Off The Record

“I’ve NEVER Washed My Bedding Or Mattress – Even If It’s 100-Years-Old”

Published on August 17, 2023

In order to prevent a gross accumulation of dead skin, sweat, and other debris, experts recommend washing bed linens once or twice weekly.

However, one woman’s confession on national television that she never washed her sheets sent chills down people’s spines.

The disclosure was made by Cornelia Bayley, a resident of a Grade I listed 17th century mansion in Flintshire, north Wales, on the 2013 episode of Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners.

She paid £70,000 in 1985 for the 1610-built Jacobean home with 10 bedrooms.

She relocated from London to work on the old house after her romance with the man she called the “love of [her] life” ended.

She had to spend tens of thousands of pounds keeping the property upright after she moved there, when it was a dilapidated shell.

However, she eventually ran out of money and was reduced to living on her little pension and the proceeds from her paranormal events.

Since she had only cleaned the mansion once or twice during her whole stay, it had become progressively dirty.

‘200 years ago, there would be 20 or 30 people looking after the house,’ Cornelia said. ‘Now there is just me and the cat.’

It took her three years to take a bath because the boiler failed and she couldn’t afford hot water, but she justified her lack of hygiene by saying, ‘In the 18th century people didn’t bathe all the time so I’m just living in another age.’

The bedroom, however, was where I found the real tragedy in terms of cleanliness, or lack thereof.

Cornelia, a retired antiques merchant, discussed her bedtime routine with show presenters Hayley and Dann.

She not only admitted that she had never washed her mattress, but that she thought it was at least a century old.

OCD Tidy People Both the admission and the sheer filthiness of Cornelia’s home Plas Tag shocked Hayley and Dann to their core.

Hayley looked around the room and asked Cornelia, ‘Cornelia, when was the bedding last washed?’

‘Never,’ said Cornelia.

Hayley continued: ‘It’s never been washed? What about the mattress? Do you clean the mattresses?’

Dan added: ‘How old is the mattress?’

Cornelia said: ‘It could be 100 years old, or something. You know, this is how people used to live years ago – and I still live like that.’

Her desire to recreate life from a century ago went well beyond her bed, creating complications for Hayley and Dann.

Cornelia stated that they could only clean the house with water and a sponge, and could not use any chemical cleaners.

Cornelia’s response to Hayley’s concern that this strategy would not eradicate the infection was, ‘The bacteria can live here, I couldn’t care less.’

In a video she posted to YouTube in 2020, Hayley discussed her concerns about this limitation.

‘That was the first hurdle for me, and instantly I was like, “this is going to go downhill very, very quickly.’ she explained.

‘Because I was thinking in my mind things like, “how am I gonna get these toilets clean? What am I gonna use to clean the sink drains and put down the drains and stuff?”.’