Meet the Team
About Aloft Cleaning Service
Founder and Co-Owner of Aloft Cleaning Service, Margo Romme, shares the story of how Aloft came into existence:
“Aloft Cleaning Services became real in 2019 to meet the ever-changing needs of high-reach cleaning in the Greater Chicago Area, but the concept had started well before that.
A couple of years ago I undertook all aspects of one of my children’s move into their first loft condo in Chicago. The 17’ high ceilings had all of the incredible elements that he was adamant he and all those who covet loft living desire the most; rafters, beams, exposed ductwork, drop lighting fixtures, floor-to-ceiling windows, and brick walls. After having the entire loft professionally cleaned by a routine cleaning service, I was satisfied that they had done a very good job with all the "traditional", floor-level areas. However, there was still a very prevalent, inescapable "funky" odor.
At this point, the only place to look for the problem was "up". But how? The structures were so high. Too high to be adequately inspected for dust and certainly too high up to be cleaned properly. The solution seemed simple. Hire a high-reach cleaning service! Well, guess what? After an exhaustive effort to find one, the bottom line was… none existed!
Having determined that the odor was unacceptable, I risked my own safety by climbing atop a 10’ ladder and using a telescoping duster and after much effort was able to do a fairly good job of removing all the dust, dirt & dander that had gathered in those high spaces over the years. The odor was eliminated!
It was scary and shocking to see major clumps of dust and dirt fall from those upper structures, and the amounts of debris that came out from the mortar between the floor-to-ceiling brick walls were very surprising as well. A horrible mess!
The Lightbulb Moment
Two huge questions begged answers at this point. First, “How do we ensure we these high-reach loft elements stay clean moving forward, and more importantly, the air we breathe free of dust, mites and the health risks they bring with them?”And last, but by no means least, “Can we find a better and safer way to do it?” I knew that standing on a high ladder, reaching above my head with a long pole was risky to my personal safety and not something that I wanted to repeat. I was also very unhappy with having to knock the debris down onto the floor below to have yet another mess to clean up. Add to that, in doing so I was reintroducing all the dust and allergens back into the air to breathe once again with every swipe of the duster!
Since there was no service of this type available to us or the thousands of other loft owners in Chicago, the only answer was to fill this huge service gap by starting a company of our own. My son Marty had many years of management experience and was ready for a new and exciting career challenge so he agreed to become my partner and that’s how Aloft was born!
Building Our Company
After deciding a company with Aloft’s capabilities was sorely needed, we began research on how to best remove dust from high-reach areas.
We felt risking our safety or that of future employees by having to climb high ladders to then have to reach up overhead with telescoping tools to remove dust was not an option.
We did not want to knock the debris to the floor because even with draping our clients furnishing and possessions this did not eliminate the even bigger concern of reintroducing the allergens back into the air our clients would be breathing! Not an option!
After exhaustive research we learned there were only a couple of companies who could provide us the technology to clean safely and with the level of efficiency we demanded for our clients. From the two, we felt SkyVac™ could provide us the best.
We had found a way to remain safely at floor level while efficiently removing the debris from above!
In October 2019 we flew into Apex, North Carolina to meet with their team, personally check out the equipment and receive hands-on training. We became more convinced than ever that their high-tech vacuums, high-reach tools and high-reach window washing equipment was the perfect match for Aloft!
Today
We spend a lot of time educating potential customers on the little-known truth regarding what dust actually is. Dust is skin flakes that all humans shed, and dust mites are the resulting by-product as that is what they eat! Dust mites may be the most common trigger of year-round allergies and asthma. Imagine years of accumulation on the beautiful high-reach elements in your wonderfully unique loft space. When you look up chances are you can’t see it, but make no mistake, it’s there! Marty often explains, “What you don’t know or can’t see can hurt you!”