The ‘Hinch Army’ Hate? – Why I’ll Never Be Part of It

Who is Mrs Hinch?

If you have been living under a rock for the last few weeks then you will not have a clue what a ‘Hinch Army’ is and you will also not have a clue who Mrs Hinch is.

To set the scene she is basically an Instagram phenomenon. Now boasting 715k followers (which has probably gone up since I typed this). Love or hate her, she is very popular.

Now this post isn’t slating her or anyone who follows and is inspired by her! Not my style at all! Some of my blogger mates mentioned her initially and I popped onto her profile and saw pictures of a beautifully styled house and that’s about it. I’d never watched her Instagram stories so had no clue about what she looked like or what she chatted about. My hubby asked me about her and I saw a few pictures from a television appearance. He immediately said he could see why she had so many followers – she’s a gorgeous, slim blonde who sounds pretty fun and quirky online. This is what I’ve been told and have heard.

So did I follow her? Nope. But why? I can understand why many would as speed cleaning and general cleaning videos can be like porn to some on YouTube. My husband also pointed out to me, as I was writing this, some people genuinely love cleaning, it’s like a hobby and they actually make time for it and get excited about new cleaning products. I can see his point. For some, in that case, Mrs Hinch is like Kim Kardashian to reality TV and fashion and beauty addicts! I say this but I do have a Rug Doctor Carpet Cleaner!!

In that respect I get the hype and love for her. I get that cleaning can be escapism and cleaning product bargains can be a rush!!!

But it did make me think about why I was not compelled to follow her.

Do I like cleaning? To be honest I don’t mind it when I get the time but I have a cleaner. Says a lot doesn’t it?

But this like of cleaning wasn’t a big enough pull to follow her. So why?

For me Instagram and social media can be fabulous escapism and a brilliant way to make new mates (I have done trust me) but it can be a dark place of comparison and feelings of inadequacy. I’m lucky that I’m pretty level headed most of time and realise I’m never going to be able to train as hard as others on Instagram and always eat what I want to; perfect Insta meals with fussy kids is a difficult reality. I’m also NEVER going to have a beautiful, pristine house that looks like Mrs Hinch’s does.

I have a third baby on the way, two whirlwind little girls and an oven and fridge that are in DIRE need of a good clean. Decluttering and cleaning is by far the biggest things hubby and I bicker over. We are quite sadly looking forward to my Mum and step Dad being able to have the girls for the first time in a long time (through no fault of their own I may add) so that we can have a massive autumn declutter. It’s been 6 months since I last managed it on a week of annual leave.

There is no way, even if I attempted a good clean and tidy, that it would stay that way for long which can feel overwhelming and demoralising sometimes. I usually cope but occasionally the mess can really get me down! The last thing I need is a picture of a stunning house or an Instagram story about how I get my hand print covered window to shine. Setting time to clean? I barely have time to get the grem’s school work done and get all my blog work done.

For me it totally unrealistic and unmanageable and I know following someone who I will never be, even if I wanted to, could just be a bit much.

So I’ll remain in blissful cleaning ignorance and hope no-one notices my oven is a disgrace!! Even if I do have my own “Hinch Army” (Mum) on my case to clean it!