Is Your Workplace Cleaner Hiding a Secret Life?

They hold your keys. They know your secrets. But who are they, really?

It’s 7:02am. You walk into the office. It smells lemony and fresh. Your desk is spotless. Your rubbish bin is empty. The bathroom actually smells clean. But the cleaner? Gone. Just a faint echo of footsteps and maybe the hint of a mop bucket trail leading out the back door.

Who are these shadowy figures that slip in before dawn and disappear by the time you clock in? At Ultrix, we know — because we are them. And let us tell you something: your workplace cleaner might not be who you think they are.

This is a blog about secrets. Not the ones we find (though yes, people leave wild stuff behind). This is about the double lives that so many of Sydney’s commercial cleaners are quietly living. Because cleaning isn’t always the main hustle — sometimes, it’s just funding the dream.

1. The DJ

We once hired a guy named Jay who cleaned bars in Marrickville five nights a week. On Saturdays, he played underground techno sets at secret warehouse raves in St Peters. Had a cult following. Used a different name. One night, we were cleaning a club and heard the thump of bass upstairs — and realised it was him. Mopping by moonlight. Mixing by strobe.

2. The Candle Queen

Amanda runs a successful boutique candle business out of Enmore, selling soy wax creations that smell like “Fresh Linen Dreams” and “Sex With a Librarian.” Her day job? Cleaning offices in Leichhardt. You’ve probably bought one of her candles at a market. And yes — she uses Ultrix-approved products in her cleaning and in her wax station. Respect.

3. The Side Hustler’s Side Hustler

There was once a guy who worked for us part-time in Newtown. One day, he casually mentioned he also did freelance tax accounting, flipped sneakers on StockX, and had a crypto course online. He made more money from side hustles than most of the businesses he cleaned for. He cleaned not because he had to — but because he liked it. “It clears my head,” he said. That and the gym memberships he got from all his cleaning clients.

4. The Secret Author

At one Inner West law firm, the early-morning cleaner was a published novelist — under a pen name. She was writing a legal thriller based on things she overheard while wiping boardroom whiteboards. You can’t make this stuff up. Unless, of course, you’re her.

Cleaners see and hear everything. But they rarely talk about themselves. They have keys to your alarm system, know who really leaves coffee cups on the printer, and sometimes — yes — even know who’s been crying in the office bathroom. But what they also have is whole worlds outside their mop buckets.

Cleaning is physical. Honest. Underrated. But for many, it’s a stepping stone. A foundation. Or even just a rhythm that gives structure to bigger dreams. And that’s why at Ultrix, we don’t just hire for skill — we hire for character. Because every great cleaner has a story. And we respect every single one of them.

✅ Want Cleaners Who Go Beyond the Surface?

Ultrix Cleaning delivers premium commercial cleaning services across Sydney’s Inner West — by real people with real standards (and occasionally side hustles).
✔ Background-checked, vetted professionals
✔ Respectful, discreet, and efficient
✔ We work around your schedule — and respect your space
📍 Book now at www.ultrixcleaning.com — and let our team bring a little mystery and a lot of clean to your business.