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Clean Up After Death: This Malaysian Company Serves as a House Cleaner For the Departed
As the saying goes, “You can’t take it with you when you die.” However, if a family member or friend you know unexpectedly dies at home, the responsibility may fall on you to clean up the house after their demise, which is a horrible job if there is blood or odour. Cleanaholics Malaysia is one of the few companies in Malaysia to call at a time such as this for post-death cleanup, which can otherwise be traumatising.
Rojak Daily spoke to Aravind Velayutham and Vshalni Sangar, the company's founders. They are experts in cleaning abandoned homes or houses with grubby owners (if this is you, *side eyes*, it might be time to get some professional help).
Before starting Cleanaholics, 32-year-old Aravind, an Indian national, was a system engineer, while 30-year-old Malaysian Vshalni worked in customer service. The idea to start the company came from a conversation with a friend trying to find a cleaning service for an unattended apartment that had a recent death. He was unable to find any cleaning services willing to do biohazard cleaning, which made the two realise the need for such services in the market.
Additionally, they had their own experience with unreliable cleaning services in Malaysia, which motivated them to start Cleanaholics.
Rather than maid cleaning services, the hygiene company focuses on biohazard cleaning, abandoned home deep cleaning and sanitising, post-renovation deep cleaning and sanitising, mould remediation treatment, and formaldehyde removal services. Basically, they clean beyond what the naked eye can see.
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Image Credit: Cleanaholics MalaysiaThey also help those who are moving into a new home or out of office spaces. Cleanaholics also uses techniques that one usually doesn’t encounter, such as deep steaming for mattresses and walls, hospital-grade anti-microbial coating, and solar panel deep cleaning.
Aravind and Vshalni explained, “We’re expanding, but we currently have 18 employees and many mentors, such as doctors, nurses, and advisors. We hold weekly training sessions to train our staff. Each house is a case study for us, and we learn a lot from each session as we offer diverse services such as mould remediation treatment.”
The duo shared their experience with a post-death cleanup. “Recently, we received a call from a client who had lost a family member to suicide, but it was days before anyone noticed. Once the necessary police formalities were completed, we were invited to deep clean and sanitise the house to remove the unpleasant odour. Typically, we perform our services post-funeral or after the body has been cremated.”
A recent Instagram reel of theirs, which now has 21.5M views as of the time of writing, shares how they helped a man whose wife had died during childbirth years ago.
Beyond post-death clean-ups, Cleanaholics are one of a handful of companies in Malaysia that specialises in professional mould remediation and formaldehyde removal. Removing mould is important because it is linked to various health and structural problems. They check for mould inside aircon vents and use a special tool to determine the moisture levels on walls. Folks with allergies and sinuses, take note!
PSA: treat cleaners with kindness
There are also struggles which come with the business. In a recent Instagram post, they shared how they are sometimes disrespected as cleaners. Some customers do not allow them to use toilets, they have to work in extremely hot water, and some customers even harass them mentally.
One customer even asked their employee if they would want to be their mistress. Eww! They said, “We know that our work is not easy, but we take pride in it and strive to do our best every day.” Side note, please treat your cleaners with kindness, folks!
Making a clean sweep nationwide
Looking to the future, the founders shared, “Our short-term plan is to reach out to the Ministry of Health, specifically Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, since there are no regulations for cleaning services like ours in Malaysia. We need the government's support to set up a board to regulate our services. We are already in the middle of expanding our business to the Middle East, where we will work closely with their government. Our goal is to make Cleanaholics a young Malaysian brand that serves the world.”
FYI, although most of their services are only offered in the Klang Valley, they carry out bio-hazard cleaning procedures such as deep cleaning of post-death and abandoned homes anywhere in West Malaysia.
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