"Cleaning is in my culture." (Lorena Ramos / Contributor)
The faculty and staff aren’t the only ones keeping Rowan University clean anymore. Lorena Ramos has extended that task to students, spending her free time cleaning dorms and apartments while making money.
Lorena Ramos, a freshman theater major from Georgia, came to Rowan at the end of August, moving into Holly Pointe Dorms. New to college and far from her hometown, Ramos and her parents did not want her to have the added responsibility of a job, yet still needed money.
“I had so many cleaning supplies, and I was so freaking broke,” Ramos said. “I was just going to sell the cleaning supplies, but I was like, I can do something with this.”
After spending time scrolling social media and seeing how many people needed their dorms cleaned, Lorena made a TikTok account titled @rowan_dormcleanerrr, where she posted memes and videos of her cleaning Holly Pointe bathrooms in order to attract customers.
“Originally, I was going to make content off of me cleaning people’s stuff, but you can’t make content like that if no one is asking,” Ramos said. “I was like, it’s dirty enough as it is in here, I’ll just clean this stuff.”
Since then, Ramos has accumulated roughly two to three customers a week, with some recurring clients. Her cleaning service takes about an hour and a half, and rates start at roughly $20, but depending on the size of the space and mess, she may charge more.
She cleans apartments on Rowan Boulevard, Mimosa Hall, and other dorms around campus. As of now, Ramos is the sole cleaner of @rowan_dormcleanerrr, yet she is open to others’ help if she continues to get more clients.
While Ramos’s cleaning job did not just stem from a need for money, she grew up in a household with parents she calls germaphobes, and she claims her desire for cleanliness also reflects her cultural background.
“I’m Latina, so cleaning is in my culture,” Ramos said.
Along with cleaning, Ramos has classes every day and theater practice, where she is currently preparing to star in a production of “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Her busy schedule requires her to sometimes carry her cleaning supplies with her all day, as her dorm is a far walk.
Despite the busyness, Ramos enjoys what she does. She finds the cleaning satisfying and likes the necessary challenge of being a content creator for a business.
“I’ve never really been like a content creator, but if you’re going to have a business, you kind of have to be,” Ramos said.
For Ramos, cleaning is no longer just a side hustle. Through the way she was raised, her culture, and the limited free time she has, Ramos has been able to help many Rowan students live in a cleaner environment.
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