'I've never washed my bedding and refuse to use cleaning products - just water works'

A woman who has lived in the same house for 29 years left a cleaning team shocked after she revealed she had never washed her bedding or mattress.

The mattress she estimated was around 100 years old. 

Cleaning gurus Hayley and Dann encountered some startlingly grubby homes while presenting their Channel 4 show, reports Mirror Online. 

Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners have tackled many challenging environments, but few compare to their experience at Plas Teg, a Grade I listed 17th-century manor in desperate need of a serious refresh.

In 2013, they encountered Cornelia Bayley, a 74-year-old woman who was struggling to maintain the 10-bedroom property. Cornelia refused to allow Hayley and Dann to use any cleaning products, insisting they use only water and a sponge instead.

When given this unexpected instruction, horrified Hayley asked: "It doesn't kill the bacteria then, does it?" to which Cornelia simply shrugged, "The bacteria can live here, I couldn't care less." 

Retired antique dealer Cornelia confessed that she had only cleaned the house a few times during her 29 years of residence. 

The most shocking moment, however, came when the conversation shifted to her unwashed bedding.

After taking a look inside Cornelia's bedroom, Hayley, who was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in 2007, enquired: "Cornelia, when was the bedding last washed".

To which Cornelia confessed: "Never". Mum-of-three Hayley pressed on, asking: "It's never been washed? What about the mattress? Do you clean the mattresses?"

To the great horror of the duo, Cornelia replied, "Of course not!", prompting Dann to nervously ask exactly how old the mattress actually was.

In a moment that left Dann with his head in his hands, Cornelia revealed, "It could be 100 years old, or something. 

"You know, this is how people used to live years ago – and I still live like that." 

Reflecting on her experiences in 2020, Hayley admitted she had a "bit of a breakdown inside" upon learning that cleaning products were entirely prohibited for scrubbing the grime-coated manor.

Hayley recalled: "That was the first hurdle for me, and instantly I was like, 'This is going to go downhill very, very quickly. Because I was thinking in my mind things like, 'How am I gonna get these toilets clean? 

‘What am I gonna use to clean the sink drains and put down the drains and stuff?'." 

Thankfully, Dann and Hayley were able to come to a compromise by cleaning everything using water and a bit of washing-up liquid, and Cornelia, who is understood to still be living at Plas Teg, was quite "happy" with the results.