Yahoo News Extreme cleaning mum earns £7k-a-week by transforming 'filthy hoarder homes'
Meet the extreme cleaner earning £7k-a-week by transforming "filthy hoarder homes" until they're spotless.
Libby Denney first donned her rubber gloves and started cleaning homes aged 19 and says she's seen some "horrific" conditions - including wee in bottles and piles of rubbish. The 29-year-old says she's seen some of the most "horrific living conditions" - from stacks of used adult nappies to piles of dead flies - but isn't put off by any grime and loves getting stuck in and helping people.
Since she started her cleaning business - Clean Up Company - Libby has scrubbed 2,000 houses and says some can take up to five days to finish. Mum-of-two Libby said: "I've worked as a cleaner for 10 years on and off.
"It was my dad, Billy, 43, that got me into it by going on a job with him and I've never looked back. It's hard graft - the before and afters make the job so worthwhile.
"I've had to clean a mattress where a man was dead on there for three months. When there has been a body the smell can be awful. I have seen pretty much everything there is and I've got used to it."
Libby's dad, Billy, worked as a waste remover and started taking her along to jobs with him in April 2010. She said: "I loved it and got great satisfaction from it - it just came naturally to me.
"It seems to be the only thing I am good at in life, I always seem to come back to cleaning." Over the last 10 years, Libby says she's seen it all.
The mum, from York, North Yorkshire, said: "There was adult nappies once, which had been soiled up with s***and p*** and the toilet was leaking every time it got flushed. Usually you find a lot of wee in bottles, maggots, you name it we've seen it - needles and stuff.
"There tends to be quite a lot of needles because of the drug takers in the area, so my dad comes in and clears the area and then I come in and clean the property." Libby said that people are often embarrassed by the state of their home when she arrives.
She said: "They are obviously going to be embarrassed when they show me around their property but I need to see what I am working with. If the house is empty, the process can be much easier.
"But if it's busy it can slow up the process." Over the last 10 years, Libby has cleaned thousands of properties and says some of the filthiest can take up to a week to complete.
She said: "We work from nine to five on a week day. Some houses can take a day and some can take a week. I would say I have cleaned around 2,000 houses since I started."
Libby charges £2,500 for an environmental clean and then £4,000 for a deep clean. Along side her business, Libby has released new cleaning products - including cloths, scrapers and brushes under Genie Cleaning.
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