By Chris Wilson

Spring is in the air and so is dust, pollen and all the grime that has been built up throughout the fall and winter months. If you’ve had it with annual spring cleaning chores or even if you just need a helping hand, Molly Maid offers affordable, quality cleaning services. While Molly Maid has been in Gainesville for eleven years, the company recently expanded its operations to include parts of Newberry, High Springs and Alachua.

For the past five years, Molly Maid has been owned and operated by Rose Bass. The company, which was located in the Haile Plantation Village Center before moving its offices to NW 34th St., has a 20-woman cleaning team, plus operations manager Connie O’Hara, customer relations manager Diana Engle and quality control supervisor Lori Vayo.

Bass says she worked in residential and commercial property management prior to buying the Molly Maid company. “I moved to Gainesville to be closer to my daughters and grandchildren,”?says Bass. “I felt like I had the skills to have my own business. This is a service-oriented business, just like property management.”

Molly Maid offers plenty of security for both its employees and customers. The company is insured and bonded and all of the employees are covered under worker’s compensation. All cleaning is done by teams of two to three employees for the safety of both the cleaners and the client. All Molly Maid cleaners travel in marked company cars, which are inspected regularly so that they won’t leak oil or fluids on your driveway, and wear Molly Maid uniforms. Plus, all Molly Maid employees are screened through extensive background checks. The employees also must pass a number of training excercises, including testing, reading and understanding two cleaning manuals and shadowing a cleaning team for two to five days (depending upon their level of experience). “Not everyone can be a Molly Maid,”?says Bass. “We only hire the top people and they are well-paid.” Each Molly Maid team cleans about 20 houses per week.

As for its customers, Molly Maid offers a 24-hour guarantee and will re-clean any area without an additional charge. The quality control supervisor makes occassional unannounced visits to the jobsites to make sure the employees are doing the work they’re supposed to do. Molly Maid offers a flexible schedule, even if employees call in sick. Molly Maid brings all of its own supplies.

“When you clean your own house, you might pick up something you have not seen in a while and become distracted,” says Bass. “We’re just there to clean and we focus.”

One of Molly Maid’s specialties is carpet cleaning, which is done through the Host Dry Extraction system. The dry carpet cleaning allows you to walk on the carpet immediately after it’s done being cleaned. According to the Host website, millions of tiny, absorbent sponge-like particles that contain trace amounts of water and cleaning agents deep clean by dissolving and trapping greasy, oily dirt. These particles are then vacuumed into a machine and the carpet is left clean and dry. The system is Green Seal certified, which means it meets environmental standards, and it works on area and oriental rugs.

Bass also is a great resource for offering advice to those who do their own cleaning. She suggests cleaning one room, from top-to-bottom, before moving on to another room. In addition, she says she likes to stick with the old stand-by, basic cleaning products, rather than some of the newer and less tested products. “You really have to pay attention to some of the fine print on products,” says Bass. “Some of them may not be good for certain surfaces.

If you have a cleaner that is not good for chrome, it may not be the best product to clean your bathroom.”

Molly Maid also is involved with several community organizations. The company is committed to domestic violence awareness. In October (National Domestic Violence Awareness Month), Molly Maid donates a portion of every clean to Peaceful Paths, the Gainesville-based domestic abuse network. In addition, Molly Maid collects clothing and other items to donate to Peaceful Paths.

Molly Maid can be hired on a regular basis (weekly or monthly). The company also does one-time cleans and move-in and move-out cleaning. You do not have to be home to have Molly Maid clean your home and, in fact, most customers are not home. Molly Maid can design a cleaning plan specific to your home.

For more information, call 378-7755 or visit www.mollymaid.com.