Hoarder Cleaning Services

What are the dangers of hoarding?

Hoarding – which is often recognised as a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) – may create a number of safety risks within your home. This can be dangerous for anyone living in your home, as well as guests who enter the property.

Obstruction of emergency exits

Large amounts of clutter can make it difficult for you to reach the emergency exits in your home. This poses a major risk in the event of a fire or flood, where quick access is essential.

Should an emergency arise, timing can make a huge difference. Knowing that it’ll take you several minutes to escape can make the situation even more stressful.

The build-up of possessions may also prevent you from opening windows in your property, leading to lack of ventilation and poor living conditions.

Without sufficient air flow, your home is more susceptible to mould and damp. High levels of humidity can cause both physical and structural changes to your building, as well as having a detrimental effect on your health.  

Increased chance of tripping

If you’re struggling to see the floor, there’s a good chance you’ll fall over your possessions at some point.

Falling can cause serious physical injury, particularly if there are sharp items nearby. What’s more, you may find it difficult to get back up afterwards. 

Possibility of being crushed by falling objects

If you do happen to trip over items in your home, it’s likely that other objects will fall down, too. This can result in further injury, particularly where items are stacked to high levels.

Pest infestations

Where there is lots of clutter in the home, rodents and insects can become a problem.

If the clutter is physically preventing you from cleaning your home, the level of hygiene will fall. Unhygienic conditions may attract germ-ridden rodents, leading to infestations.

In extreme cases, you may be unaware of faeces or dead animals in your home. This is not only unhygienic, but also creates the perfect environment for other bacteria and viruses to thrive, and puts people at risk of serious health issues.

How to help someone with hoarding disorder

If a friend or family member is hoarding, you might be tempted to carry out a house clearance for them. Not only is this very difficult and dangerous, it won’t help the person suffering from hoarding disorder and could even make the situation worse.

Instead, focus on getting them help for their hoarding disorder. Try to persuade them to see their GP or a mental health professional so they can begin to work through what is causing them to hoard. They may not think they have a problem, so make sure you are gentle and respectful about the issue.

When they are ready to start the process of clearing out and cleaning the property, you must hire a professional hoarder cleaning company. Be patient throughout the hoarding clean up process as it could take them a long time to part with their possessions, and it may be a distressing time for them.

You can learn more about supporting a hoarder in this blog.

What’s involved in our hoarder cleaning service?

The cleaning process consists of two parts:

1. We’ll begin by gently removing all unwanted items from your property.

During this stage, it’s up to you whether you’d like to be present or not. In most cases, our customers prefer to be absent whilst we take care of any unwanted possessions.

We’re licensed to handle and dispose of everything from old furniture to biohazards and promise to abide by strict health and safety procedures throughout.

2. Our qualified technicians will then carry out a deep clean and decontamination of the entire building.

This part of the process is essential in order to eliminate foul odours and secure a safe environment for all parties. Even once all items have been removed from the property, it’s likely that large amounts of bacteria and viruses will be present in your home.

With access to the latest tools and equipment, our technicians can eradicate these harmful germs in a matter of minutes, giving you peace of mind that the property will return to a sanitary, habitable state.

We can carry out discreet cleaning for hoarders

Our technicians can arrive in unmarked vans, wear plain clothes instead of uniforms, and remove and dispose of waste in a way that draws minimal attention to the situation. Should you have any other requests, just let us know. 

Get in touch

The first step to fixing the problem is admitting you need support. Whether you choose to confide in family or friends before seeking help, or come directly to us, we’ll be here waiting for whenever you’re ready.

Our professional customer support team will be able to provide you with detailed advice on the information needed, from which you’ll receive an estimated quote for the work.

When it comes to the day, we leave it up to you to decide whether you’d like to be present. We promise to be careful and considerate at all times.

Simply give us a call on 0208 066 0360 or send your details to enquiries@icecleaning.co.uk to find out more. Need hoarder cleaning in London? You can find out more about our hoarder cleanup services for your area here.