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The process of Persian rug making – from start to finish

First things first, it's all about location. Persian rugs are oriental rugs exclusively made in Iran. After reading this article, you might feel capable of knotting your own rug. But as long as you don't live in Iran, you can't call it Persian, ok? We are taking you through the journey of a Persian rug, from creation to your living room.


Weaving and learning how to weave

Since the dawn of time, Iranian women have been weaving carpets at home. As soon as little girls can manage, they are taught the technique of rug weaving. They first learn the method on small vertical looms, made for their tiny hands. Once they master the process, they work together with the matriarchs in the family to learn about their family's motifs and signature prints. By the age of ten, they often have fully mastered the weaving techniques, but there is still much more to learn; they need to know all about the wool, looms and the finished carpet. Once they master all of this, they become true artisans creating a stunning oriental rug from start to finish.


Nomad families use the same weaving techniques; however, the most significant difference is found in the loom; nomadic families use a horizontal loom.



The raw materials

The part of the rug we most often see is generally made from wool and silk. But, interestingly enough, your oriental rug also contains cotton.


Wool and silk are used for the carpet pile; cotton, on the other hand, is needed for warp and weft threads.


Most rugs are made of sheep's wool, but nomadic tribes sometimes use wool from goats or camels, yes camels!


Rug artisans need the best quality in wool, and this is a challenging task that requires skill and experience. The yarn is hand-sorted, and quality is checked based on the length and fineness of the threads. The shepherds take great care of their sheep as climate, pastures, age, and shearing have a massive influence on the quality of the wool.


But all wool is used; wool of inferior quality is used to make felt!


After the quality check, the women comb the wool and twist it around their wrists. Then the wool goes through the manual spinning machine, creating the perfect yarn for the beautiful rug.



All about the Dyes

If your rug is a vintage rug pre mid 19th century, you can be sure the dyes used on your rug are 100% natural.


Persian carpets are known for their beautiful colour palette, and dyeing is very delicate and lengthy.


Wool or silk that needs to be dyed first needs to soak in a concentrate of alum, serving as a mordant.


The most commonly used pigments to get these intense colours are these:


Red:

From madder roots found in the wild in large parts of Persia

From insects such as the scale insect

From certain desert flowers


Yellow:

From Reseda Luteola, also called dyer's rocket

From vine leaves,

From the skin of the pomegranate

From saffron


Dark, almost black shades:

From indigo crusts that form on the walls of the barrels in which the dye is fermented


Brown:

From nut or oak bark

From onion skins


Green:

From a mix of yellow and indigo with copper sulphate

The natural colour of the wool gives the grey and chestnut shades and could be replicated with nut husks.


As the three primary colours can be attained, it might seem easy to make more colours. But that's not the case. It's hard to mix the base colours because the material the dye is made from is a significantly different consistency.


The weavers depend on the skill and knowledge of the dyer, who plays a significant role in creating the vibrant colours we are used to seeing.


In Persian rugs with natural dyes, you often see a colour difference. That's because it is nearly impossible to create the same colour twice using natural pigments.


Was your rug created between, let's say, 1850 and now, then there is a chance it contains synthetic dyes.


The first synthetic dyes were discovered in England by William Henry Perkin. Aniline is a liquid obtained from coal tar used to colour wool. Aniline-based dyes were introduced into Turkey and Persia in the late 1800s and were enormously successful due to their price and shine; however, they proved very unstable. Their shine disappeared, and colours changed from yellow to brown, red to purple and blue to grey. It's clear; their success was not long-lived.


From the 1920s until 1990, chroma pigments were the go-to dye. The properties were excellent: more stable than natural dyes, no discolouration, not sensitive to fading, not damaging to the wool. However, they did a fantastic job but were abandoned around 1990 and traded for acid or metal dyes.


Knotting is impossible

First, the weaver starts weaving a hem on the lower part of the carpet until he gets a solid edge. This edge offers sturdiness to the rug and holds everything in place.


Once the hem is finished, the actual weaving begins. First, the wool threads are knotted around the warp threads to create the pile.


The knots are placed around two warp threads across the width of the carpet. The knot is tied, the yarn is cut about 4 cm from the knot. The ends are pulled down, determining the pile direction of the carpet. If you have a Persian rug, you will see it has a lighter and darker side; this is a result of the pile direction and the light.


A weft thread is woven alternately above and below the warp threads when a row of knots is ready. After the weft thread has been laid, the row of knots is pulled on again before starting the next row of buttons. This process is repeated till finishing the rug.



It's a pattern

It all starts with a plan! First, designs are passed onto cardboard showing each knot and colour. Then, when weaving alone, the weaver places the drawing in front of him. But when it's teamwork, one of the weavers will read the number of knots and colours.

The carpet ends the same way it began, with a hem and fringes added.


The rug needs a haircut

When the weaving is finally done, your rug needs to get a trim.

This shearing is, again, a delicate process left to the specialists. Fine woven rugs get a short shave, carpets with lower knot density are left a little longer.


A final wash and we are done!

Your rug now needs a final wash, bringing out the colour and adding smoothness to it. Then the carpet is laid out for some sunbathing, and dyes are tested one more time.

Once dry, the rug gets a final touch-up unravelling the pile, and there you have it; your exquisite Persian rug.



Taking care of your precious rug

It's clear to see; your rug needs special attention once it is lying in all it's glory on your living room floor. And you are in luck; a great way to keep your oriental rug in great shape is vacuuming it, maybe once a week. Then, when disaster strikes and someone spills on your carpet, you can go a long way with a professional rug stain remover. But be careful; not all rug stain removers are a good option! Check out the guide on what to do when someone is a little clumsy.


When this is too much to handle, don't hesitate to call the professionals. Better safe than sorry, right?


To keep your Persian rug spick and span, count on a professional rug cleaning service every two years.


In Sydney and its surroundings, I completely trust Lachlan and his team at Oriental Rug Care to care for my rugs. They offer a professional rug cleaning service in all of Sydney and even repair Oriental rugs with great precision. They offer a free pick-up and drop-off throughout the Eastern and Northern Suburbs, Inner West, Sydney CBD and Southern Suburbs, which is very practical considering rugs weigh a lot and don't fit in a car easily. In short, they are the best oriental rug cleaning service I know, and I couldn't do without them.

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