Q&A How To Clean & Care For My Moroccan Berber Rug

"How do I clean and care for my Moroccan Berber rug?", is one of the questions I get asked often from berber-rug-newbies after a rug arrived in its new home. Well, as long as you don`t pour wine or tomato sauce on your rug, the cleaning process is pretty easy and simple. And no worries, even for wine and tomato sauces there is solutions to get your rug clean again. I want you to feel alive on your rug and enjoy it as much as you can, so don`t worry if something happens, here is some Questions and Answers for the care of your Berber carpet.

Can I vacuum-clean my Berber rug without any worries?

Yes, you can. There is no problem about vacuuming a Berber rug regularly. When the rugs are newly handknotted they might loose a bit wool in the beginning and this is completely normal and will get less with time.

What can I do to take as good care of my Berber rug as the Berbers` do?

If you want to do it like a Berber, shake your carpet once in a while and/or hang it on the balcony or on a window for some hours to get fresh air into it. Don`t forget that your carpet is made out of wool if it is a Beni Ourain, Azilal or Boujad carpet. This is a natural material which likes to breathe.

If you travel through Morocco, you see many houses which have their carpets hanging out of the window to let them "breathe" and "have a sunbath". The Moroccan Berber carpets like that a lot!

If you have a very big carpet and it is not so easy to shake it or just quickly take it out on the balcony to the fresh air, that is also no problem. I recommend then to fold it up in some corners and vacuum the floor below the rug to get a certain exchange of air there and cleansing. Your rug will thank it to you.

"Ooops, it happened!" - What shall I do if any dirt comes on my Berber rug?

That depends on the dirt. But usually: The faster you react the easier the dirt will go away.

Here is some examples:

Sauces, coffee, tea & other liquids: Get a wet sponge with a little bit of soap and rub it carefully out. Dry the spot up with a towel or hang it into the sun.

Cakes & suchlike: If the product is somehow wet, then get kitchen paper first and take the most of it away. After that you rub the rest carefully out with a wet sponge soaked in a little bit of soap. If it is something dry, take it away and brush it out if possible. Then get a wet sponge with a little bit of soap and rub the rest carefully out. Even if you cannot see anything anymore after the brushing, I recommend to do the last step too keep the wool quality high in the longer term. Dry the spot up with a towel or hang it into the sun.

Cat or dog vomit: If you find it fresh, then get kitchen paper first and take the most of it away. After that you rub the rest carefully out with a wet sponge soaked in a little bit of soap. If you find the vomit dried up, take it away and brush it out. Then get a wet sponge with a little bit of soap and rub the rest carefully out. Even if you cannot see any vomit anymore, do the last step as the stomach acid could have a negative effect on the wool quality in the longer term. Dry the wet spot up with a towel or hang it into the sun.

What shall I do when someone pours wine on my Berber rug?

Put raw rice on the spot. The rice will suck all the wine away from the rug.

I have to say, that this never happened to me and I cannot talk out of experience. But this happened to my sister`s white wool Beni Ourain and this is where I got this tip from and she said that this worked out perfectly to her.

I want to wash my Berber rug by myself. How can I do that?

There is a whole blog article which describes in detail step by step how to do the washing of a Berber rug, CLICK HERE to read more about DIY - Washing a Moroccan Berber carpet.

I hope, this blog article was helpful to you. Was it? Or is there still anything important missing? Do you have any other questions about the cleansing process?

If you want, you can directly write a comment into that blog article and I will answer as soon as I see it. If you have any urgent questions, contact me please on hediadahmani@gmail.com.

Enjoy your rugs!

Hedi