Berber carpet is a bulky knobby-looking loop-pile with much larger loops than commercial grade loop pile carpet, usually made of olefin or olefin/nylon blend. Berber often has random specks of color, which are usually nylon blended in with the base olefin fibers.
Because of its informal look, berber carpet is very popular residentially, especially in family rooms, recreation rooms, and multimedia rooms.
Many professional cleaners are under the mistaken impression that berber is always made of 100% olefin - which is definitely not the case! It refers to a style, not a fiber! Berber is most commonly a blend of nylon and olefin but it could be 100% nylon or even 100% wool!
Problems
with berber are visible seams, zippering,
slow drying, wicking,
reappearing
spots and streaking after cleaning. If made of olefin, irreversible pile
crush and matting and are major problems. Additionally, berber is not patchable.
Berber is made with wide loops that cannot take much flex; therefore, a thicker,
softer cushion
is not acceptable. Pad thickness should not exceed 3/8 inch. For pad or cushion
under berber, the general rule is the bigger the loop in the berber the firmer
the padding should be. If your customer is thinking of buying new olefin berber,
do your best to discourage them from doing it! Olefin berber, simply put,
is JUNK! Within just a few months, they'll be disappointed with its appearance
- severe matting, soiling and graying.
With olefin berber, the larger the loop, the worse the matting problems become.
When
cleaning olefin berber, always use extra dry strokes and blowers. Add a peroxide
brightener to help remove the graying and yellowing.
Why do some cleaners charge extra for cleaning berber?
First,
berber is usually very light in color, which means the soil is much more obvious.
Also, since it severely mats, the customer is expecting the carpet cleaner to
miraculously bring it back to its original height - which won’t happen.
But worst of all, because of the large “knobs,” you do not get total
even contact of the vacuum slot on your floor tool across its entire width. As
a result, poor vacuum occurs in the “valleys.” This means you must
slow down and take extra vacuum strokes to ensure total removal of solution and
soil. Otherwise, you will end up with streaking, wicking, and browning after the
carpet dries.
Additionally,
since berber is usually made of olefin (which does not absorb water), the cleaning
solution tends to slide down the fiber shaft into the backing since it does not
get absorbed by the carpet. As a result, drying time on olefin berber
is often much longer than nylon cut-pile.
NOTES: For berber pad, the general rule is the bigger the loop in the berber, the firmer the padding should be. If radiant heat is used, the cushion used must be a low insulating type, such as a relatively thin, flat cellular sponge rubber or synthetic fiber cushion.
Cut-loop pile Carpet Style:
Cut
and loop pile is a carpet whose face shows a pattern made up of a combination
of loop pile tufts and cut pile tufts to give a sculptured design.
Cut pile Carpet Styles: Saxony, Shag, Velvet Plush, Frieze, Cut and Loop:
Cut
Pile is a carpet pile, the face of which is composed of cut ends of pile
yarn, as compared to loop pile. Clean with the pile direction if floor
tool pops or “chatters”.
Chattering will result in streaking and dirty lines after the carpet has dried. Chattering of the floor tool occurs when it bounces up and down when you are pulling it opposite the pile direction on some cut-pile carpet or when cleaning multi-level loop carpet or most sisal rugs. When you do this, the floor tool bounces up and loses its vacuum and drops some of the dirty water back on to the carpet. After the carpet dries, you may get a complaint of streaking or lines.
Pile direction is the direction in which the tufts are pointing.
Frieze Carpet
Frieze
(pronounced “free-zay”) is a tightly twisted yarn that gives a kinked
or curled appearance to carpet pile. Friezes feature much longer fibers than saxony.
Each
carpet tuft has two ply’s of yarn that are twisted together. Most carpet
styles have 3.5 to 5 turns (twists) per inch. A frieze may have 7-9
turns per inch and the high carpet twist level causes the carpet tuft to kink
or turn back upon itself giving it a curled appearance. The fibers flop
over, concealing dirt, footprints and even vacuum marks. Frieze is perfect for
high traffic areas. Frieze carpet is often called “California shag.”
Friezes
are not suitable for formal settings. They are great in family rooms and in basements.
Tips for Cleaning Frieze:
Pile
lifting is too aggressive for this style of carpet.
One drawback to friezes is that they can be difficult to clean. With tighter, shorter piles, spills tend to sit on top of the carpet, where you can easily clean and remove the carpet stain. Since frieze fibers are long and loose, the spill is free to run everywhere, making it much more difficult to tackle.
Frieze
carpets should be vacuumed at least every two weeks. The vacuum should also contain
a beater bar which helps shake up any dirt hidden beneath the individual carpet
fibers. Professional
extraction cleaning should take place at least twice a year. Cleaning
Frieze style carpet at high temperatures will sometimes untwist the tufts!
Fusion Bonded Carpet
Fusion bonded: Backing material for fusion bonded cut pile carpet is a system of layered vinyl or plastic compound and fiberglass scrim for dimensional stability. Usually used in fabrication of 6-foot wide carpet or modular tile.
Level loop Pile Carpet
Level loop pile is where the loops all have the same length and, therefore, give a smooth level surface. Larger loops would be the berber style. The larger the loops, the greater possibility for crushing.
Loop Pile Carpet
Loop
Pile is a pile surface in which looped yarns are left uncut. Can be level,
textured, or patterned. Also called “round wire” in woven carpet terminology.
Modular carpet
Modular
carpet, also called carpet
tile. Generally 18 inch by 18 inch squares.
Multi-level Loop Pile Carpet
Multi-level
loop is a pile construction in which some loops are smaller than others
resulting in a sculptured appearance. Rough surface. Clean at 45 degree angle
or you’ll get splotching and streaking and lines from the floor tool “chattering”.
Plush Pile Carpet
Plush: Sometimes called velvet-plush or simply velvet.
Random-sheared Pile Carpet
Random-sheared: Textured pattern created by shearing some of the top or higher loops and leaving others looped. This gives a cut/uncut texture.
Saxony Style Carpet
Saxony:
A dense smooth level-cut pile, medium height carpet with surface yarns that are
closely packed and even across the face with the yarn ends visible to create a
less formal look. Minimizes foot prints.
Straight
Saxony style carpet has a velvety appearance and is referred to as trackless.
Straight Saxonies work best for formal settings, because of their high-end velvet
finish
Sculptured Carpet
Sculptured: A cut and loop patterned carpet where all of the high pile is cut and the low pile remains a loop.
Shag Carpet
Shag:
A deep-pile texture with long cut surface yarns. Pile height is greater
than 3/4 inch, with density not exceeding 1800. Shag rugs are soft, cozy and luxurious,
and come in a variety of textures and lengths. Shag is nearly impossible
to clean satisfactorily.
Sisal Carpet and Rugs
Sisal: Strictly speaking, sisal is a tough plant fiber from the West Indian Agave plant and is used sometimes to make rope. However, it is now applied more loosely to a particular woven carpet or rug style normally of natural fibers such as sisal, jute, hemp, wool, sea grass, etc. Natural Sisal water spots severely, has very poor cleanability, and is often dry clean only because it readily browns. Additionally, the pattern usually results in poor vacuum. If wet cleaning, always apply Brown Out afterward and protect with advanced-generation sealer such as Sta-Clene® or Teflon® Advanced Carpet Protector. The preferred detergent to use when wet cleaning sisal is Natural Fiber Cleaner.
Textured Carpet
Textured:
Curled or twisted tufts make for a textured surface that helps mask footprints.
This style is also frequently called “trackless”. The major difference
between a plush or velvet carpet and a textured carpet is the appearance of the
color. A plush will have a very uniform looking color. A textured carpet (even
if it is the same color as the velvet) will look like it has a random mix of light
and dark fibers. This is because the fibers in a textured carpet are twisted to
hide footprints.
Textured
Saxonies represent a large portion of the residential carpet market because they
can be used in almost any type of décor. Textured Saxonies are designed
to minimize the appearance of footprints and vacuum marks on the carpet, so they
work well in high-traffic areas. They have a less formal appearance than straight
Saxonies, so they are suitable for more casual settings such as family rooms and
dens.
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