Monday, January 14, 2013

Berber Carpets, The Good and The Bad


Berber carpets are an aesthetically appealing carpet that allows for unique designs and color schemes. It often has a flecked color scheme giving it a wonderful ability to adapt to multiple interior design schemes. However, berber carpets are not a style of carpet but a specific weave. It is a loop pile construction and can be made from many different materials and in many different qualities. The looped design does provide a cushiony feel under your feet and this is especially true with the wool and nylon varieties.

While berber carpets can be visually pleasing and comfortable, there are some aspects that need to be considered when either buying berbers or deciding in which parts of your home to install them. They can snag and unravel or run, similar to a run in ladies hose. Situations where this can be a real concern is with cats who use the carpet as a scratching post and dogs that like to dig on carpets. Also, this type of carpet is difficult to clean. Because of the loop weave and the twist of the loop being larger at the top than the bottom, It draws dirt to the bottom of the fibers and traps it there. This dirt, trapped at the bottom, is very difficult to extract with a vacuum cleaner. As a result, traffic patterns can develop prematurely. Finally, the less expensive berber carpets will also tend to show wear patterns quicker.

Therefore, you might want to reconsider berber carpets for high traffic rooms such as dens, stairs and halls. Especially if you are not able to vacuum them regularly. Also, if you have pets that like to scratch, you might reconsider the use of this type of carpet all together.

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