What is Berber carpet? Berber carpeting is an unprocessed type of wool carpets. The term "Berber" term comes from the Middle East. Nothing completes a room quite like choosing the right carpet. Having a...
Nothing completes a room quite like choosing the right carpet. Having a gorgeous carpet can turn a regular room into a spectacular room. But on the other end of the spectrum, the wrong carpet can be disastrous.
When it comes to choosing the perfect carpet, the more information you have about a certain style can be very beneficial to your results. Of all the different carpet styles there are, one of the more popular styles that has passed the test of time is Berber carpet. Berber carpet continues to be one of the more popular floor coverings because of its ability to hide vacuum tracks and footprints extremely well.
Carol Turner has worked with the Carpet and Rug Institute for sixteen years as a technical services manager. He has been responsible for some of the testing programs for carpet, vacuum cleaners, and adhesives. Turner is an expert on Berber carpet and its characteristics.
"The term .Berber' comes from the Middle East.," he says. "It is an unprocessed type of wool carpet. It has a fairly large loop construction with a fleck of fairly light color in it. However, it may also have flecks of a darker color."
According to the Florida Carpet Care Center, the definition of Berber carpet is simple.
The term Berber is applied to carpet that has the off-white, heathered look of cloaks used by the Berber tribes of North Africa. Berber carpets use flecked yarns most often in loop styles. The size of the loops varies from large nubby ones to smaller styles. Patterned Berbers are multi-level-loop as well as cut-and-loop styles. Berber styles are available in pastels and dark tones as well as naturals.
"Berber carpet is fairly popular," says Turner. "Today, it is made with synthetic fiber rather than wool. It generally creates a very attractive carpet at a fairly low price for the consumer."
Carpets are often chosen because of their characteristics. If someone is going to have a lot of traffic on their carpet, they may want to look into finding a carpet that withstands more footwork.
"One of the characteristics of Berber is that it gives you an informal look as far as carpet on the floor," Turner says. "Many people like it because it is fairly flat surfaced. It is very popular today, and it is used in a lot of informal areas."
"Generally, it will be fairly low cost because it is not made with nylon," he adds. "Nylon is usually used for premium priced type carpets."
Just as with any carpet you install in your house, there are going to be certain disadvantages that the consumer should be aware of. While Berber is one of the more popular carpets among consumers, it does have disadvantages that Turner says should be taken into consideration before making a serious purchase, "The disadvantage of Berber carpet is that you usually get runs and pulls in the carpet. Sometimes you can get a loop that catches. If a loop catches, it will pull out the carpet."
