In my experience, when
Stroller Spa is done with your stroller (or car seat!) it will be almost as
beautiful and well-functioning as the day you bought it. —
To win a free clean and
tune-up from Stroller Spa, simply email us at newyorkfamilybaby@www.newyorkfamily.com
and put “Stroller Spa” in the subject line. And please note that
anyone who applies for the giveaway but doesn’t win will also be eligible for
25% off a car seat cleaning when booked with a stroller detail.
A lot of first-time
parents with new strollers don’t necessarily appreciate the dirt and
wear-and-tear that lies ahead. But it’s coming sooner than you might
think, and you’ll appreciate having this service available to you when you are
ready.
I’m sure lots of other
parents are ready right now. Everyone is eligible for the giveaway. The
deadline is Monday, May 21.
To learn more about
Stroller Spa, visit here.
Plus, don’t miss our
informative interview with Stroller Spa NYC‘s co-partner Allison Leale, a NYC
mom of two, who oversees the local operation with another NYC mom of two,
Carolyn Pravda.
What’s the back story on Stroller Spa? Was the
idea inspired by the experience of pushing a stroller around city
streets? When did you open and where are your services available?
About two years ago,
I realized that our stroller was a disgusting mess! I turned to my husband and
told him that I wished there was someone to clean it, both of us realizing
immediately that this would be a fabulous business to have in New York City. After months of research, I kept being led to in
the direction of a San Francisco mom, Jamie Mamikunian, running hew own company
doing just what I wanted to do here—clean and repair strollers and car seats.
Because I had no clue how to start this type of business, I contacted Jamie
about a year ago, flew out to meet her in August and came back to NYC bringing
Stroller Spa to the East Coast. Families in New York City have shown a strong need for our service so I have
partnered up with business-savvy Carolyn Pravda, for the NYC expansion. We
service all of NYC and beyond! Some people even commute in with strollers
from the suburbs for us to clean and repair them. We’ve had customers from NJ, Connecticut, Upstate NY, and even D.C.!
I think that most parents could relate to the idea
of a cleaner stroller, but you all actually offer a tune-up too! What’s
that like? Are parents surprised by what a difference it makes?
For a tune-up, we clean
out all the gunk, grime and grit that accumulates in the wheels and axles of
city strollers. All of this debris slows down a stroller and can actually make
owners think that their strollers are on the verge of a breakdown! We also
lubricate the stroller’s wheels and folding mechanisms. Together, these
two steps in addition to a complete clean, will almost convince the owner that
they have a brand-new stroller.
Tune-up is different from repairs, yes? Do
you do light repairs?
We do it all!
Carolyn actually grew up on a farm in Iowa and is pretty handy with tools. Together, we
can repair almost any break. Last week we even cut an axle to replace a
wheel!
Are certain models harder to clean and tune-up? Can
you pretty much take on any job?
The key is really in the
fabric. Certain strollers have soft, cotton fabric. It’s lovely and
cool but stains like crazy! We can get out almost anything but some of the
fabrics certainly make it challenging.
You mentioned that new parents often don’t realize
just how dirty and beat up their brand new strollers are likely to become? Care
to enlighten them? How many months before a city stroller could use your
services?
We generally say
that the first cleaning comes about three months after your child starts to eat
snacks! Seriously, we would say the average stroller should be serviced
about once a year, much like a car. The tune-up can make a big difference
in how the stroller rides and letting us fully check over your chassis can help
extend the life of your stroller if we can catch a problem in the early stages.
What else should parents know about your service?
When we clean your
stroller, we don’t just take a wash cloth and wipe it down. We literally
clean it down to the screws. We remove all the fabric. We soak, scrub
and shine each wheel. We scrub the entire chassis. Using small
brushes and cotton swaps, we clean out even the tiniest crevices. We aim for
perfection!
Are there common practical steps you recommend to
parents for stroller maintenance and cleanliness? Or our most people just
not interested in doing it themselves?
To keep strollers running like new, parents can follow these simple, but
impossible to follow, rules:
-Try not to hang anything from the handle bar.
-Try not to bump strollers
up & down steps.
-Try not to put leak-prone
items in your folded canopy (water bottles, coffee, food, etc…).
-Lubricate wheels every
few months.
-Keep tires filled with
air (when applicable).
Do you have energy left to clean your own homes?
Both of us have pretty
neat personalities. We really put this to work for our business. It
does mean though that neither of us are willing to let our houses slide—but
just don’t ask to see our strollers!
