The World-Renowned Cleaning Expert Who Chose Chapel Hill

When Bruce Vance came to visit Duke in sixth grade, he made two decisions: he would attend college in the South, and it had to be Duke. Nothing else would do. What the young New Jersey native didn't know then was that Chapel Hill would become more than a college town—it would become home to both his family and a cleaning business that's built on world-class expertise.

Today, Vance runs Town & Country Cleaning with a level of knowledge that's virtually unmatched. With 17 IICRC (Institute for Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification) certifications under his belt, he's taught cleaning professionals in at least 12 countries across five continents. Students have flown in from Mumbai, Japan, and Australia to attend his classes. Just last week, someone from Australia joined his Zoom class at midnight their time.

But here's the remarkable part: this internationally recognized expert is cleaning homes right here in Chapel Hill.

Vance's journey to becoming a cleaning authority wasn't direct. As a Duke student, he threw himself into the Chronicle, working nearly 100 hours a week as business manager. "I didn't have time to go to school," he laughs. Under his leadership, the paper went from a three-day-a-week publication with a $32,000 budget to a daily paper with $320,000 in revenue and in-house typesetting.

After graduation and a stint in New York retail that confirmed he didn't want to live up North anymore, Vance returned to Chapel Hill. He opened a lamp store, tried trading options (until losing $35,000 in one lunch break when Iraq invaded Kuwait), and eventually tried several service businesses with his wife, Sarah.

"We had developed some bad habits, like wanting a roof over our head and eating," Vance jokes about why they kept searching for the right business. They tried painting ("decent painters, but slower than molasses"), landscaping, and cleaning. The cleaning stuck.

What transformed Vance from someone running a cleaning business into a cleaning expert was a mistake that cost $21,000.

"We had a client with a marble floor, and we knew we were supposed to use something more or less neutral on it," Vance recalls. "Unfortunately, it got over-mixed, mixed too strongly, and we burned the floor. $21,000 later, I said, 'I need to know what I'm doing.'"

In those days, there was no comprehensive survey course for cleaning. If you wanted to know about carpet, you took carpet certification. Stone? Stone certification. "I have 17 certifications—not because I want to be in 17 businesses, but because we touch everything in a house."

That dedication to education led to teaching, and eventually to developing the IICRC's residential cleaning certification program, which he launched in 2012. Now he's known in the industry as "Ask the Expert."

Vance has a provocative opening for his classes: "I'm going to show you how you too can make a $10,000 mistake in less than two minutes using safe natural cleaning products following directions from the internet."

Take the most persistent cleaning myth: using vinegar and water on hardwood floors. You've probably heard this advice from Real Simple or your grandmother.

"Every manufacturer of hardwood floor says don't," Vance explains. "At least four of them that have long warranties say you do it, and you don't have a warranty."

The vinegar myth comes from decades ago, when people used oil soaps on floors and needed vinegar in the rinse water to cut residue. Early polyurethane floors could handle it. Modern water-based polyurethanes? "It'll tear them up," Vance warns.

Here's another shocker: Magic Erasers are "effectively very fine sandpaper. It will take the paint off the wall."

And that granite countertop that always feels gritty? "Dish soap," Vance says flatly. "There are things in dish soap that make it more efficient that attack the minerals in the stone."

During the pandemic, everyone became obsessed with disinfecting. But according to Vance's research—and conversations with leading experts like Dr. Charles Gerba from University of Arizona—we're doing it wrong and potentially making things worse.

First, most people don't follow directions. "If you read the label, it says clean first, then allow it to stay wet for anywhere from one to 10 minutes depending on what you're trying to disinfect," Vance explains. "If you don't allow the dwell time, the bacteria gets used to it."

We're creating antimicrobial resistance—the same problem we have with overused antibiotics.

Second, disinfectants are regulated by the EPA as pesticides. "Let's rephrase this: we're going to make you healthy by spraying your whole house down with pesticide," Vance points out.

Third, you probably don't need disinfectants for routine cleaning at all. In demonstrations across the country, Vance has shown that high-quality microfiber cloths with just deionized water can clean a surface from a bacteria reading of 1,520 down to 50. A Lysol disinfectant scrub pad only got it to 300.

"You don't need to use disinfectant in normal residential cleaning," Vance says, citing Dr. Gerba's agreement. "Now, if somebody has C. diff or norovirus, bring out the disinfectant. But to run around and do all the doorknobs in your house? Why?"

Vance is quick to distinguish Town & Country from a maid service. "A maid is like Alice on [The Brady Bunch]—they organize, maybe cook supper, do laundry. A cleaning service comes in and cleans. The better, the more surfaces available to us, the better job we can do."

But the relationship goes deeper than dusting and vacuuming. Town & Country cleaners have literally saved lives.

One cleaner noticed an elderly client who was normally alert and engaged seemed off one day. "She came back to the office and said, 'I don't like how Mr. Jones is sounding.' We called his daughter. He had pneumonia. They got him to the hospital."

"A cleaner protects your health—we're really the first line of defense in healthcare," Vance says. "We protect your property. And we often know more about how to clean a spot than most anyone else."

With his international reputation, Vance could teach and consult anywhere. So why stay in Chapel Hill?

The answer goes back to that sixth-grade visit to Duke. This is where he chose to be, where he built a life, and where he's built relationships with clients over decades.

The team is trained extensively—first in-house, then alongside experienced cleaners who know the difference between a marble that needs oil and one that shouldn't be polished. Vance emphasizes respect: "You're not 'the lady who does for Mrs. Jones.' You're a professional." That philosophy extends to competitive compensation, benefits including virtual medical care and life insurance, and proper insurance coverage that includes protections most cleaning services don't even know exist.

Whether you're juggling work-from-home schedules, managing pet hair, or simply want your weekends back, Town & Country clients share one thing in common: they want the peace of mind that comes from knowing their home is in expert hands—hands that won't accidentally damage their floors, countertops, or warranties.

As Town & Country's general manager and co-owner, Jonathan Lorbacher, continues to manage the day-to-day operations at home, Vance continues teaching globally while ensuring local clients benefit from world-class expertise. It's a reminder that sometimes the best resources aren't found in big cities or franchise operations—they're right here in our community, built on decades of dedication and a Duke grad's decision to stay local.

Town & Country Cleaning
Serving Chapel Hill and the Triangle
Specializing in residential cleaning and small offices
cleanmychapelhillhouse.com

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