
And suicide scenes are always upsetting.
People ask me: ‘How do you do your job?’
I don’t think they believe me when I insist I love it.
Cleaning is my therapy, and turning the chaotic and filthy into safe, sparkling and organised is all I want to do.
Do I clean my own home? No, I don’t have the time, so one of my team comes once a week to do it!”
- Follow Laura on TikTok at @Thesleekeasyclean.
BTW
Cleaning influencer Mrs Hinch has 4.8 million followers on Instagram.
Specialist cleaning companies often recreate crime scenes, using staged blood or pig’s blood, to train technicians
Cleaning houses or areas where bodies or human remains have been found is known as Trauma Cleaning
