We see a lot of confusion from clients, and prospective clients, about what berber is and isn't, and we especially see a lot misinformation on how berber should be cleaned.

In this article we are NOT going to go over how to clean berber carpets. You can check out our article on how to clean berber carpets in Vancouver here.

What is a Berber carpet?

True, traditional berber carpet is a wool carpet with loops. This type of carpet originated in North Africa with the local people named Berber. They key here is the wool and the loops.  All traditional berber carpets are made with wool and have loops.

The hand-woven carpets the Berbers made had a very distinct type of knot and had light brown flecks spun from the sheep's wool.

As we mentioned earlier - a traditional berber carpet is made of wool, but today the term berber is used very loosely to basically apply to all loop style carpets, and this is ok.

In fact the term berber carpet can also apply to carpets with loops of different heights, which is commonly referred to as pattern loop carpet.

There is also berber carpet with loops and with the loops cut. So basically the term berber applies to a variety of styles.

Most berber seen in homes in Vancouver, Wa. are NOT made with wool fiber. They are made with either nylon or olfin (polypropylene) because of the ease of cleaning of these fibers. There are also berber carpets made with a combination of nylon and olefin.

Wool is considered a top end fiber in carpets, but it also has a number of drawbacks when it comes to keeping up the appearance. And with berber the drawbacks of wool are enhanced because of the loop construction.

At Linton's Carpet Cleaning we have no issues with true traditional berber,
as long as our clients understand what they have. And they understand the pro's and con's of berber carpets.

While wool berber carpets are considered very high end, berber carpets made out of nylon, polypropylene, or a combination of those two are considered lessor quality. If we had our choice of the type of berber to put into a home we would strongly recommend a berber made out of synthetic fibers.

Why?

Because they are more rugged and the cleaning of berber with synthetic fibers is MUCH easier than cleaning wool berber. As we mentioned earlier, you can take a look at how we clean berber carpets in Vancouver, Wa. by clicking here.

We do want to mention one thing that is very important, though, when it comes to having your synthetic berber carpets cleaned. DO NOT LET ANY CLEANER CHARGE YOU EXTRA FOR CLEANING BERBER CARPETS! This is a scam that many companies run and should be avoided. Again, this applies to SYNTHETIC BERBER carpets - not wool berber carpets.

If a professional carpet cleaner in Vancouver, Wa. knows how to clean synthetic berber the right way, you should NEVER be charged extra just because it is a berber carpet! EVER.

Berber carpets, wool and synthetic, are very popular and for good reason. Berber, especially berber made with nylon and olefin, are great choices for family rooms or any other room that gets a lot of traffic and potential liquid spills. Berber made from synthetic fibers is also fairly easy to clean and to get looking good, especially if you hire a competent carpet cleaning company.

If you have any questions regarding your berber carpets in Vancouver, Wa. please contact us. We will be more than happy to answer any and all questions related to our thoughts on berber carpet.