Berber rug cleaning

Hoogpolig: the dust falls to the base of the pile

A Berber has a long, loose pile, without the knot density that on a Persian rug forms a tight surface. The pile parts at every step and lets the dust fall right down to its base. The vacuum cleaner, for its part, only touches the top of the tufts: it picks up what has just fallen, never what has gone down.

That is why the Berber is, of all rugs, the one that gives up the most to mechanical dusting. We work by vibration and powerful suction, on both faces — the woolly reverse, with no coated backing, releases as much as the front. And we do this work dry, before the water: wetting that mineral dust turns it into mud at the foot of the tufts.

A greasy wool that must not be degreased

The Berber is woven in a greasy wool, little scoured during preparation. A great deal of lanolin has therefore stayed on the fibre. It is what gives that slightly tallowy feel, that suppleness, and a real resistance to water-based soiling — a liquid spilt on a sound Berber beads before it goes in.

The usual reflex is to treat this substance as dirt and to reach for a degreaser. That is the mistake that ruins the most Berbers. An alkaline detergent, all the more so a hot one, dissolves the lanolin. The rug comes out clean, then turns dry, harsh and cottony — and gets dirty far more quickly than before, for want of the protection that has been taken off it. So we wash with neutral soap, below 30 °C, without degreaser, accepting that the wool stays what it is.

The ivory ground that yellows

Ivory, ecru, cream: it is the signature of the Berber, and it is also what gives everything away. Yellowing rarely has a single cause. Wool is washed between pH 5 and 7; above pH 8, the alkalinity lifts the scales, the fibre swells and yellows. Add to that soap that has been badly rinsed, which goes on working in the fibre for months, and slow drying, which lets the dissolved soiling migrate back up to the surface as it dries.

The consequence is counter-intuitive: on an ivory yellowed by alkalinity, putting more product on it makes matters worse. What helps is the opposite — rinsing carried on until complete neutrality, and drying fast enough for nothing to migrate. Direct sunlight does the rest of the work in the other direction: a Berber left under a picture window yellows by oxidation, and that does not wash out.

A great deal of water to get out

A long pile holds a great deal of water. Without spin extraction, the base of the tufts and the foundation stay damp for several days, even though the surface feels dry to the touch. That is exactly the situation that produces the cellar smell, brown rings and, if it goes on, mould.

Spinning is therefore not a workshop luxury, it is what makes drying possible within a useful time: dried flat, out of the sun, in a ventilated atmosphere, of the order of 22 °C and 45 % relative humidity, in under twenty-four hours. It is also the reason why a Berber cleaned on site, by hot water extraction, dries badly: it can neither be taken out, nor spun, nor dried flat.

After washing: comb, do not brush

On a short pile, you brush in the direction of the pile to lay the fibres back down and bring back the lustre. On a long pile, that action crushes the tufts. We comb: a wide comb, or the fingers, worked at the root to separate the tufts that have stuck together and bring back the volume. A well-finished Berber is judged by its relief, not by its shine.

Routine care follows the same logic. Vacuum without a rotating brush, which tears at the long pile and makes it pill. Shake the piece out and turn it round regularly. Deal quickly with organic stains: on a greasy wool they take hold less easily, but once they are in they attract moth larvae, which digest the keratin of the wool.