Houseproud Cleaners Audrey Tarpley, left, and Darlene Chaviera,
add sparkle to a Mililani townhouse.
By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin

During the Great War, the two largest job classifications in the United States were agricultural workers and domestic servants. Nowadays, farming is still a noble profession, but do you even know anyone who has a maid? Nope. The combination of the Great Depression and "labor-saving" appliances turned housewifery into a verb as well as a noun.

In the 1960s and '70s, mom began to work as well, and at the end of a long day running a multi-national corporation, she didn't want to vacuum. Specialized house-cleaning services sprang up, and this year's Yellow Pages lists 62 firms in Honolulu dedicated to keeping your home tidy.

"Housekeeping is NOT a luxury - it's a need," said Charmaine Rizzo of Blessings From Heaven Cleaning Service. "It can be really hectic for a couple when both work. You shouldn't put off housecleaning any more than servicing your car. It has to be done, and sometimes it's best done by professionals who can do it quickly and efficiently."

Jean Patterson started out as a "one-man show" with Houseproud in the early 1980s, and soon "there was more work than I could handle," she said. "In 1986 housecleaning was the third largest growth industry in the United States."

The average customer, we discover, are a couple in their 30s, both of whom work long hours and make decent salaries - but can't keep up at home. "The people who can REALLY afford it simply hire a housekeeper," said Patterson.

But the business slowed down considerably when the economy did in the early part of this decade. Most housecleaning services have diversified, taking advantage of corporate downsizing to do the work once handled by janitors, cleaning commercial establishments and offices.

"We've been very fortunate, and we're still galloping along, but last year wasn't very good," said Patterson. "We've survived, and it's better this year."

Of the 62 cleaning services in the yellow pages, "by the end of the year, probably 10 of those will no longer be in business," estimated Patterson. "This business is notorious for turnover."

"It's been slower the last couple of years," said Lori Nelson, manager for Dana's Housekeeping Personnel Services .

On the other hand, Rizzo from Blessings From Heaven, said that business has picked up steadily.

Merry Maids, from left, Lita Hamilton,Jane Binson and
Cynthia Tanouye, pack cleaning tools to go.
By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin

Some people have cleaners come in twice a week, but the average is once every other week. Others are on a quarterly basis.

Housecleaning services work in different ways. Some outfits, for example, send in an enthusiastic commando squad of four or five specialists, each of whom has a different mission to accomplish - kitchen, bathroom, dusting, vacuuming. They're in and out quickly. Others send one or two individuals who do everything, but necessarily take longer to do so.

The cost is about the same either way. You can expect to pay at least $70 for cleaning a normal-sized house - we defined that as three bedrooms, two baths - and even that figure is rough, depending on the size and complexity of the job. There will often be a higher charge for the initial cleaning.

Want to give the gift of cleaning? Most housekeeping services will allow you a buy a cleaning for that special messy someone.

The average housecleaning visit is every other week, although there are some people who have twice-weekly cleaning visits, and other people who have yearly cleanings.

Merry Maids is a national chain with headquarters in Tennessee. They are residential bonded. They'll clean everything, except for laundry and dishes, and on occasion they've done some laundry anyway. "That was for some Japanese homeowners who liked the bed laundry changed while they were out of town, said local manager Denise Rapez.

"We don't shampoo carpets, or strip and wax old floors, but that's about it," said Lynn Takao, Honolulu office manager of The Maids, a national chain. "We send in four people, and it usually takes them 45 minutes to a couple of hours for a house. It all depends on the house. They range from 'good' to 'there's no words!' "

Dana's Housekeeping Personnel Services essentially provides a maid for at least four hours to be directed by the homeowner. "The homeowner usually has a list of things to do," said manager Lori Nelson. "We'll do anything domestic except anything unsafe, or picking up animal waste."

Dave West of Aesthet-Techs does most of the work himself.

"We'll do everything, but if the customers wants something like his blinds cleaned, we'll advise them to hire professional blinds-cleaners with ultrasonic cleaners. The customer will get better value for his money that way. And it's better value if we can be in and out efficiently. For example, we'll do laundry, but there's a lot of down time doing laundry, and the customer is paying for idle time."

And here we come to the bottom line. How much is housecleaning worth to you?

"Depends," said Rapez. "We go by the estimate - Mrs. Jones' house may be neat as a pin, and not need much cleaning, while another house may be awful."

Basically, you're looking at about $100 for three people to work six hours.

One house cleaned by Merry Maids was estimated at $7,000, and "they took it without hesitating," said Rapez. "Yeah, it was a real mess."

Although virtually all their jobs are routine cleaning of average homes, all the cleaning firms also have horror stories.

"There are some homes that made me cringe - some I couldn't allow my cleaners to enter, at least not without hazard suits on," said Patterson. "We've had all sorts, from customers sitting around in their birthday suits to plumbing so bad that the toilets explode when they're flushed. But the customer's anonymity always remains intact."

Rapez remembered a refrigerator filled with maggots, burned cigarettes and exploded batteries. "Just needs a little wiping up!" said the homeowner.

"There was one house where the owner collected stuff from swap meets and filled every room," said Rizzo. "It wasn't safe! It took two full flatbed trucks to clean out that house. And I remember one house with seven children, no food, and no clean surfaces."

"There can be some real nasty creepy-crawlies behind the stove," said West. "We've been in some places that should have been condemned. There was one place - inhabited by college students - where we had to scrub food off the ceiling."

Once you decide to hire professional cleaners, here's what to do:

Decide on the scope and timing of the work. How much do you want them to do and how often? Do you want to be there while they work?

Are you going to provide the cleaning materials? There may be a price break if you do so.

Get a variety of estimates from a variety of cleaners. Balance the amount of work to be accomplished with the cost of doing it.

Check their schedules. The cleaning company might not be available in your area on the day you need them.

Are they bonded or insured? If an accident occurs, you might have to absorb the cost.

And there's an intangible - will you get along with whomever you choose? That's an element of trust involved, so you must be comfortable with exposing, literally, your dirty laundry.