Deep-Cleaning Videos Are Getting Grosser

A little over 12 minutes into the video “Disaster Clean With Me 2021,” Becky Moss holds her vacuum’s dirt cup up to the camera for inspection. It’s filled with a powdery mound of gray dust and a swirl of pet hair. The volume of material — two or three cups worth, from the looks of it — seems excessive for one room. And yet, the accumulation is so satisfying to see.

“My husband is like, ‘That is so gross. How can you film this?’” said Ms. Moss, a 26-year-old YouTuber in Oxford, Mich., who started her channel in May 2020. “I always tell him, ‘This is what people want to see.’”

Videos like hers abound on YouTube, where legions of home-improvement influencers post time-lapse recordings of their chores. Their “clean with me” uploads inspire people to tackle their own messes, however big or small. In 2020, the number of “clean with me” videos on YouTube rose by 50 percent, according to the company, and the number of “organize with me” videos nearly doubled.