Logan resident Nikita Gridley is in the running to be Australia’s fastest cleaner.
For Ms Gridley, cleaning is a therapy.
She’s done it professionally for more than a decade, is a self-described “fanatic”, and is historically very quick.
“At one of the old hotels I used to worked for, we’d do in-house challenges just to get through the day,” Ms Gridley said.
“And one of them was to see who could finish the clean the quickest and most efficiently.
“I won a few of them.”
Now Ms Gridley is one of six finalists competing for the title of ‘Australia’s Fastest Cleaner’, a competition run by paper-towel manufacturer VIVA.
The final leg of the competition will see the six competitors fight it out in a “manically messy” display home covered in coffee and wine spills.
The cleaner with the best skills will be crowned winner.
Ms Gridley has her own unique cleaning style she believes will secure her the win but has refused to reveal her technique.
“Working in the industry for over ten years, learning how to do cleaning for factory work and office buildings you get a lot of knowledge about what chemicals are good to use and what products are good to use,” she said.
“I know what’s working well and what’s not so effective.”
According to a recent VIVA survey, Ms Gridley isn’t the only cleaning enthusiast in the country.
Almost a quarter of Aussies said they spend up to 20 hours a week cleaning, and another quarter called themselves “cleaning fanatics”.
More than 40 per cent admitted to secret cleaning behaviours known as “clean masking”.
Another 40 per cent admitted to only tidying ‘visible surfaces’ rather than deep cleaning.
And the large majority of Australians said cleaning made them feel organised.
Ms Gridley said she enjoyed cleaning because it required hard work and allowed her mind to relax.
“Cleaning is one of my therapies,” she said.
“I like to listen to music that helps you get through it – I find that really beneficial.”
Ms Gridley said she was doing all her cleaning with VIVA towels to prepare for the competition.
The survey shows paper towels are also the “weapon of choice” for 41 per cent of Aussies, while 22 per cent prefer sponges, 23 per cent mops and 10 per cent cloths.
The competition is on Thursday 7 March in Sydney.
The winner will be announced the same day and will take home $5000.
