Disinfecting, yes, but this cleaning service promotes family harmony, too

In 2014, Iris Bertino, a single mother with three children, was fired from her job after returning to work following brain surgery. Faced with mounting financial woes, Bertino decided that keeping her family afloat meant leveraging one of her strong suits – cleaning. She not only likes things tidy, but she's also has had an interest in cleaning formulations since the 1980s when she worked as a quality control inspector for pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies.

So with that skill set and her corporate experience, including working at Cohen’s Optical as a turnaround consultant for underperforming stores, Bertino launched Abracadabra Long Island Home and Office Cleaning.

Since then, Bertino, 53, has ceased scrubbing clients’ kitchen floors; instead, she manages a cleaning operation that uses three contract laborers and, as the need arises, 12 to 24 others on call for one-time and sporadic jobs. She teams with other cleaning firms for large commercial and government jobs.

Before the pandemic, Abracadabra’s client roster included about 20 weekly, monthly or biweekly residential and corporate clients and as many as 100 one-time and occasional gigs throughout the year. As a result, the firm logged more than $250,000 in annual revenues.

In 2017, Bertino incorporated her business as Abracadabra LI Cleaning, and 18 months ago, the firm, which serves clients from central Nassau to the East End, moved into its current Miller Place headquarters – a two-desk, 300-square-foot space. Previously, Bertino’s car had doubled as her office.

Newsday spoke to Bertino about the pandemic’s impact on her business. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

How has the pandemic affected your operation?

Since March, it has dropped significantly, and with the second shutdown in October, business is now one-fourth of what it was. We had contracts to clean eight to 24 city and Nassau government buildings and the subways, but the government money dried up. On the residential side, 10 steady clients are still with us, and we’re doing between 100 and 200 one-time jobs throughout the year, including deep cleaning, maintenance, disinfection.

How do you protect workers and clients from infecting one another?

Everyone wears masks, and when we’re in a house with a family on-site, the family goes upstairs when we’re downstairs, and vice versa, so we can exit without seeing anyone. So we don’t cross-contaminate, clients supply us with their mop, vacuum and broom, which we clean.

Are there other special procedures involved?

Our workers spray their paper uniforms with Smart Touch disinfectant, and when they’re finished with a job, they immediately remove their uniforms and destroy them. We provide gloves, masks and goggles, which we’re constantly replacing. Workers take their temperature and use an oximeter since lowered oxygen levels can be the first sign of the coronavirus. They also take a COVID test every two weeks.

How do you charge?

For residential, I rate the job three ways – hourly, by square footage or a flat rate, with the dollar number based upon the regular chores, occasional tasks and job size. Customers choose the way they want to pay. For commercial, I follow the standard rates – which starts at 10 cents per square foot, depending on the type of building, the risk, whether it’s in the midst of construction or involves maintenance.

What won’t Abracadabra clean?

It’s unrealistic for people to want us to clean up after their pets – such as urine on the floor and litter, which the homeowner or a dog walker should handle. These are pets’ bodily fluids, and we don’t know if the pet is vaccinated, and workers may be allergic to pet hair. We also don’t clean fireplaces, which are best left to a chimney sweep because of the dirt, grime and toxicity.

What do you like best about the cleaning business?

It helps keep people healthy and reduces family conflicts regarding who is responsible for various household chores.

What’s the genesis of your firm’s name?

I wanted Magic, which was the name of my late dog, who was always happier if he made me happy. But I didn’t want to confuse my company with an entertainment service.

An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect service area for Abracadabra LI Cleaning.

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