Repair a Snag in Berber Carpet
If a pet's claw or other sharp object has pulled a loop of yarn up out of your Berber carpet, you can repair it with a couple of simple tools and some patience. Berber consists of long strands of yarn woven in and out of the holes in a sheet of backing material. Repairing a snag is similar to working a loop of yarn back into a sweater.
Steps
- Look closely at the pulled loop of carpet. Identify where the yarn is woven into the backing material and where it comes out to form the next loop. You may need to pull on the snagged loop to identify where the yarn goes next.
- Place one knitting needle, screwdriver, or other long, thin tool through the snagged loop of carpet. This will prevent you from pulling the loop all the way through the backing.
- Using another knitting needle, screwdriver, or other long, thin tool, pull up the next loop in the carpet so that the snagged loop is pulled back down. This may take some force. Leave the original snagged loop just slightly larger than the surrounding loops of carpet, so that the newly pulled-out loop is slightly smaller than the original snag.
- Repeat this process, weaving the yarn through the backing, each time making the new pulled-out loop of carpet just a little smaller than the previous one. Eventually you can work the snag back into the fabric of the carpet. The amount of time and number of loops this will take depends on how big the original snag is.
- Alternately, if the berber yarn has pulled more than just a few loops, the row(s) can be cut out and a new section of yarn can be fastened back into the area needing repair. This can be accomplished if you have some left-over berber from when the carpet was originally installed. If not, a small closet can be used for "donor" material.
- Either way, use a new, sharp utility knife and cut out the backing of the area that needs repairing. Cut close to the good rows of yarn without cutting into them. Take your donor carpet and match the pattern to the repair area. Cut a patch to fit the repair area, test fit, remove, put blob of hot glue in area of repair, place piece back into repair. Make sure repaired section is level with surrounding berber.
- If small snags are noted anywhere in berber, use sharp tool and gently press snag to where it is level with surrounding yarn.
Tips
- You really have to get your nose into the carpet to see how the loops of yarn go through the backing. A magnifying glass -- or sharp-eyed young person--may help.
Warnings
- Your carpet repair tools should be strong and stiff, preferably metal. It takes considerable force to pull the loops of carpet up and down.
Things You'll Need
- Two long, thin, stiff metal tools, such as knitting needles, ice pick or screwdrivers.
