Lockdown life led to social media success for low-tox ‘Clean Queen’ Mama Mila

Most of us think back to 2020 and the start of Covid and a cold shudder passes through our bodies. But Chantel Mila known as Mama Mila to her 4 million social media fans has mixed memories when she thinks back to that time.

Being in Melbourne in a modest apartment, along with her husband working from home, and trying to keep their two children (who were both aged under three at the time) suitably occupied, was a memory that many can relate to, but wouldn’t necessarily rush back to experience again.

Chantel would get to the end of every long, monotonous day and look around at the absolute chaos her home was in and asked herself, “I wonder if other people are feeling completely overwhelmed like I am, and if they are maybe I could help them?”

To explain, Chantel has always loved organising things . . . she is the type that gets a thrill from writing out lists, and the sense of satisfaction she feels when she marks a chore off as completed. As a child she was a self-described neat freak, who was always moving and restyling the furniture in her bedroom, and giving her friends tips and ideas as to how they could pretty up their own spaces.

Years later when her daughter Mila was diagnosed with asthma, she started to experiment with making her own low-tox cleaning products, knowing that chemicals and strong smells from household cleaning products are a common asthma trigger.

So back to 2020, with just 14 followers, thinking that maybe she could help just one or two people, she started to share some of her tips. She’d select a space or a part of a room and just show the things that she would do to bring it back under control.

Simple tips like how to roll your towels so that they look like they are from a top end spa . . . creating little pockets of peace to give yourself what she calls a “Hotel Moment at Home”.

Other suggestions like how to soften your linen, or easily clean your mattress took off, and all of a sudden, her posts were being shared all over the place. The followers started to add up and often they would help her create content by asking what she would do with say, an office space? Or how would she tackle wrapping Christmas presents to make them look ridiculously beautiful? Then in amongst the organisational tips, she began to share her home-made cleaning products and before long . . . a bonafide social media Clean Queen was born.

When we visited Chantel in her apartment, we watched her easily whip up an array of low-tox cleaning products using five everyday ingredients you most likely already have in your pantry, dropping hints along the way to help sprucing up even the most mundane parts of your home feel like less of a chore.

She showed us how to effortlessly clean stainless steel, then use olive oil to make your steel appliances shine. Using a hollow dish washing brush and another home remedy . . . she tackled the shower screen, effortlessly cutting through the soap grime and scum.

Every time she opened her mouth, she’d expel another gem, finishing off with one final suggestion using water, fresh rosemary, lemons and vanilla essence that you just simmer quietly away in a pot on your stove, that within minutes has your entire place smelling like heaven.

Not surprisingly, Chantel now has a number of collaborations with linen and decor brands on the go. She also sells her own range of low-tox cleaning products online and was recently named as an Ambassador for the Good Friday Appeal.

Her first book, The Dream Clean is out now and a second book is well underway . . . and yet despite all this success Chantel is in a perpetual state of surprise and gratitude. “I was only ever hoping to help anyone who was feeling a little lost like I was back then. I never would have imagined in my wildest dreams that the little things I post from my own home would be watched by millions of people. I still pinch myself and often ask myself if what has happened is real.”

It sure is. These days this confident, articulate, generous and kind woman is helping millions. Including me.

You can catch Chantel – aka @mama_mila_au on Better Homes and Gardens tonight from 7pm on Channel 7 or 7Two or you can catch up anytime on @7Plus.

Follow Johanna Griggs @johgriggs7