People clean their carpets, curtains, even mini blinds with mobile cleaning services; now Michael Ingle wants them to use his business, CleenSleep, to clean their mattresses. He started the business in 2013 with a specially equipped box truck containing his proprietary mattress dry cleaning machinery. Ingle pitches CleanSleep, a company he wants to franchise, to the Sharks in episode 717.
Unlike carpet cleaning companies who use their equipment to clean mattresses, CleanSleep uses a dry process that uses UV light, high temperature steam, infrared lights and ozone. Mattresses are ready to use just 15 minutes after treatment. Cleaning your mattress can eliminate odors, stains, infestations, and it can add years of life to a mattress. He’s had a lot of initial success with hotels in the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area. Hotels that use his services benefit from extended mattress life and from the feeling of well-being their patrons have when viewing CleanSleep’s “Certified Sanitized Mattress” seal. Other businesses he targets include hospitals, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, student housing, and many more.
At $120 bucks a pop (for the first mattress), it’s a relatively inexpensive service compared to other home cleaning services. The uniqueness of the offer – there are hardly any mattress cleaning companies in existence anywhere – ought to have people lining up to get their mattresses cleaned. Hopefully a Shark will help Ingle clean up with this new business and franchise opportunity.
My Take on CleanSleep
Back in the 1990’s, people were making a lot of inquires about residential air duct cleaning at a chimney cleaning company I worked for. I noticed there were only one or two companies in my area that offered these services, so I got some training, bought some heavy-duty duct cleaning equipment, and started Mighty Duct Air Duct Cleaning. With some clever marketing and hard work, my little business elevated the duct cleaning industry in the greater Boston area. I eventually sold the business and it still exists to this very day.
The reason I tell that story is air duct cleaning was something a lot of people didn’t think about. We had to educate consumers about the need for our services, much like Mr. Ingle does with Clean Sleep. We used “before and after” images to illustrate the need for our services and once people took a look at their own filthy air ducts, our phone rang off the hook. We were able to sell our services because people didn’t want to breathe air that got circulated through dirty ducts. When they saw the benefit of our service, they hired us.
Think about it: we spend roughly one-third of our lives in our beds. When was the last time you cleaned your mattress? If you are like me, the answer is NEVER! After learning about CleanSleep, I gave our Temperpedic the once over when we changed our sheets. It had me searching my area for mattress cleaners! There aren’t any! I may be calling Mr. Ingle to franchise – I am IN!
Will Sharks go to the Mattresses?
CleanSleep is a unique service business, the lack of competition gives them a big leg up in what could be a HUGE industry. Cleaning mattresses regularly extends their life and keeps odors and infestations out which could result in huge savings for any commercial facility that has a lot of beds. If you own a hotel and can reduce mattress replacement by years, you could save millions and add it to the bottom line. If Mr. Ingle is marketing to national hotel chains that franchisees could use as leads, he will have a very big business.
Whether the Sharks see his vision is another story. If Ingle wants to catch a Shark, his current business needs to be profitable. If he’s in the black and his sales are growing and if he has some franchisees lined up, he could field offers. Lori invested $300K for 10% of Phone Soap in season six. Phone Soap uses UV light to kill bacteria on phones and they are crushing it. There’s no reason people wouldn’t plunk down $120 to clean their mattresses if they’re willing to drop $65 to clean their phones!
As long as Ingle’s business is profitable NOW, I think he’ll field offers.
Entrepreneur, auteur, raconteur. Rob Merlino is a blogger and writer who enjoys the Shark Tank TV show and Hot Dogs. A father of five who freelances in a variety of publications, Rob has a stable of websites including Shark Tank Blog, Hot Dog Stories, Rob Merlino.com and more.
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