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On The Road Again
Museum of Clean Pocatello, Idaho The six-story, 74,000-squarefoot Museum of Clean takes up an entire city block in Pocatello, Idaho. (Karen Foley/Shutterstock.com)
By RAY BALOGH | The Municipal
D The 20-foot fiberglass likeness of a young Don Aslett was made in the 1960s and is housed in its own corner of the museum. (Provided by Museum of Clean)
12 THE MUNICIPAL | APRIL 2022
on Aslett is all about clean, in every perspective and nuance of the word: being clean, doing clean, the history of clean, environmental cleanliness, the science and technology of clean, clean as a paradigm and lifestyle, clean humor and clean personal hygiene. The Idaho farm-boyturned-millionaire-entrepreneur, now known as the “King of Clean,” has also parlayed some of the profits from his highly successful Varsity House Cleaning Company into a six-story, 74,000-square-foot museum highlighting the multifaceted concept of “clean” in Pocatello, Idaho. According to its website, www.museumofclean.com, “The ultimate mission and vision of the Museum of Clean is to sell the idea and value of clean, to put clean into the minds of all who visit. We want to expand the scope of clean into areas like clean homes, clean minds, clean language, clean community and a clean world.” Aslett has authored 40 books and conducted — nationally and internationally — more
than 6,000 seminars, workshops and television shows on the subject. Still spry at 87, he still hasn’t run out of words to say about clean as he greets visitors to his family-friendly museum and escorts them around the exhibits. Tours take 45 to 60 minutes and guests are then left to explore on their own and engage in interactive learning and photo-taking. Art and history lovers can expect to spend three or four hours absorbing the displays. The experience is designed, in Aslett’s words, for people to “come interested, leave inspired.” Aslett first entertained the idea of opening a museum devoted to his life’s passion in 1984 but didn’t acquire a significant inventory for display until 2006, when he purchased a private collection of several hundred vacuum cleaners and associated items such as attachments, original patents, brochures and other paraphernalia. The museum is divided into several sections, each with its own unique character, combining education and entertainment.
