Area Rugs | How They're Made

Being familiar with area rug construction also helps you understand and evaluate performance aspects: why certain rugs wear better and longer. Understanding how area rugs are created helps you better determine rug value and keep you inside the borders of your budget.

Machine made

• less expensive
• not considered investments
• more flexibility and variety
• woven rugs created on automated weaving looms
• elaborate designs created by placement of different colors of yarn

Man made

• handmade (also called hand knotted)
• custom-made
• one of a kind designs
• incorporate creative, brilliant uses of color
• unique details and intricacies in each due to the village, city or country of the creator
• often created with natural dyes for color longevity
• considered an investment
• many become heirlooms
• ancient and unique process

 Elements that tie any handmade rug together

WEAVE

• technique used in making handmade rugs

Three major techniques: pile weave, flat weave and hand-tufted

Pile Weave

• method of weaving used in most rugs
• rug is woven by a creation of knots
• different weaving groups use different types of knots
• every single knot is tied by hand
• can consist of 25 to over 1000 knots per square inch
• skillful weavers tie knots in about ten seconds (meaning it would take a skillful weaver 6,480 hours to weave a 9x12-foot rug with a density of 150 knots per square inch)
• time reduced with workshops or multiple weavers

Flat Weave

• technique of weaving where no knots are used
• warp strands used as the foundation
• weft stands are used as the foundation and in the patterns
• called flat weaves since no knots are used in the weaving process and the surface looks flat

Hand Tufted

• created without tying knots into the foundation
• pile height determined by amount of yarn cut off
• less time consuming than hand-tying each knot
• requires a high level of craftsmanship
• can be made faster than hand-knotted rugs
• generally less expensive than hand-knotted
• highly durable and accurate
• weathers foot traffic for years

KNOT

• woven by tying knots on the warp strands
• two predominant types of knots: asymmetrical and symmetrical

Asymmetrical (Persian or Senneh) Knot:

• used in Iran, India, Turkey, Egypt and China
• to form, yarn is wrapped around one warp strand and then passed under the neighboring warp strand and brought back to the surface
• creates a finer weave   

Symmetrical (Turkish or Ghiorde) Knot:

• used in Turkey, the Caucasus and Iran by Turkish and Kurdish tribes

Knot Density:

• refers to the number of knots per square inchor square decimeter in a handmade rug
• measured in the imperial system in square inches and in the metric system in square decimeters
• KPSI is sometimes used to indicate value
• higher the number of knots per square inch, the higher the quality, and price

DYES/DYEING

• process of changing the natural color of materials such as wool, silk and cotton
• two types of dyes: natural dyes and synthetic dyes

Natural Dyes:

• natural dyes only used until late 19th century
• include plant dyes, animal dyes and mineral dyes
• plant dyes come from roots, flowers, leaves, fruit, and the bark of plants
• woad, a plant from the mustard and indigo family, is used for blue dye
• yellow is produced from saffron, safflower, sumac, turmeric, onionskin, rhubarb, weld, and fustic
• Madder, Redwood and Brazilwood has been used since ancient times for reds
• browns and blacks come from catechu dye, oak bark, oak galls, acorn husks, tea, and walnut husks
• henna is used for orange
• for green, indigo that is over-dyed with any variety of a yellow dye is used
• mineral dyes come from ocher (yellow, brown, red), limestone or lime (white), manganese (black), cinnabar and lead oxide (red), azurite and lapis lazuli (blue), and malachite (green)

Synthetic Dyes:

• mid-nineteenth century, when demand for handmade rugs increased in the West, production increased in the East
• need for easy-to-use and less expensive dyes with a wider range of colors caused development of synthetic dyes in Europe
• synthetic dyes imported to Persia (Iran), Anatolia (Turkey) and other Eastern countries
• first synthetic dye, Fuchsine (a magenta aniline), was developed in the 1850s
• other synthetic aniline dyes followed, later banned by the Persian king
• Persian weavers discontinued the use of synthetic dyes until the modern synthetic chrome dyes developed between World Wars I and II
• chrome dyes are colorfast, retain their intensity and are produced in a variety of attractive colors and shades
• mostly chrome synthetic dyes are used for coloring weaving yarns
• natural dyes are used in places where they are easily obtainable