A Brockport-based business is helping homeowners clean out the crud. Family owned Rochester Bin Cleaning is a mobile tote cleaning business that travels to homes across Monroe County and even Victor to clean and disinfect garage and recycle bins.
John Duthoy started the mobile business because he knew most people wouldn’t touch it.
"In the summertime it gets pretty stinky,” said John Duthoy. "I started looking into businesses and I saw videos of a garbage cleaning company in Florida and I looked around and nobody around here, besides a company in Rockland County did it."
Duthoy cleans, sanitizers and disinfects garbage and recycle bins. Some are pretty nasty inside and out, but he doesn't seem to mind. He uses a specially made rig that hauls a generator, power washer and 30 gallons of heated, clean water along with a high-powered spray rod that really helps get the grim out. Once the bin is clean he hauls all that dirty water away.
"The heated water is about 190 degrees and it pretty much gets everything out of the can,” John Duthoy said. “We try to get it back to brand new.”
Duthoy and wife Danielle own and operate the business. She handles all the advertising, booking and scheduling. She jokes she was skeptical about the idea.
“Apparently it’s popular down south and out west. I had never heard of it, but I said no. No one is going to pay us to clean their garbage cans,” said Danielle Duthoy.
Turns out they do. In the first eight months in business they cleaned 1,200 bins. Duthoy is a retired police crime scene technician. John still works full time as a police dispatcher at a local college. Somehow the parents of two juggle it all.
“I had to eat my words. I had to say you were right. He still makes me say it to this day,” laughed Danielle Duthoy.
Every bin is sealed with lemon disinfectant, so the bins even smell good.
“It’s something you didn’t know you needed until you needed it,” said customer Sue Otter of Chili.
Bin cleaning routes book up pretty quickly. It’s $25 a tote and $10 for each additional bin. Rochester Bin Cleaning can be reached at (585) 802-6047.