So many people see cleaning as a chore. Meanwhile, your own relationship with cleaning and organizing is quite different. Maybe you can’t fully relax until the dishes are washed, laundry is put away, and bathrooms are scrubbed down. In fact, maybe some of the tasks you see others doing on a weekly or monthly basis are a daily routine for you. Not having a clean environment just doesn’t seem like an option—your mind tells you things must be clean and tidy.
But is this a sign that you have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)?
The answer: possibly. Contrary to the depictions you might have seen in the media, there’s a big difference between being a “neat freak” and actually meeting the criteria for OCD—a serious but highly treatable mental health disorder.
Keep reading to learn the essential facts about OCD, how to know if your obsessive cleaning habit is a problem, and exactly what you can do about it.
If cleaning is taking up large portions of your day and brain space, there are trained professionals who know how to help you. Book a free call.
Cleaning and OCD: What’s the connection?
The relationship between OCD and cleaning hinges on the disorder’s two main symptoms: obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are unwanted, intrusive thoughts, feelings, images, sensations, or urges that lead to feelings of distress. When obsessions strike, they prompt compulsions—repeated physical behaviors or mental acts, all done with the goal of neutralizing the anxiety resulting from the obsession or preventing something “bad” from happening.
The catch? Compulsions only provide temporary relief, at best, which means the obsession—whatever its content—inevitably returns. Maybe you clean your desk to cope with an intrusive thought that tells you if you don’t you’ll lose your job, but soon after you’re done wiping it down, the obsession resurfaces, causing you to go through multiple disinfectant wipes per day.
In other words: OCD is a lot more complex than simply desiring your home or environment to be spotlessly clean, as there’s a different driving force behind your actions.
What if you use cleaning to de-stress or relax?
Experts say that sometimes people have a hard time recognizing OCD because cleaning and organizing have been assigned some virtue. What’s more, being in a tidy, organized environment has been shown to help many people feel more at ease. And some studies have even found that cleaner homes are associated with better health outcomes.
To be clear: Not everyone who engages in excessive cleaning and organizing has OCD. It’s possible that you use cleaning rituals to cope with other conditions, like anxiety. Or maybe you just thrive in a clean environment. But obsessive cleaning can become a threat to your well-being when the need for cleanliness and order becomes unmanageable.
So, how can you tell if your cleaning habit has crossed a certain threshold—and no longer offers you the well-being benefits you might be after?
Here’s a quick litmus test: If your cleaning habits make you feel accomplished and happy, it’s likely not OCD. “OCD is about engaging in things that you feel compelled to do out of anxiety or even terror,” says Dr. Nicholas Farrell, a regional clinical director at NOCD.
Another clue is when the thing you’re cleaning is, objectively, already clean. This might look like wiping down countertops even when they’re spotless, or washing your pillow cases every other day even when you shower before bed every night.
Tracie Zinman-Ibrahim, LMFT, CST, a therapist at NOCD, suggests examining whether your habits are interfering with your day-to-day functioning. Have you missed appointments because you couldn’t leave the house without disinfecting the entire bathroom or organizing one more drawer? Are you consistently late to work because of an urge to clean something at home that you perceive as dirty? That’s the precise nature of OCD: It takes up a lot of time, causes significant distress, and gets in the way of your life, work, and relationships.
Obsessive cleaning: What “type” of OCD is it?
While OCD is considered one disorder, symptoms can be grouped into categories that have distinct obsessions or compulsions. These are called subtypes of OCD. Interestingly, an obsession with cleaning or organizing can show up in several OCD subtypes. Here’s a look:
Contamination OCD
Contamination OCD is a subtype of OCD marked by intrusive thoughts about becoming contaminated or contaminating others. Obsessions center on germs, dirt, bodily fluids, or the feeling of uncleanliness. They could also include doubt about whether something is really clean. Compulsions can include excessive washing, cleaning, sterilizing or disinfecting—often using specific rituals.
“For some people with contamination OCD, there’s a real fear of contracting a life-threatening illness,” explains Dr. Farrell. “But often, it’s about a perceived inability to tolerate what it feels like to be contaminated.”
Scrupulosity OCD
The need to compulsively clean could also show up in scrupulosity (a.k.a religious) OCD, especially if you practice a religion that uses cleansing ceremonies. For example, in Islam a washing ritual called wudu is performed before praying. A Muslim with OCD may have intrusive thoughts about executing the routine perfectly. If wudu gets interrupted, they may worry they’re too dirty and their prayers won’t count. That kind of thinking can lead them to redo wudu over and over again till they feel it’s been done correctly, which can consume significant amounts of time.
Just Right (Perfectionism) OCD
“Just right” (perfectionism) OCD is characterized by ongoing intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors around organization, perfection, and making things feel “just right.” These thoughts can affect cleaning and organizing habits.
As David Beckham, British soccer star has said about his OCD, fear of disorder can be all-consuming. In his Netflix docuseries, Beckham confessed that “when everyone’s in bed, I then go around cleaning the candles… I make sure everywhere is tidy because I hate coming down in the morning and there’s cups and plates and bowls. It’s tiring.”
What are the symptoms of cleaning-related OCD?
As mentioned earlier, all forms of OCD include two key symptoms: obsessions and compulsions. But how these manifest are different for everyone.
Common cleaning-related obsessions:
- What if there are germs all over my bed that will make me feel dirty?
- I just brushed up against someone’s sweaty arm. What if I get some kind of disease?
- My sister is so messy and she’s contaminating the entire house.
- I went to a party and someone was coughing. If I don’t wash all my clothes and shower five times, will my whole family get sick and die?
- My prayer space is covered with clutter, therefore my prayers won’t count.
- What if COVID is living on my kitchen counters?
- If I clean the toilet, will feces germs contaminate my skin?
- The pillows on my couch are disorganized. If I don’t fix them immediately, something bad will happen.
- The baby clothes must be folded in a certain way; otherwise my child won’t be okay.
Common cleaning-related compulsions:
- Cleaning objects or spaces in a ritualistic manner. For instance, with a specific order or with a particular frequency.
- Constantly wiping down and cleaning surfaces. Disinfecting and sanitizing, even when there’s no evidence of dirt.
- Doing excessive online research. Googling questions related to your fears—say, about a particular illness you’re afraid could make its way into your home, or which sanitizing products are best.
- Mental reviewing, like recalling how many times you “Febrezed” the bathroom, and ruminating on whether you used enough spray to clean the air properly.
- Discarding “contaminated” belongings. Needing to throw away any “dirty” items that can’t be cleaned “enough.”
- Excessive organizing. Repetitive arranging, organizing, or lining up of objects until the end result feels “just right.”
- Tapping or touching. For instance, tapping the door three times before you enter a room.
- Arranging things in a specific pattern or direction. This can apply to everything from the cutlery in your drawers to objects in someone else’s home.
Compulsions may provide temporary relief, but in the long run, they actually perpetuate OCD and lead to more obsessive thoughts. Why? Because they reinforce the idea that your cleaning fears are real threats that you must solve right now or protect yourself against.
How your obsession with cleaning can affect others
It’s difficult enough dealing with the personal distress caused by OCD, but sometimes your obsessions and compulsions affect your loved ones and interfere with your relationships. This is certainly true with obsessive cleaning, experts say.
“If you live with somebody, they can find it annoying that you clean that much,” Ibrahim says. “Sometimes because you’ve cleaned something, now you consider it a protected area that you don’t want touched or messed up.”
For example, Ibrahim has worked with a patient who never wanted their spouse to go into the kitchen after they’ve cleaned it.
“Everybody needs to go in the kitchen at some point,” Ibrahim says. “So, it can lead to arguments and resentment.”
Luckily, getting the right treatment doesn’t just give you freedom from the disorder—it also helps protect the health of your relationships that are impacted by OCD.
How can you get help for obsessive cleaning?
It’s worth repeating: not everyone with a propensity for constant cleaning has OCD or needs treatment. If the habit isn’t affecting you or causing you distress, OCD likely isn’t the culprit.
But when OCD is at play, telling yourself to “just stop” being so obsessive about your cleaning and organizing is futile. That’s because OCD is a chronic condition that needs specific treatment.
The majority of patients with OCD find relief using exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy. With the help of a licensed therapist, you’ll be slowly and safely exposed to your triggers, and you’ll build strategies for resisting compulsions.
As Dr. Farrell explains, compulsions make your “comfort zone” smaller and smaller over time, and before long, you’re living your life bound by the strict rules of OCD. But with ERP, you can empower yourself to live a life that isn’t dictated by OCD.
Ibrahim has seen success in managing cleaning-related OCD by having NOCD therapy members slowly reduce specific cleaning behaviors.
The exposures start gradually, says Ibrahim. “We first start by not cleaning with these harsh chemicals and instead we just wipe these things with water because that feels less clean, but also somehow you still wiped it.”
Once therapy members are able to tolerate this initial discomfort, Ibrahim introduces new exposures that are a bit more difficult—like delaying unnecessary cleaning for as long as possible.
She’ll ask: “Could you put off cleaning for an hour? Could you delay cleaning for a day? A week?” Ibrahim says.
While it’s not always easy at first, ERP is truly rewarding. As you get better at resisting compulsions, you will realize that tolerating uncertainty and discomfort is possible. You learn that intrusive thoughts aren’t threats to take seriously. You’ll eventually be able to live your life the way you desire.
Adds Ibrahim: “I often tell people, ‘If you weren’t spending six hours a day cleaning, I wonder what you would do with those free hours’—and that tends to really inspire them.”