Cleaning addict uses obsession to help turn her life around

A cleaning addict from Cambridgeshire has used her obsession to help turn her life around after the breakdown of her marriage.

Lynsey Crombie's devotion to household chores was triggered by the trauma of discovering her former husband was a paedophile.

But she's managed to turn cleaning into a positive part of her life, gaining thousands of fans on social media and bringing out a new book.

  • Click below for Stuart Leithes’ report

With more than a 130,000 followers on Instagram and a string of TV appearances, Lynsey Crombie from Hampton near Peterborough has made a career out of her obsession with cleaning her home.

But her devotion to doing the household chores was triggered by a traumatic time in her life.

Lynsey said: “I was a busy career woman. I was enjoying life, married somebody, he turned out to be something that he wasn’t and my life was turned upside down.

“I was pregnant at the time with twins, they came early, and having premature babies and being married to a paedophile the two things coming together spurred on a massive cleaning addiction for me.

“A way of dealing with the trauma was to scrub, clean, cut my hair off and just just to clean and scrub everything every minute I could.”

Lynsey's cleaning tips

  • Cut a lemon in half and use half a lemon to clean your shower screen.

  • A spoonful of bicarbonate of soda mixed in with your laundry detergent will keep your whites nice and white

  • White wine vinegar is great for any mould patches you may get in your bathroom.

Lynsey Crombie became addicted to cleaning after a traumatic event. Credit: ITV News Anglia

Now though Lynsey's cleaning tips on Instagram - as the Queen of Clean - have gained her more than 130,000 followers.

She also featured in the Channel 4 show Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners and has appeared on ITV's This Morning and GMB.

Lynsey said: “You can either let that negative impact the rest of your life or you can turn it into something positive and I feel that my journey has turned mine into a massive positive. I’m helping people every single day across my social media platforms.”

Lynsey's cleaning tips can now be found in her new book.

Lynsey Crombie has thousands of followers on social media. Credit: ITV News Anglia