Washing Machines

It’s spring.

The sun is out, the birds are chirping, the grass is green, the flowers are starting to bloom.

At least you think that’s what’s going on out there. Your windows are so dirty you can’t really see outside. And come to think of it, the floors are mud-stained, the stove top is greasy and the bathroom is a mass of mildew.

What better time to do some spring cleaning?

Unlike New Year’s resolutions, where the responsibility is yours and yours alone, spring cleaning is a chore that can be shared. Indeed, there are plenty of people out there willing to lend a hand and a mop.

We shopped around this week for some housecleaning services. It’s safe to say there is a housecleaner near you, wherever you may be. We discovered a huge selection of operations from which to choose--from the small home-based businesses, to the franchise operations of large chains.

Among the latter, we spoke with Gustavo Steinacher, owner of a Molly Maid franchise serving Simi Valley, Moorpark, Somis and a portion of Camarillo.

Molly Maid sends out teams of two uniformed cleaners for each job. The business predominantly has weekly, biweekly and monthly cleaning clients, but also does occasional or one-time cleanings. It also serves real estate agents preparing homes or apartments for rental.

The franchise, part of an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based chain, charges $50 per hour. As an example of the cost breakdown, Steinacher said, the average master bathroom will take about 40 minutes to clean and a smaller bathroom 30 minutes.

“When you’re doing a home for the first time it tends to take about an hour longer, because we have to do more chores to bring it up to our standard,” Steinacher said. “But we also do promotions encouraging first-time people.”

For new customers, Molly Maid regularly offers a $10 discount for the first cleaning, followed by a $15 savings on the fourth cleaning.

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Merry Maids, a division of ServiceMaster, is another large housecleaning company run by local operators. Jeff Weinstein is the owner of a franchise serving Camarillo to Ventura and another covering Ventura to Santa Barbara.

Like Molly Maid, Merry Maids dispatches uniformed housecleaners in pairs. Weinstein said all his maids have gone through extensive housecleaning training.

“We do the floors the old-fashioned way, on our hands and knees,” he said. “We clean, sanitize and deodorize the bathrooms. We wipe down appliances, we do the exterior of ovens, we do the microwave inside and out.”

For one-time cleaning jobs, Molly Maid generally charges $60 an hour. For continuing customers, Weinstein said, the fees vary.

“A three-bedroom, two-bath house done biweekly would be about $70 to $90 each time out,” he said. “No two homes are exactly alike. It takes longer to clean a home if you have to clean around knickknacks than a home that just has a chair and a table.”

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Among the private business owners, Sharon Sterling has operated the Fresh Beginnings Cleaning Service for more than four years.

The company began in her Moorpark home and has now moved to a separate office, from which she dispatches up to 30 cleaners on assignments from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara. Customers range from renters of one-bedroom apartments to owners of Malibu estates.

Sterling said she tries to maintain a reputation for one-stop service.

“We do everything from housecleaning to move-out cleaning to construction cleaning to windows and carpets,” she said. “We have different teams that concentrate in different areas, and every team is self-contained. They should never have to come back because they forgot something.”

Sterling usually sends out cleaners in teams of three or more, depending on the size of the job. The rate for one-time customers is $22 per hour per person. The rate is cut, she said, for repeat customers.

“The price can be reduced based on frequency--if we’re going through a full cleaning versus maintenance,” she said. “We work within their budgets. We’ll do what’s most important to them.”

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Tip of the Week: When making a selection of housecleaning firms, it might be a good idea to ask about free estimates and whether cleaners are bonded and insured.