In 1996 a Connecticut drycleaner purchased a portable drapery cleaning system to enhance his drycleaning business and give his customers the convenience of cleaning their drapes without having to remove them from the window. What he soon found out was, due to the variety of window coverings that cannot be removed for cleaning, there was a tremendous need for these services. With very little training and no support on how to clean these items, the industrious drycleaner developed very specific cleaning processes for each one of these new coverings he was facing. A couple of years later he started to share these techniques with the company he purchased the equipment from and soon began consulting with others who bought equipment and needed his assistance.
In 1999 a presentation of these techniques was made to Hunter Douglas Window Fashions as to the viability of these techniques for cleaning their window coverings. A senior process engineer in one of the brands was very impressed with this cleaning and had given the process an A-Plus. After proving to the other brands the same results can be accomplished with their products, support of the cleaning process was then given by Hunter Douglas. Soon after that the first certification and training facility was set up to begin training other professional cleaners the approved cleaning processes using specific equipment and cleaning solutions.
In the year 2000 the first group of onsite cleaning professionals was trained and a network of professional cleaners was formed and known as On-Site Certified Technicians as part of the On-Site Corporation, the original company the drycleaner had purchased his equipment from. With a one of a kind program and the support from Hunter Douglas, the drycleaner working with his chemical company developed a line of high quality cleaning solutions and soon the network expanded not only throughout the US and Canada, but also became internationally recognized as well.
In 2008 the brand struggled with the economic slowdown, but with a couple of twists and turns and some re-branding, the group soon became known as Certified Fabricare Specialists. Due to the relationship the cleaner had with Adco Products, the chemical company that had been making its chemicals for many years realized the ability for tremendous growth potential with the right support and a purchase of the company was completed. The re-branding was completed with the sales arm of the company now showing a closer relationship to its parent company by changing the name to Adco OnSite Fabricare. In 2012 Adco products and Adco OnSite Fabricare was acquired by Equinox Chemicals, a specialty chemical company located in Albany, GA. After the acquisition was completed, it was agreed upon that the onsite name should be more predominant as it was in the past, so the company is now known as OnSite Fabricare. Most recently OnSite Fabricare merged with Furniture Protection Connection, an in home service provider catering the upholstery industry. Now with all these combined resources and technology at its disposal, CFS members will not only see more advancement in the development of better and safer chemistry to clean all fabric based window coverings, but also have the ability to expand the types of services they have the ability to provide.
You've just read the historical account of the tremendous investment Jeff Berkowitz put into the establishment of this network of fine professionals. Though Jeff still provides consulting to the group, day to day operations are now in the hands of one of his students that benefited from the knowledge and training gleaned over the years at the various sites around the country where the program was offered.
In December of 2021 the support and training of the OnSite Fabricare brand was assumed by Bert Bolton the Administrator of the Blind Cleaners Network. For information on the current program and professional blind/drapery cleaning support see out website at Blindcleaners.biz and be sure to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to request our Free monthly Newsletter.