Don Aslett passes away at 89 following a ‘clean life’

POCATELLO — A man who dedicated his life to the pursuit of cleanliness, in all aspects, has passed away.

Don Aslett, the founder of Varsity Cleaners, the Clean World Foundation and the Museum of Clean, died Wednesday at 89-years-old. His oldest daughter, Laura Simons, said her father leaves behind a “clean legacy”.

“He felt driven to live a good life and it wasn’t a thought to not to use every minute wisely,” Simons said. “He was proud because he felt like teaching people to be clean, he was helping mankind.”

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Aslett’s career in cleanliness began with founding Varsity Cleaner alongside his friend and business partner, Arlo Luke, taking it from a modest start-up to a one of the most respected names in the cleaning service industry. Simons remembers that time fondly, recalling times when she sat on her father’s lap on a floor buffer, “riding on it like a kid toy.”

Simons said her father was never the type to stay behind a desk, and would spend time out with cleaning crews.

“He would go on the jobs, wax the floors, do the cleaning with the crews,” Simons said. “He had more energy than most people.”

Simons observed her father keep that energy all his life. She doesn’t remember a time going over to his house when he hadn’t woken up at 5 a.m. to work on one of the forty books he published in his career.

“He hit those typewriters so hard that the floor shook. He’s just up there typing away and you can hear that rattle of the old-fashioned typewriter,” Simons said.

Aslett used his books, seminars, workshops and television appearances to share his message about the importance of living a clean life.

Aslett’s philosophy was that living a clean life extended beyond the condition of someone’s house, to their health, their attitude and how they treat the world around them. An example of this is when people keep all kinds of clutter in their life.

“Not just not physical clutter, but mental clutter. If you collect too much, you can’t move forward because you’re dragged down by so much stuff,” Simons explained.

Another way Aslett believed people could lead a clean life is by keeping the world around them clean. This is why the Clean World Foundation believes in looking for ways to use better cleaning practices and practice environmental sustainability.

In practice, the Museum of Clean has been able to implement water efficient landscaping to conserve water, utilized a high efficiency HVAC system and incorporated recycling opportunities throughout the building.

Aslett founded the Museum of Clean in 2011 as a museum dedicated to the history and evolution of cleaning technology. The way that Simons saw it, running the museum was a “retirement center” for him in a way. He had become too old to go out and work with cleaning crews, but he still had an outlet for his energy and to share his passion for clean.

“He had a place here where he could be as an aging person, that he was still vital enough to talk to people and do things, and he hoped that it would branch out into a service to the community,” Simmons said.

Simons said that her father kept his energy and passion all the way through to his passing. He was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in 2017, and went through treatment three times successfully, but it had come back again.

In Aslett’s last week of life, Simons said he was aware of what was going on and “it was upsetting him a lot that he couldn’t do anything anymore.”

“I just sat with him and really spent my time talking to him… settling his mind down,” Simons said. “It was time to just let go of that and let his mind settle down.”

Simons is happy that her father was able to live a long, “clean” life.

“I think that he got his dream. This is what he was driving for and he got it and he lived it and did it his way,” Simons said.