Booming buggy cleaning  business that passes on joy of parenthood

A MOTHER from Henley has set up a second-hand buggy cleaning  business to give them a new lease of life.

Danielle Fahey, 32, took apart her first buggy during the covid lockdown in 2021 when her youngest son outgrew it.

After buying a slightly unkept used pushchair on an online marketplace she took it apart by hand in her kitchen to clean it.

Now four years later,  Dani’s Buggy Wash is cleaning up to 15  pushchairs a week. She also  cleans everything from cribs to car seats and has clients in London and Cornwall.

Mrs Fahey, whose workshop is based at her home in Crisp Road, Henley, lives with her two sons, Axel, five, and Elijah, 10 and her husband Josh, who runs a carpet cleaning business.

She said: “My little one outgrew his pushchair  and all the shops were shut as it was during covid so I went and purchased one online  but, when it arrived,  it was absolutely disgusting.

“It smelled, the wheels weren’t working and  nothing was nice about it.  I cleaned and serviced it, including steam cleaning the fabrics.”

Mrs Fahey, who previously worked as a private cleaner, said she had enjoyed the experience of refurbishing the pushchairs so much that she decided to buy more online.

She said: “I  went on Facebook and spent hundreds of pounds on second-hand pushchairs and I cleaned them all up and donated them to various charities as I wanted to build up a portfolio.”

After building up a body of work over a period of six months Mrs Fahey  launched her business in September 2021. “Within an hour of launching I got my first booking,” she said. “It has gone crazy ever since.”

Mrs Fahey said the majority of her work comes from word of mouth and recommendations and her bookings can be full up to four months in advance.

She said: “If people are expecting a baby, I ask if they can book in when they are about five or six months pregnant. It’s just a crazy busy business. I expected it to be slow and steady but it just took off as   more people were recommending.”

Mrs Fahey said that on average it takes her around three hours to clean a single pushchair and she will take them apart and reassemble them to do this.

She said: “We re-set the fabrics back to brand new condition, so it’s good for parents who have had a pushchair for their first baby and want to reuse for their second.

“People do buy pushchairs secondhand and want the reassurance that it’s clean and safe for their baby to use.”

Mrs Fahey uses  machines that  are similar to a small carpet cleaner and a neutral PH solution to hand scrub each chair.

Along with cleaning stains, she can remove mould and even carry out minor repairs Mrs Fahey said her philosophy was to revert back to “old school cleaning”.

She said: “We don’t use anything artificial to enhance it, we don’t paint it, we don’t cover it in fragrance like Fabreze and nothing that we use is purchased off the shelf.

“It’s a method rather than a product. It’s about the brushes that we use and  the cloths. There are no gimmicks to it.”

Mrs Fahey said that she had spent time researching all the different brands of pushchairs.

She said: “Between February and September 2021 I was looking at manuals and  researching brands and  manufacturers. I know all the brands like the  back of my hand.”

Mrs Fahey added she would not clean an item if it was something she would not use herself. “If it’s mouldy or broken, it goes to the tip.” she said. “When it comes to car seats the rules and stipulations from the manufacturers are very very strict so I don’t clean something if I know it’s unsafe.

“I take massive pride in my work and nothing will leave the workshop until I am happy with it.”

In addition to her buggy cleaning business, Mrs Fahey also coordinates a pop-up second-hand kids clothing, toys, and equipment sale at Queen Anne’s school in Caversham, which she runs under event company Mum2Mum Market.

She is planning to bring the sale to Henley in May, where it will be run out of the Eyot Centre in Wargrave Road.

Mrs Fahey moved with her family back to Henley last May, after living in Long Wittenham for 10 years. She previously lived in Henley with her husband before the birth of their eldest son and had worked at the Catherine Wheel in Hart Street.

She said being eco-friendly was at the centre of both of her businesses.

Mrs Fahey said: “The markets are centred around people reselling and rehoming their preloved baby items and the pushchairs are reducing landfill.

“Some of these pushchairs are worth thousands of pounds. There was one that went home yesterday that was £1,600. A lady had bought it secondhand online for £75.”

Mrs Fahey said she was very proud of what she had achieved. “I am so interested and invested in my business and I love what I do.”