Ten questions you always wanted to ask a cleaner
'04.05.2021'
Source: Vice
Natalia (name changed) does not look for them on purpose, but knows most of the most intimate, darkest secrets of her clients. This 43-year-old woman belongs to those who work in Germany as cleaners at home, and according to estimates, 3,6 has a million people.
Natalia came to this industry in her youth and cleaned up with her mother, tells Vice. Subsequently, she worked as a waitress and shop assistant, but then, ten years ago, she decided to go to the cleaning woman again. Last year, she founded her own cleaning company, currently mainly serving elderly wealthy clients.
I talked with Natalia about the most terrible things that she had to clean up, and about the cases when she found sex toys or human bodies.
VICE: Hi Natalia. What was the most disgusting thing to ever clean up?
Natalia: In my opinion, it was a toilet shit covered with an elderly man. What is most strange, it was not the first time. Only one explanation comes to mind: he defecates while standing. In another case, my colleagues and I cleaned 18 watches in the kitchen. The owner was fabulously rich, and the house was well furnished, but terribly dirty. My then boss took up this job only because of the amount that was given for it.
Have you ever found a corpse in an apartment?
I had the worst experience at work when I went to someone's apartment with the owner and saw that his father was dead on the floor. It was terrible. Something similar happened another time, but then I was alone. I saw this woman lying on a bed with her head pressed into the pillow. For a while I just stood there in complete shock. In the end, I called for help by pressing the emergency service button near her bed. Now I am always afraid to accidentally find someone's body.
How often do you find while cleaning a sex toy?
This was only once. I made the bed for an 80-year-old woman and suddenly I found a vibrator wrapped in a towel. Realizing that I, most likely, saw him, she remained quite calm. This woman just turned around and said: “Well, we have known each other for a long time.”
The most personal secret you have learned?
I talked to one of my old clients - a 85-year-old widow who constantly seemed very angry and jaundiced - and she suddenly admitted that she had never loved her husband. Then she told how she lost her first love in the war and eventually married her husband - she took advantage of the “alternate aerodrome”. Hearing this, I was able to understand why she was forever out of spirit.
Do you really clean during the entire time for which you take money?
I would say that I spend about a quarter of my time not at work: I dig in the phone, smoke outside or have a snack. But many of my clients, especially older ones, in principle, do not mind, because I come not only to clean, but also to communicate with them. Sometimes I drink coffee with them, we go for a walk or just sit and chat. Unfortunately, many people regularly communicate only with their cleaning woman. One elderly gentleman once even invited me on a trip on a yacht, but I thought that was too much.
How many of your customers clean up before you come?
A few people. Because of this, it becomes much duller, and I involuntarily wonder what they want from me. So, in the end, I simply wipe several tables, arrange something and think what I will do next.
The weirdest personal document you found?
Once I found an extract from a client’s bank account that pretended to be obscenely rich, although I actually received a pension of 1,200 euro [1,442 dollar] per month.
How do men respond on dates when you tell them how you earn a living?
Men usually think it's cool. I think that this is somehow connected with their primitive instincts: they believe that if a woman cleans well, then most likely she would have made a good wife. I do not mind if I am so perceived. In general, I really do not care what they think of me.
Have you ever laid eyes on a client?
No, but customers tried to drive me. One day a client offered me 50 euros [60 dollars] for having sex with him, but I politely refused. Then, while I was cleaning, he sat on the couch and watched porn. I asked him to turn it off several times, but he missed it. I left and complained to his boss. In such situations, it is good when there is a person to whom you can turn for help and who can help you keep the client off without losing your job.
Have you ever stolen from anyone?
No, and would never steal. I don’t even look into the customer’s cabinets.
