Best Vacuum for Berber Carpet

By William | February 26, 2014

Thoughts and Recommendations for Choosing the Best Vacuum for Berber Carpet! 

Latest 2020 Recommendations!

By William Marcus

This information is intended to help you find the Best Vacuum Cleaner for your Berber Carpet and avoid some of the problems commonly associated with Berber Carpet!

Berber Carpet is the style of the weave and not the composition of the fibers used to make the carpet. There are actually three different fibers commonly used to produce Berber Carpet: Wool, Nylon, and Olefin (sometimes referred to as recycled pop bottles or PET.)

One of the main problems with Berber carpet when it comes to vacuuming is the tight braided weave. If you snag a strand and break it the whole row may come unraveled, especially the two synthetic fibers Nylon and Olefin.

That is why it is important never to walk on it with high heels, keep pets off it with their claws and make sure you are using the right vacuum cleaner that won’t snag the fibers.

How to Test Your Berber Carpet Fiber!

If you bought the Berber Carpet in your home you probably already know what fiber it is but if not it is Critical that you know what kind of fiber you are dealing with so you will know how to best care for your Berber carpet.

Try and find a scrap piece of your carpet left over from installation or you can carefully pull out and cut a small piece of the fiber in an obscure place like inside a closet. You only need about an inch or so to do a test.

Now, pour One Drop of common dish-washing liquid into a cup of water. Stir the mixture just a couple swirls avoiding any foam or bubbles. Place the fiber ON the surface of the mixture. If the fiber sinks be happy! This means your Berber Carpet is either made of Nylon Fiber or Wool Fiber.

To determine which one simply hold the fiber that over a flame. If it smells like burnt hair it is wool. If it has a burnt plastic smell it is Nylon.

This means your Berber carpet will not be too difficult to maintain and with proper care will probably last a long time whereas if the fiber floated it would mean it was Olefin which presents more challenges for cleaning and maintaining.

Choosing the Best Vacuum for Berber Carpet!

Regardless of which fiber your Berber Carpet is made of you DO NOT want to use a Rotating Brush to clean it.  If you choose a vacuum cleaner with a rotating brush make certain it has a Brushroll DISENGAGE feature or On/Off switch.

A rotating brush can snag the strands and pull up little loops which will eventually break and unravel ruining the weave and the carpet. But, if your carpet is made of Olefin fiber the spinning brush could also immediately ruin your carpet!

Olefin has a LOW MELTING POINT and a spinning brush can generate enough heat from the friction to melt the fibers of your carpet leaving permanent brown streaks. Just dragging a piece of furniture across your Olefin Berber carpet can cause permanent melt streaks.

Quality Berber Carpet isn’t cheap but it will last for many years with proper care. Likewise, a high quality vacuum cleaner isn’t cheap but it too will last for many years with proper care. I recommend that you choose the best vacuum cleaner your budget will allow. It will pay you dividends in the overall owner experience and save you $$ money $$ in the long run.

Upright VS Canister Vacuum for Berber Carpet – which is best?

Your Berber Carpet requires a vacuum with a High amount of Suction Power to be able to lift out the dirt without a spinning brush.  The suction alone is enough to remove most dirt, dust, and debris from Berber Carpet.

If your home has other Non-Berber carpet your best choice for a vacuum cleaner would be an Upright model with an ON/OFF Brush Roll selector like the vacuums listed below.

Upright Vacuum – This option will allow you to Disengage the Brush Roll so it does not spin while you vacuum your Berber Carpet and even bare or hardwood floors. Then, when you want to vacuum your Pile carpet simply engage the Brush Roll.

Canister Vacuum – If your home has Berber Carpet and smooth floors your best bet is a high quality Canister vacuum and here are the reasons why:

• Excellent cleaning power with suction-only or with the proper floor brush
• Easier to operate – you only maneuver the wand and floor attachment with your hand and arm, the rest of the weight is pulled along with your body.
• A canister vacuum is much lighter and handier than uprights for multi-level homes and works great on stairs.
• Some Canister vacuum models are available with motor-powered floor brushes for homes that also have medium to lush pile carpet.

Best CANISTER Vacuums for Berber Carpet – RECOMMENDATIONS

By now you should have a better idea of what kind of vacuum cleaner will be your best option!

Below I have listed Three CANISTER Vacuums that have the right features to work well on your Berber Carpet without damaging it.  Each model has excellent Suction Power, an On/Off Brushroll Selector, and each one has Positive Customer Reviews.

Miele Complete C2 Hard Floor Canister Vacuum Cleaner

This one of the very best vacuums for cleaning your Berber Carpet and offers excellent value. It’s also a smart choice for hardwood floors.

The Miele Complete C2 is the only vacuum you will need if your home has Berber or other low pile carpet and smooth floors.

Miele of Germany has been producing high-quality home appliances since 1899.

Miele Vacuums are renowned worldwide for their superior cleaning ability; ease of use, and for lasting decades in many cases.

Good Housekeeping has been recommending Miele vacuums for years which should give you some added confidence the C2 series.

The Miele Complete C2 Hard Floor Canister has a quiet Vortex Soft-Start motor that creates a powerful suction, necessary to muscle up stubborn dirt from Berber Carpet weave.

It comes equipped with the SBD285-3 Combination Rug and Floor Tool designed especially for vacuuming Berber Carpet or other low pile carpet. It has a Rocker Switch you can click with your toe to transition to your smooth or hardwood floors.  The SBB400-3 Parquet Twister XL Floor Brush has natural horse hair bristles and is the perfect tool for cleaning hardwood floors.

Take a look at the bottom and you will see there is NO SPINNING BRUSH.

I recommend that you use the FiberTeQ Floor Tool Smooth Floor setting on your Berber Carpet. The natural Bristles on the FiberTeQ Floor Attachment are stiff enough to provide gentle agitation to dirt, dust, and hair lodged in the braid so the strong suction will lift it into the head. The Rug setting will also work well for Suction-Only Cleaning and is easier to push on Berber Carpet, but will not provide any agitation, to loosen the really stubborn dirt.

Features

• Variable Motor Speed Control to set the ideal Suction for any job
• Auto-Rewind Cord + the Crush Proof Hose & Telescoping Wand provide up to 29 ½ ft. reach for large areas
• Non-marking rubber wheels rotate 360 deg.
• Soft-Start Motor for long life
• Bag Full Indicator on top (Upgradable to a HEPA-Level Filter SF-HA 30 filter)
• Comes with: SBB400-3 Parquet Twister XL Floor Brush, SBD285-3 Combination Rug and Floor Tool, Dusting Brush, Crevice Tool, Upholstery and Stair Tool
• Miele Warranty 7 Year Motor, 1 Year chassis & housing

Watch this Cool Demo Video!

The Miele Complete C2 is a Full-Size Canister vacuum and is ideal for a larger home.  If your home is smaller than 1200 sq. ft. you may want to consider the Miele Compact C1 Pure Suction Canister Vacuum which weighs only 14.8 lbs. and is about $100 less expensive than the C2.

NOTE: If your home has medium carpet you will need a Miele Canister vacuum with a turbo floor brush such as the Miele Compact C1 Turbo Team Canister Vacuum.

If you have Plush Pile Carpet in your home I recommend the Miele Complete C3 Marin with a motorized floor brush.

 

 

Soniclean Galaxy 1150 Canister Vacuum Cleaner

The recently introduced Soniclean Galaxy 1150 has been racking up positive customer reviews with its excellent cleaning performance.

The German Soniclean Company has been building high quality floor-care products since 1992.

The Soneclean Galaxy 1150 offers a less expensive alternative to the Miele Classic C1 with similar high performance. It comes with a couple more very useful attachments that give it even more versatility than the Miele Classic C1.

First, a Horse Hair floor Brush intended for smooth or hardwood floors is the perfect choice for cleaning your Berber Carpet. It will provide the gentle-but-safe agitation necessary to loosen stubborn dirt and hair without damaging the carpet fibers.

It also comes with a Turbo Air Powered Floor Brush that works very well on low to medium pile Non-Berber carpet.

Variable Speed 1150 Watt Motor adjusts for cleaning smooth floors, and low to medium pile carpet. Or drapes and furniture.

Sealed Bags provide HEPA-Level Filtration on the Soniclean Galaxy 1150 and will remove up to 99.97% of micro-dust particles as tiny as 0.30 microns that could trigger an allergic event. These bags also have the Self-Seal feature found in Miele Canister vacuums that help prevent the dust from escaping when changing bags.

More Features

• Very Quiet Operation
• Automatic Power Cord Rewind
• Hose rotates 360 degrees for complete flexibility
• Telescoping Wand adjusts for over-head cleaning
• Rubber wheels designed to be safe of hardwood floors
• Soniclean Manufacturer’s Five Years Motor Warranty

If high quality and excellent performance is important to you the Soniclean Galaxy 1150 Canister Vacuum Cleaner should be on your short list.

Watch this Cool Demo Video!