Scappoose abuzz with new cleaning service

Bumble Bee hopes to bring cleaning into the Internet age

By David Holley

The South County Spotlight, Aug 26, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

David Holley / The South County Spotlight

CLEAN MACHINE — Deb Miller is a proven warrior in the battle against dust bunnies and other decidedly unsavory grime and grit, much likes her company’s Transformer-derived namesake. “We can get the house 99 percent clean. It’s that smudge or smear… it’s like a beacon,” she says.

ADVERTISEMENTS

With Bumble Bee Cleaning Service, Deb Miller is re-entering a market that she knows well.

The Scappoose mom opened Bumble Bee Cleaning, which she runs out of a rented space in the same building as Scappoose Outfitters, on July 10. It’s Miller’s second venture into the cleaning business, after having run Diamond Deb’s Cleaning Service from 2004 to 2006.

She shut down that business after her husband, Doug, died in 2006 and she got a job in Portland to pay the bills to support her five children. After being laid off in April, Miller decided to open up Bumble Bee, in an effort to target what she saw as a need for a high-quality and thorough cleaning service for people on the go.

“They’ve got nice size homes, but are short on time,” Miller said.

One focus of Miller’s new business is meeting the needs of the more technologically savvy clients, who are commuting to jobs in areas such as Beaverton or Hillsboro. Miller built a Web site (www.bumblebeecleaningservice.com) and tries to communicate with customers via e-mail to make her service more accessible.

There’s plenty to talk about when cleaning someone’s home. While some customers care more about having spotless windows and mirrors, others care about getting all the animal hair off the furniture.

Miller said she makes sure to follow up with her customers after every clean. She wants to know what they liked or disliked about her service.

“Every home is different and every client’s cleaning needs are different,” Miller said. “They notice it. We can get the house 99 percent clean. It’s that smudge or smear… it’s like a beacon.”

1 | 2 Next Page >>