Is Berber a Good Choice?
By Alan
Fletcher-Carpet Expert & Consumer Advocate
Is a looped Berber a good choice for
children or Pets?
How to select the right carpet style and grade for your home and
avoid common consumer carpet buying mistakes.
Q. How well does Berber withstand high traffic areas? Is
it easy to keep clean and what kind of padding is best? I am going
crazy trying to decide if I want a plush or Berber. I have a
newborn and know I will soon have lots of messes to clean up!
Alan's Response:
Don't spend a lot on new carpet if
you have small children! Children are very hard on
carpets, they spill everything imaginable and parents are often too tired to
clean up messes quickly enough to keep up with the demand. Looped Berbers made from the Olefin
Fiber are hard to keep clean, they snag easily
and are not recommended for folks
with active children or pets.
For folks without active children or pets:
Berber may be a good choice. Most Berber styles are made with
loops. Some Berbers are called "cut and loop" having both loops and cut loops, Some
Berbers have patterns and some do
not, and still other Berber styles have no loops at all and are called
"Cut-Berbers" (also known as a California Berber)
Berber carpets are often made from Nylon
or Olefin, and of the two, Nylon would be the better choice for homes
without kids and pets. Nylon Berbers costs
more but lasts
much longer, and cleans much easier than Berbers made from Olefin.
Berber Carpet Complaints
Why do Berber carpets attract dirt and
are hard to keep clean?
While Berber styles are elegant and beautiful
when new, there is a common complaint from homeowners with Berber carpets made
with the Olefin fiber. Consumers often report that within a week or two after a professional cleaning, previous
spots and stains tend to reappear as if they were never cleaned at all. This is
because the Olefin fiber is inherently oily and often makes Olefin hard to clean and
prone to attracting dirt like a magnet. Old stains tend to reappear like magic.
Why do Some Olefin fibers attract dirt?
Here's why... During the manufacturing
process the
Olefin fiber is naturally oily. Fiber makers use a special process to clean the Olefin
fibers to try to remove these oils, but often cut corners in order to
reduce costs. Some manufacturers put
their Olefin fibers through a "three-phase" cleaning process to try to
remove most of the oils. To make a better product, the fiber maker will use a
"five-phase" cleaning process
which removes much more of these oils from the fiber.
This makes a significantly less-oily fiber that cleans much easier and
doesn't attract dirt nearly as much.
Using the five-phase process to removing excess oils from Olefin is a
more time consuming and costly procedure, manufacturers must charge more for these
premium fibers and therefore you will pay more for a carpet made from
these premium olefin fibers. Unfortunately
consumers have no way of knowing which Olefin fibers have been cleaned
with the "five-phase" process and those that have only had the
three-phase cleaning.
Rule of thumb: I think it would be
reasonable to assume that most Berbers priced under $13.50 per yard ($1.50 sf)
would be made using the "three-phase" process. You might have to spend
$18 per yard or more to get the better grade of olefin fiber.
Most carpet salespeople have no knowledge
about this manufacturing process and asking them questions about it might be
futile. However, perhaps you could ask them to call the carpet manufacturer and
see if they can tell you which cleaning process was used in the Berber carpet
you are considering. Good luck with that.
Fact: Cheap Berber carpets snag easily and wear out
quickly.
Inexpensive Berbers also snag easily.
Don't fall for those cheap Berber prices and think that this carpet will
last for you. It surely won't if you have active kids or pets. If a Berber carpet is priced under
$15
per yard, then it is likely a cheaply made carpet only designed to last a
couple of years at best. You'll be plagued with lots of snags, runs and
stains that will not be easily cleanable. Berber is a bad choice for
folks with kids or pets. A good quality Nylon Berber would clean easier,
wear better, and retain its new appearance much longer than would an
Olefin Berber.
If you decide buy a Berber carpet and
want it to last, be sure to select one with smaller loops, as the bigger
loops tend fall over quickly and look worn out sooner. As far as pad goes, an
8-pound minimum density, and a 1/4" to 3/8" thickness is
required for all Berber styles. Some Berbers are made from wool, which is an
excellent natural fiber, but are very costly. For this reason, I do not
recommend wool Berber carpets for folks with children or pets.
What
Grade of Carpet Should you Select?
Take
my free Carpet Foot
Traffic Test to find out!
Berber carpet styles, Best Berber Carpet, Worst Berber Carpet, Berber Carpet Complaints
