Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Riverside, California, OctoClean is a commercial cleaning and property services company that serves healthcare, educational, and commercial facilities throughout southern California and Arizona. Today, the company has grown to employ more than 100 cleaning service professionals in addition to an expanding network of commercial janitorial service franchises in California and Arizona.
Cleaning millions of square feet daily, OctoClean relies on ProTeam®’s backpack vacuums—the GoFit® Corded and Cordless Series—to get the job done efficiently and cost-effectively. “When we began, we used ProTeam Super Coach Backpack vacs,” said Greg Stowe, Vice President of Operations and Corporate Training for OctoClean. “Now we have converted to the lighter GoFit vacuums with more than 200—corded and cordless vacs—in use among our teams and franchisees.
The company tried other brands of commercial vacuums in the past but kept returning to ProTeam due to the brand’s longevity and efficiency. “The others broke down after 12 months,” said Stowe. “With regular maintenance, ProTeam backpack vacuums can be used day in and day out for years.
The ProTeam GoFit 3-qt and 6-qt cordless units are among their employees’ favorites due to their outstanding efficiency. “We knew cordless would be an advantage when it came to vacuuming bathrooms, where there are no outlets,” said Stowe. “But the efficiencies for cleaning large office buildings were incredible.”
Due to their lightweight comfort and easy maneuverability, the GoFit cordless vacuums accelerated the company’s team cleaning process. Facilities that took more than six hours to vacuum can now be finished in under four and a half hours. “My employees no longer have to manage the cord—rolling it up and moving to the next outlet,” said Stowe. “That saves an enormous amount of time.” The company keeps a cordless unit plus two 8Ah battery packs at each commercial office cleaning customer’s location.
As with other commercial cleaning companies that deploy ProTeam vacuums to help clean medical and hospital facilities, OctoClean knows ProTeam’s advanced filtration system is a key selling point for gaining new healthcare business. California requires that vacuums used in medical facilities be equipped with HEPA filtration. OctoClean’s specialized training, hospital-grade disinfectants, and advanced equipment—ProTeam GoFit vacuums that include HEPA Media filtration—help their teams deliver cleaner, healthier facilities for a variety of providers.
It’s not only medical facilities that want healthier indoor air quality. OctoClean’s office, educational, and industrial customers also want buildings free of allergens and asthma triggers. “The air quality in California cities is never really great, and clients want their facilities cleaned for health, not just appearances,” said Stowe.
When there are wildfires in the area, the air quality becomes worse. “Smoke is not as big of an issue in offices because the windows are not opened,” said Stowe. That changes when the cleaning space is a warehouse. “Smoke and soot can be a problem for warehouses where doors need to stay open to load and unload products. Vacuuming and filtering those contaminants with GoFit’s advanced filtration system is important for our warehouse customers.”
With 56 franchises operating in California and 17 in Arizona, OctoClean is expanding franchise ownership opportunities. In addition to extensive training on the company’s superior cleaning standards, sanitation chemicals, and advanced equipment, each franchisee receives an OctoClean start-up kit, which includes a ProTeam GoFit 6-qt. backpack vacuum. “Our mission is to deliver the best quality cleaning services to our clients,” says Stowe. “Partnership, transparency, and accountability are the values our of company, and our franchisees. GoFit vacuums are a key part of our success.”
