Topless Maids Give Customers Gleaming E

The letters at the T&A Housecleaning Service sure don’t stand for Tide and Ajax.

As further proof that Spokane is no longer the drowsy, Leave-it-to-Beaver city it once was, a topless maid business opened the other day.

“The telephone has been ringing off the hook,” says Naomi Leong, the 24-year-old entrepreneur who dreamed up this titillating venture.

“I thought conservative Spokane was ready for something like this.”

Maybe so, Naomi, but it’s a safe bet the Chamber of Commerce won’t feature your new business in its next newsletter.

Moralists will naturally bristle at the notion of half-nekkid young women being paid to scrub Formica. Naomi, however, swears there is nothing kinkier going on than a lot of soap suds and elbow grease.

“This is a legitimate cleaning service,” she adds. “I even went out and bought a Kenmore vacuum.”

That certainly gives new meaning to those “softer side of Sears” commercials.

As part of my continuing commitment to expose the latest developments in the Naked City, I conducted a journalist de-briefing with Naomi and her assistant, Tiffani, during one of their weekend cleaning missions.

Their assignment was to tidy up a modest home on the North Side. Derrick, the 27-year-old homeowner, was there to watch. His wife wasn’t.

Before firing up the Kenmore, Naomi and Tiffani changed from street clothes into their cleaning attire: thong bikini bottoms, frilly aprons and lace chokers.

“You know, if you two would fix breakfast I’d be in heaven,” said Derrick, who wore a very lopsided, goofy grin on his face.

“Sorry,” says Naomi, heading into the kitchen to mop the floor. “We don’t do breakfasts.”

As you might expect, semi-nude housecleaners don’t work for free. Naomi charges 80 bucks for an hour or $50 for a half-hour.

So far, her customers have ranged from a 75-year-old seasoned citizen to two Gonzaga University students.

The good Jesuits at Gonzaga will be rattling their rosary beads when they hear about that.

“Aw, there’s nothing wrong with this,” says Naomi. “Not only is it entertaining, but you also get a clean house.”

Tell it to your Mom.

Naomi says her mother, Avra, takes a dim view of topless housecleaning. “She thinks it’s degrading to women,” says Naomi. “My stepfather, however, is fascinated.”

Naomi says she’s always had a wild streak in her, but apparently she is not short on brain power.

She claims she made the dean’s list and will graduate in June from Eastern Washington University with a psychology degree. Naomi showed me her letter of acceptance into an EWU master’s program next fall.

The exotic housecleaning idea, she says, came as a way to make a few bucks on the side. “I take the European view of nudity,” she says. “Everybody’s got ‘em so what’s the big deal?”

Before embarking on this, Naomi says she checked with a lawyer on legalities and how to incorporate her unusual business.

Naomi, a dark-haired woman with a dancer’s body, says customers may look, but not touch.

For safety’s sake, she always works with a partner, carries pepper spray and has a bouncer sit in her van in view of the client’s house.

Naomi’s ad in some Spokane shoppers produced a flood of interest. Most inquiries were people wondering if the whole thing is a joke.

Another call was from a bachelor who tried to hire Naomi & Co. to mow his lawn au natural. “Sorry,” she told him. “We don’t do landscaping.”

Then there was the guy with an idea that’s probably a bit ahead of its time for Spokane. He told Naomi he was looking for women to start a topless espresso stand.

I know, you could call it “Star-buck Naked.”

, DataTimes