So you want to do the best by your house and yourself when you clean? ChirpChirp founder Robin Murphy suggests the following:
Disinfect correctly — People spray and wipe. You need to let it sit to kill the germs.
Dust, dust, dust Dust is made of dead skin cells and insect droppings, Murphy said. Remove it to keep your skin and nasal passages free of irritation.
Go Marie Kondo and declutter It will not only make it easier for your cleaner, Murphy said, but for you to keep up with the housework.
Invest in single-use cloths Reusable cloths may be environmental-friendly, but they themselves can never be entirely cleaned, not even in the wash, said Murphy, whose company cleans with single-use cloths from Canada.
Fall in love with vacuuming Again, it removes dust. Just make sure your vacuum has good filtration, she said.
Dish soap is your friend It’s a really good product, Murphy added.
Giving cleaning the dignity it deserves
In 1996, Robin Murphy was married with a child in day care and seven years into a career at Mastercard in Purchase, where she was director of franchise management. Everything was bustling along, except that she couldn’t find a cleaning service.
So she did what born entrepreneurs always do: She met her own needs, quitting her job to become a Maid Brigade franchisee.
People thought I was crazy, said Murphy, a former Westchester County and Rowayton resident who lives in Brooklyn with husband Gary and their younger daughter. When I started, I didn’t know the first thing about it.
But she knew she had a perspective on cleaning that many may not have: Housecleaning is health care. Housecleaning kills disease.
With her husband as director of operations, Murphy has grown her Maid Brigade franchise into one of the biggest cleaning services in Westchester while also serving Putnam, Rockland and southern Fairfield counties. (She also owns a Maid Brigade in Manchester, Connecticut.)
But that was not enough for a woman who speaks of cleaning with an ardor that suggests a revolutionary, the words pouring out of her in a torrent.
I’m on a mission to change the mindset and people’s thinking of housecleaning, she added, beginning with the word maid, which has a pejorative connotation, as in the retort, I’m not your maid.
At the same time, Murphy who serves as regional ambassador for ISSA Residential, the housecleaning arm of the international cleaning association wants to help take a $90-billion-a-year industry that she sees as stuck in the past despite all the advancements in the world and bring it into the 21st century:
I get out of bed, and I want to build the best job for the employees and the best company for the customers.
Enter ChirpChirp, the cleaning service Murphy launched Sept. 1 on the North White Plains premises of her Maid Brigade franchise. Both have the same staff about 10 office workers and some 30 cleaning pros, as she calls them. Both use green products.
Maid Brigade and ChirpChirp are sisters, Murphy said. But they are sisters with different approaches. Maid Brigade is pay as you go. The cheerily named ChirpChirp which most definitely eliminates the word maid — is a subscription service with different weekly, biweekly and monthly packages.
The basic Clean package will get you a cleaned kitchen and bathrooms, with all the other rooms dusted and vacuumed. The Clean + adds changing bed linens and making the beds; mopping all the floors; dusting trim, blinds and fans; vacuuming the upholstery; and taking out the trash. ChirpChirp Clean adds onto that cleaning out all the kitchen appliances; handwashing whatevers in the sink; laundering the bed linens; and taking out the recycling. Prices can range from several hundred dollars a month to several thousand dollars depending on the package chosen, the square footage of the house and whether you want two cleaning pros or three to get the job done more quickly. There are also plans for clients requiring smaller or larger-sized teams. (Regardless of how many cleaning pros you have, they will be there however long it takes to clean, Murphy said.)
ChirpChirp makes use of the latest in cleaning technology, including Chirptastic, a cleaning solution made of salt and water that is electrically charged in an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered generator Murphy said her husband demonstrates its safety to staffers by spraying it in his mouth and a cordless vacuum that she called the Tesla of vacuum cleaners, quiet enough for sleeping babies and at-home workers. ChirpChirp is also testing a robotic window cleaner.
We’re always looking for innovations to make the job better, she said, not just for the clients but for the employees. The North White Plains office includes a fully equipped kitchen and a beverage bar. Every Friday night, the office staff serves dinner to the cleaning pros. They go through a training program and have access to certified dream manager Viviana Holguin, ChirpChirp’s people experience leader, who helps employees achieve their personal and professional goals.
Given Murphy’s holistic approach to cleaning, it is no surprise that Maid Brigade’s corporate office has bestowed on her many awards, including the 2023 Workplace Innovation and Culture Award, The Franchisee of the Year Award and the Community Pillar Award in recognition of the hundreds of gallons of disinfectant the company distributed at no charge during the pandemic to first responders and others in need.
Advertising on local cable, ChirpChirp is booked through Oct. 1 when it will begin taking new Westchester customers. Murphy said she wants to grow the business slowly. But with her passion for cleaning, she added that it’s only a matter of time before the service comes ChirpChirp-ing into Fairfield, Putnam, Rockland and beyond.
For more, visit chirpchirp.com.
