Why I quit my job as a beautician to work as a naked cleaner

Victoria Murphy, 25, has a university degree and worked as a beautician. But she gave it all up for a “risque” line of work and business is booming.

A university graduate has revealed she quit her job as a beautician to work as a naked cleaner — charging up to $135 an hour to scrub people’s homes in the buff.

Victoria Murphy, 25, from Edinburgh, Scotland, launched her firm Glimmer after graduating with a degree in events management.

Now she employs a 15-strong army of naked cleaners — including three men — who charge between $99 and $135 an hour for their service, depending on the level of nudity.

Victoria went to uni, became a beautician — but now works as a naked cleaner. Picture: PA Real Life

Before she started recruiting, Victoria tested the experience — giving Edinburgh’s front rooms a thorough going over, wearing nothing but her birthday suit.

“I didn’t want to put my staff into any situation I had not experienced myself,” she said.

With a degree in events management and a strong work ethic, Victoria was keen to start a business with a quirky unique selling point.

While working as a beautician, she stumbled across an American company offering a naked cleaning service and the idea for Glimmer was born.

“I knew I wanted something which would be fun and risque but not extreme,” she said.

“We are not an escort service. What we offer is fun and flirty.

“When I did it for a while, I had a laugh and nothing untoward happened.”

Glimmer offers three tiers of adult cleaning — with a service in lingerie or underwear starting at $99 per hour, topless cleaning costing $117 an hour and totally naked cleaning at $135 for the hour.

She said her business has a ‘quirky selling point’. Picture: PA Real Life

“None of my staff ever have to do anything they don’t feel comfortable with,” Victoria said. “The client will choose the option they prefer and I will match the cleaner to that choice.”

The naked dress code has certainly done nothing to deter prospective employees, with Victoria receiving more than 100 applications last time she advertised for staff.

“The most important thing is that someone has professional cleaning experience,” she said.

“Then they need to have a good personality, because engaging with the client, chatting to them and feeling comfortable being naked is all part of what makes someone right for this role.”

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But Victoria admits that their 20 regular clients and 15 who book an occasional clean, have completely shattered her preconceptions about the type of person she imagined would use the service.

“I thought we’d get mostly professional working men in their forties but actually, the clients are much more diverse,” she said.

“We’ve had some as young as 30 and others in their 80s. Many of them live alone and a lot of the older gentleman are quite lonely, so it’s important the experience is fun and that the cleaners like chatting.

Victoria had 100 applicants when she advertised recently. Picture: PA Real Life

She graduated from uni in events management. Picture: PA Real Life

“We have male cleaners available but women asking for men isn’t something that comes up a lot. We’re definitely trying to work on that side of things and build it up.

“When I’m recruiting, I’m not worried about what people look like — as everyone has a different idea of what’s attractive — but they do need to be presentable and body confident.”

Despite her X-rated career, Victoria said her friends and family have been very supportive about her business.

“They understand this is my baby” she said. “I do spend a lot of time explaining to people that this is a serious cleaning business, too. We clean to a very high standard.

“Most people ask what the client does while the cleaner is working.

“They imagine they just sit there while the cleaner puts on a show, but that’s not what we do.

“A lot of clients have never done anything like this before and are often quite shy.

“So the cleaner will chat and engage with them, but, most importantly, they’ll get on with the job of cleaning the house.”

Social media — especially Instagram — has played a key role in advertising Glimmer.

“We can’t just put leaflets through people’s doors, as there may be families living there and we don’t want to offend anyone, so we use social media and also advertise in free listings where we can,” said Victoria.

Running her business single-handedly, Victoria has high ambitions for Glimmer and is now recruiting naked cleaners in Glasgow and Aberdeen, saying that once she has conquered Scotland, she will clean up across the rest of the UK.

“I do want to expand across the whole country but for now, we’re expanding by offering Naked Party Hosting,” she said.

Glimmer is also exploring the idea of offering Naked Handymen, which Victoria believes will appeal to more women, while her current client list is mostly men.

“I am still working part-time as a beautician doing nails mostly, but I am determined to make a success of this business, so I do work really hard,” she said.

“I do socialise with my friends and go out and I love taking Louis for a long walk, but I run every aspect of the business and so, truthfully, I have very little free time outside work.”

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission.