Some people love it. Some people hate it. But, Berber carpet is more popular than any other style and has unique features that require specific care. It's important to enjoy your Berber carpet and to be educated on how to properly care for it.
The biggest reason Berber has such unique care requirements is because of the type of fiber the Berber is made from. More inexpensive Berber carpets are commonly made from olefin. While there are many benefits to olefin fiber, unfortunately it attracts oils and makes the Berber carpet appear dingy. These oils come from your skin, the bottom of shoes, or even from cooking in the kitchen. If you own olefin based Berber carpet, it is unlikely you'll fully get the carpet clean yourself. Oily olefin Berber is even quite a headache for professional carpet cleaners. However, nylon Berber carpets are much easier to clean and there are some ways you can do it yourself.
No matter the type of Berber you have, all Berber carpets have a tight weave. Why does this make a difference? The unique tight weave of Berber absorbs and holds more water - causing two problems: 1) using too much water to clean your Berber, will encourage mildew growth because it will not fully dry. 2) 'wicking'. Your Berber may appear clean at first, but as it dries, you'll notice that the oils start to reappear. Dry cleaning Bereber helps avoid wicking. Sometimes a second round of dry cleaning is needed for dirtier carpets.
For stain management, when you see a spill, your best weapon is to immediately efficiently remove the stain. Follow these steps as quickly as possible: Get out your vacuum and grab some baking soda and a towel. Throw the baking soda on the spill—it does a good job absorbing the liquid without rubbing it into the pad. The, wait about 20 seconds and vacuum up the baking soda. Repeat this process until the baking soda stops absorbing liquid (you won't see the powder ball up). After this, you can blot with the towel to try to absorb any extra moisture that's there. Also, you can try mixing vinegar and water for a homemade stain cleaner (white vinegar and about a 1 to 5 ratio of vinegar to water)! [source]
Berber Carpet Experts recommend avoiding renting a carpet cleaner to clean the carpet yourself: "If you take this route, keep two important things in mind: don't use a machine with a brush and don't use too much water! I really think it's best to have any carpet and especially Berber cleaned by a professional you trust, like Gator Clean. You get a deeper clean from a professional, and they should know what they're doing to reduce the chances of wicking and mildew."
