Alexandria Twp. man rides 10,800 miles to sell cleaning productPublished: Saturday, August 28, 2010, 6:06 AM ALEXANDRIA TWP. — A 59-year-old chemist and “lifetime motorcyclist” took a 10,800-mile trip around the United States and parts of Canada to advertise his new cleaning product.

“it was grueling,” said John Clarke, a resident here since 1992. “I wouldn’t say it was enjoyable. but it was very interesting.”

When his business as a freelance consultant dried up in 2007, Clarke, originally from England, needed to find a new source of income. two years earlier, he had concocted an organic cleaning solution for his step-daughter Jessie Thompson, owner and director of The Yoga Loft in Bethlehem, Pa.

“if something doesn’t exist on the market that I need or that someone else needs, I try and make it,” Clarke said. “and occasionally there’s a business opportunity.”

The yoga-mat cleaner he invented is a non-soap, anti-microbial, anti-static cleaner with aromatherapy oil among other “fairly unique” ingredients, and meets USDA organic standards.

It isn’t just for yoga mats — Clarke thinks it would also benefit martial arts uniforms, dance floors, pilates equipment and home gyms. “The whole exercise industry could use it,” he said.

He tried to sell his cleaning solution online, but with little success. at Thompson’s suggestion, he sent samples to a dozen producers of yoga mats and pilates equipment, and “they were very keen on it,” he said.

“we realized we had a good product and we’d better do something about it quick. So I jumped on my bike,” he explained.

He was on the road visiting companies from July 19 to Aug. 18, covering between 200 and 550 miles every day on his 12-year-old Triumph Spirit. Clarke’s wife, Carol, and Thompson scheduled appointments with companies for him from home.

“to go and see these people by conventional methods… would have cost a fortune,” he said.

The trip’s expenses totaled about $2,000, as he camped about one-third of the time, often staying with friends or other members of the International Brotherhood of Motorcycle Campers.Alexandria Township resident John Clarke got special permission to camp next to a giant cactus in the Saguaro National Park in Arizona. Clarke often camped during his month-long motorcycle trip around the United States and Canada to sell his new cleaning product.

He rode to Toronto, British Columbia, North Dakota, Colorado, Utah and Seattle. From Seattle he took the Coastal Highway — “about a thousand miles of hair-pin bends” — down the West Coast.

After San Diego, he headed to Austin, Texas and then home.

Clarke said companies were quite interested in his product.

“it was the face-to-face contact that was very important,” he said. “It’s very easy to blow someone off when it’s in an e-mail.”

Though he’s only making samples at the moment, he plans to contract with a local manufacturer and a packaging company, and expects to sell the cleaner in bulk for about $20 per gallon.

“I need to get some more feedback from customers,” he said, but he plans to put it on the market later this year.

He and Thompson plan to sell samples for $6 a bottle on Labor Day weekend at the Frenchtown River Fest.

Clarke’s trip gave him another idea. Years ago, wool clothing he purchased was no longer waterproof after it was dry-cleaned. So he invented a solution that would re-condition it.

While driving through Washougal (Wash.), he stopped to talk to the Pendleton Woolen Mills shirt company. “I might have another new business, who knows,” he said.

Alexandria Twp. man rides 10,800 miles to sell cleaning product

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