While they can still be beautiful, many Oriental rugs available to buy today are made by machine instead of traditional methods. Whether you are in the market for a luxury Oriental rug or have inherited one and are interested whether it is hand-made, there are ways to tell. Read on to get informed.
Check the backing
The best place to start your investigation is the back of the rug. As they are hand-knotted, authentic Oriental rugs always have a soft back and the patterns present will match those at the top pile in mirror image. A dead giveaway of a machine-made rug is if the back is plastic, which is common in products made with synthetic materials. In short, hand-tufted does not mean hand-made.
Is it hand knotted?
As mentioned, genuine Oriental rugs are tirelessly tied by hand. The phrase “hand tufted” should never be confused with “hand knotted”. Hand tufting is a simpler technique using a tufting gun to punch a design into a machine-made rug’s canvas backing. While such rugs can still have appeal, they will last for a far shorter time. Think seven years rather than 50.
Examine the fringe
Finally, in Oriental rugs, the fringe is more than a design element but is part of the rugs structure. If you see that then fringe on the rug has been sewn or glued on, it isn’t an authentic Oriental rug.
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