OT: Best way to clean BERBER carpet

[clh2]

Why do you all hate berber so much? I just ordered some for my house (living room) and now you are making me very nervous.

Is it harder to clean/vacuum than plush? I thought it was supposed to be more durable than regular plush carpeting.

aaaahhhhh - with so much $ on the line, have I made a bad decision?

We had berber in our family room when we moved into our house 12 years ago. We replaced it with a berber 2 years ago. We LOVE berber, it wears really well. The first berber was about 14 years old when we replaced it.

 

[mecook]

I work in the carpet industry, put berber throughout the house I built, and wish I had it in this one now...but from my own experience with kid's spills, it's what's LEFT in the padding below ANY style of carpet that will crop back up and bite you later on.
To the original poster, don't be surprised to find red punch stains again shortly. Our reoccurring stain was cola. Every visit from the steam cleaner truck would clean it (again), but it was never gone for good.

Melanie

 

[PaulaSue]

I went ahead today and went to Walmart and bought the Hoover Steam Cleaner. I have cleaned everything but the stairs and all of the stains have came out thus far. For the "fruit punch stain" I sprayed scrubbing bubbles on it first.. I figured if it can clean my toilet and tub it can take a stain out of my carpet. I had to go over it a few times but it did come up. YAY!!!!

I do know if I build another home it will not have any carpet in it!!!!!!! I don't care how much more wood costs!!!

Thanks for all the advice!!

COOL! Glad my suggestion worked!

 

[princesscj]

Just so it is clarified, as someone else said, the older stuff is wool (which would be mine) and it leaves stains easily.

Also, as in regular carpet there are different grades of Berber.

IMO, I don't like it. I prefer plush carpet. I hate the staining!

Not to mention, don't get a puppy with Berber. She has caused a couple of runs in the carpet and chewed some of it on the stairs.

Mine runs easily. So, it looks bad! We have only been here a year, and that is on the list to be replaced!


SCUBBING BUBBLES?? Gotta try that!!!! Did it discolor the carpet at all???

 

[jennifer293]

SCUBBING BUBBLES?? Gotta try that!!!! Did it discolor the carpet at all???

No, it didn't discolor it at all, but keep in mind that mine is off white carpet with flecks of beige, so if you used it on something darker it might. I did not leave it on there for more than say 3 minutes or so because I was afraid of that. DH was so surprised when he got home how clean it all was.

I also have several areas where my carpet has been snagged from my dog, and there is a spot in my bedroom under my bed where my little sister dropped the iron on the floor when she lived here. Luckily the dog has never "messed" on the carpet so I don't have to worry about any of those stains coming back to haunt me.

 

[gottaluvdis]

I second Nature's Miracle. DH is in the pet supply business and carries this line, so we get it for free and it does work (especially on odors). I also have a Green Machine by Bissell that I use on every stain after spraying it with a spot remover like Natures Miracle, Resolve etc. (whatever I have laying around). Our 2 cats are 13 years old and tend to throw up a lot lately. I have plush carpet throughout most of the house, with an off-white berber in my family room. The berber definitely shows the dirt more and it's hard to keep clean. I hire a professional carpet cleaner to come at least twice a year to do the whole house. Whatever equipment she uses works amazing and she charges me about $200 each visit for roughly 2000 sq feet of carpeted area. I have hard wood in my kitchen, which I love, but wouldn't put it in the family/living areas because of the northern winters. We like the coziness of carpet. I would, however, consider it for our bedrooms and may replace the carpet with wood there. Our carpet is going on 14 years old and needs replacing badly, so we'll be wrestling with what to replace it with very soon. I know I will be cutting down on the square footage that is covered by carpeting (i.e., plan to use tile in one of the hallways, wood in the dining room etc.).

 

[rach2674]

I just looked at Home Depot and the guy there said he used to clean carpets for a living and he just bought the Bissel heat pro one for 169.00 and said it works pretty good. The only thing I'm wondering is if those are as good as the Hoover. I like the Hoover better because it has several round brushes on the bottom and the Bissel has the rotating brush more like a vacuum cleaner. Any opinions on which work better?

Rachel

 

[dandave]

I haven't found anything that spot cleans as well as Capture. I have only found it at Home Depot and Lowes. It costs about $5 for a Windex sized bottle. Capture has cleaned everything I've ever used it on from black axle grease to spaghetti sauce. Love it!

We also have Berber. The Contractor had warned me not to ever pull or cut any snags, but to call the carpet people to come fix it. Even though the house was under warranty and I could have had the snags fixed for free, I didn't want to mess around with waiting on strange people to fix a small snag.I figured out how to very easily fix snags myself with Super Glue Gel (it must be GEL) and a single chopstick.

Just put down a small blob of gel on the carpet backing underneath where the snag happened, recurl the berber so that you are matching the original pattern, then use the chopstick to press the carpet into the gel. Hold it down for a few seconds and voila! If the snag is a few inches long, just keep repeating the process in 1/2 - 1 inch sections.

 

[marlynnp]

Great tip Dave! I have done the same using a hot glue gun.