How to choose a Berber Rug
Depending on the Berber Rug (also called carpet) you are buying, how precious it is to you, what it means to you and how much money you spend for it. The genuine Berber Rugs can cost thousands of dollars, thus you wouldn’t afford not to know how to look after them and to repair any damage. The original Berber rugs are the ones handmade by the Berbers, who are the native people of North Africa. The most known ones are the Algerians and the Moroccans. The genuine Berber rugs are made with sheep wool or good quality Synthetic fibre to reduce the cost to the buyers. The Berber type of rugs is so called because of the type of weave and the meaningful Berber symbols used, they are never made with machines, but all made individually by hand.
Before you buy Berber rugs, you ought to ask about their origins and the material used. The sheep wool smells like your own hair when you burn it, so it is easy to tell. The synthetic fibre or so called Nylon rug has brighter and cleaner colours, and you burn it, it smells like plastic. But that is the only difference, which can reduce the price of your rug by 50% or more depending on the quality. It is a very durable rug, constructed of rugged looped pile running in parallel lines.
The same property makes it difficult for dirt to work it’s way in, so the solution is to vacuum frequently but without using a brushing or beater bar attachment. Get the soil while it is still sitting up there on top just waiting to be picked up. If you keep up with your Berber carpet cleaning in this way it will make things much easier when it is time for more thorough cleaning.
Contrarily to the Olefin carpets that are machine made; Nylon is the man made fibre that put Berber into the mainstream. It makes for a much more affordable product than wool while maintaining a wool-like appearance. Nylon resists abrasion, is resilient enough to bounce back from heavy traffic and remains lustrous through numerous cleaning cycles, whose qualities are similar to those of sheep wool rugs. The latter are naturally warm in winter and cool in summer, therefore gentle to your feet and your body if you use them to lay down on them.
Clean and maintain a Berber carpet
As always, proper cleaning starts with regular vacuuming, preferably before dirt has a chance to settle down to the base of the loops. Don’t use a beater bar or rotating brush attachment because these can snag on a loop and pull off a complete line. The more powerful the suction of your vacuum, the better.
If you spill wax, chocolate, oily products and the alike on your Berber rugs, just boil some water, take your rug to the balcony and pour the hot water over it. The stain should come off after repeating the exercise a couple of times, if not, using your hands try to rub it thoroughly while you pour more hot water on it. Make sure you don’t burn yourself. One exercise at a time.
Berber rugs will never become cheaper or maybe available in abundance in the market around the world, so just take very good care of them. I would recommend regular vacuum cleaning at home and once every year take it for a dry cleaning if it has endured heavy traffic on, or every two years if not.
Why Berber Rugs?
1. The matching symbols, colours and decorations used in our Berber Rugs are matching those used in our Berber clothing such as the Saharan and the Kabyle. Similar symbols are also found in our Jewellery and pottery. We are a one-stop-shop for Berber handicraft.
2. Choice in Size: You can get all different sizes and decorations, which can fit anywhere at home.
3. Hypo-allergenic Genuine Berber Rug is the perfect choice for anyone with allergies or children. It is made from wool so it is non toxic and non allergenic and it stops bacterial growth right in its tracks.
4. Comfort The manufacturing process created wool loops that have millions of air pockets in them so the carpet has a nice cushiony feeling when you walk on it. It also has an insulation factor because of the weave which helps regulate the temperature of the room.
5. Quality: Berber is one of the most durable and easy carpets to clean. Stains are easily lifted and it takes a lot of miles on the carpet for it to show any wear. Berber is well known for its longevity while still looking as new as the day it was purchased. It hardly ever shows footprints, and it doesn`t show the lines from the vacuum cleaner. The only thing you need to watch is that you don`t snag it and damage it.
6. Choice of Colours: The Berbers choose carefully their colours which are vegetable dyes. They consist of earthen and neutral colours, dark colours, and even pastel colours. Not only are there plenty of colours to choose from there are plenty of patterns to choose from. Berbers offer more choices than almost any other type of rugs in the world.
7. Irregularities on the floor: The density of Berber rugs makes them easily hide irregularities in the sub floor without spending a fortune to repair it.
8. Cost effective: They might seem expensive when you see the prices in shops, but knowing how long these rugs can last, and how easy they are to clean, you would soon realise that is extremely low cost. At home, we still have Berber Rugs that I personally used as a blanket some 30 years ago to cover is winter that breaks jaws. To tell you the truth, they still have changed neither in colour nor in shape. Besides, BSH went all the way to the deep Sahara to select the finest and most beautiful pieces for your collection. We are the first hand, that is the reason why our prices are so low.
9. History and culture: The Berber carpets, especially the M’zab carpets were made by women using all Berber symbols that represent a message that she gives to her future husband called “the belt of the bride”. If you buy a genuine Berber rug, you know there is an ancient culture behind it and a message that lies beneath. Therefore it is very decorative, very durable, and the whole Berber culture in it. Don`t you find it exciting?!
10. Precious time is spent to weave a good quality rug. Example: 3m x 2m rug can be handmade in between 3 to 6 months