Local cleaners celebrate National Professional House Cleaners Day

In 2019, September 17 was added to the registrar at National Day Calendar as National Professional House Cleaners Day. The day was created by the American House Cleaners Association to bring awareness, recognition and respect to the professional cleaning industry.

In Starkville, two cleaning business owners said they hoped the national day would shed some light on the often overlooked contributions those in their profession bring to the community. Shannon Voges-haupt, owner of Worker Bees, and Deirdra Carter, owner of Tidy Girls, said National Professional House Cleaners Day is a day to celebrate their employees and the peace of mind they provide.

“We’re behind the scenes, and we’ve finally got that day to be recognized, to celebrate us,” Carter said.

Professional house cleaners go well beyond spring cleaning or wiping down the counters. Voges-haupt said anyone with a home or apartment knows how to clean, but cleaning professionally is a job that not many can do. From research on chemical mixtures to ongoing training courses, she said a large part of a professional cleaner’s job takes place before even setting foot in a home or business.

“When someone calls and says, ‘I’ve got this thing and I can’t get it off,’ we come in,” she said. “We know what product to use and how to actually get it clean.”

Cleaning homes and businesses also means having a library of knowledge on surfaces, cleaners and knowing what products and methods to use for each unique case. For instance, Voges-haupt said, when cleaning a restaurant, it’s important to use food-safe products, or knowing the cleaner for a commercial-grade kitchen sink can damage a residential sink.

“It does depend on the situation,” she said. “It all comes back to knowing what you’re doing and what products to use and the correct mixtures.”

And with the coronavirus pandemic shining a spotlight on cleaning and sanitizing, the job a professional housecleaner has been overwhelmed with new information and practices.

“I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and I’ve done more reading and research. I thought I knew it all, and I had to do more reading and research that ever, reading the CDC recommended research, learning percentages,” she said. “You think, ‘I’ll use bleach spray,’ but if it’s not the right type of bleach and the right percentage in the mixture, you just have to learn how the viruses work, how long they’ll live on different surfaces, that type of stuff.”

“It’s kind of like when people see an abstract art painting, they say, ‘my four-yearold could do that.’ Anyone thinks they can clean, but there’s a lot of knowledge to it.”

Carter said several new certifications have sprung up specifically for professional cleaners dealing with the coronavirus, and the research and preparation has become an even larger part of the job.

“It’s the COVID course, is what we have to do,” she said.

As more and more businesses and restaurants reopen, Carter and Vogues-haupt have found themselves scrubbing, sanitizing and disinfecting more than ever before. Though unseen, the Worker Bees and Tidy Girls cleaning crews play a large part in helping businesses and restaurants maintain the safety standards needed to operate in a pandemic market.

With the first National Professional House Cleaners Day being celebrated today, Voges-haupt and Carter said they hoped residents would take the time to recognize the work professional cleaners do, not just during a pandemic, but every day. From restaurants and hotels to homes and daycares, they said cleaners are working behind the scenes to disinfect, sanitize and bring that additional layer of security to residents going about their day.

For more information about National Professional House Cleaners Day, visit cleanerscomehome.org.

For information about Worker Bees, cleaning services, scheduling and more, send an email to worker_bees@yahoo.com or visit them on Facebook, @worker.bees.ms

For information on Tidy Girls Cleaning Service, email tidygirlscleaning2007@ yahoo.com or visit them on Facebook, @ Tidygal2007