persain-rug

How to look after your Persian or Oriental rug?

January 28, 2019
faride khandero

A handmade Persian rug is very likely one of your major home furnishing purchases and just because it is on the floor does not mean it cannot be looked after very well. Your rug should both reflect your character, your spending power and perfectly suit your room colours and use. It is an artisan product crafted with care and love by weavers in Central Asia and should be cared for so that it mellows with age and becomes a cherished family heirloom.

Ask your rug dealer for his or her advice as the type of rug and the flooring it will be laid on will dictate the type of underlay. The underlay will serve many uses- it will add some comfort to a rug laid on a hard floor, cushioning the weight of feet and thus protecting crushing of the pile; it will also protect the back of the knot from abrasion, lifting the rug off the hard surface and protecting it from heat ( ask for special underlay for underfloor heating )and damp ; it will allow dust and dirt to fall through the rug which will help avoid the build-up of particles which will otherwise act as a sandpaper abrasion mix at the base of the pile; lastly, it will, of course, reduce the movement of the rug, making it safe and perfectly positioned.

Furniture Cups. A larger rug will have furniture on it and if the feet of your sofa, chairs or table have sharp ends you should use furniture cups. These can be bought online and can be plastic, wood, brass or brushed metal. These will stop your rug pile from being crushed and avoid holes forming with many minuscule movements.

Moths! Now consider how the furniture is sitting. If you have a large heavy piece of furniture under which the rug is lying you must ensure that this dark and quiet space is thoroughly vacuumed along with the visible parts. Moths!!! They love dark undisturbed places with a plentiful supply of wool or silk to eat. Ideally, you should also have a pheromone moth trap in the room too – especially with any rug made in Afghanistan. For some reason they go crazy for this wool.

Sunshine. If you are lucky enough to live in a country with abundant strong sunshine you must consider the effects of UV light on your rug- obviously,  a conservatory or a patio windowed room in particular needs clear UV filter screen on the glass. Whatever your vendor tells you, ALL rugs fade- at least all rugs with natural materials.

Turning. Ideally you should also consider turning your rug every year or so so that any fading is evened out – however, this is rarely done as most rugs look best with the pile lying in a certain direction so they are left as is. Turning a rug will also even out feet tread wear patterns – but this only happens in areas of very heavy traffic or over the course of decades, by which time your rug has aged with you and you accept and love it.

Weekly Upkeep. Modern vacuum cleaners are FAR too efficient and all that satisfying fluff and dirt in your viewable bag is mostly bits of your rug being stripped. You do not need to vacuum on a high power with the revolving brush – please just use suction as this will suck out what needs to be removed. Avoid vacuuming the fringes as these are, in a handmade Persian or Oriental rug, integral warp threads and are protection against the knots being damaged or destroyed.

A stitch in time– If you see any signs of the rug having been damaged then you should have it restored immediately. The same goes for discovering that your party guest spilled a glass of red under the sofa. Stains lock in over time and repairs become very pricey!

Cleaning your rug. You go to the dentist and doctor, you service your car, you clean your oven ….but most people think a rug will last forever without a proper service. Whilst they can be miraculously hard wearing items they do need a specialist soaking every 5 years to increase thie longevity and maintain the look for which you bought it. This will remove the build-up of oils ( outside tar and chemicals, human sweat and animal grease ) from the pile and restore it to its former softness and colours. Its also hygienic to remove all that gunk- dead skin from humans and dander from animals in particular.

LOVE YOUR RUG!

kilim-rug

What are Kilim Rug?

January 28, 2019
faride khandero

What are Kilim Rug?

Carpets, aka carpet rugs, are a very popular flat deco-woven carpet that has been produced since ancient times in the Middle East from the Balkans in the West to Pakistan in the East.

Carpets have been identified as old as from 4th or 5th century China. The term kilim is Turkish and originates from the Persian ‘gelim’, meaning to spread roughly.

Carpet rugs are created with a tight interweaving of warps and wefts to produce a flat carpet without a pile. The on display weft strands give the rugs their color and design, and are usually made of wool. The hidden warp strands, visible only at the end of the design, emerge as a bunched fringe, and are usually made of either wool or cotton. One of the attributes of the Kilim, which makes them much beloved by collectors, is creating a vertical slit between different color areas, which makes for very sharply defined designs that emphasize the geometry of the design.

warp and wefts slit woven kilim rug

Kids have been made for centuries with basic tools including a loom, a beating comb, a shuttle and a knife or scissors. Naturally, dyes have been masterfully created from plants, animals and minerals for hundreds of years until the introduction of synthetic dyes in the mid-19th century. Many experts believe that natural dyes appear softer and more muted, and that the colors of natural dyes blend together more harmoniously due to the more complex collection of wavelengths perceived by the human eye.

Soft and thin carpet rugs are often used as wall hangings, and ornamental pillow cases. There is a rich symbolic language used in the designs of kilims, with each kilim producing region having traditional patterns and motifs associated with it.

Though kilims are usually cheaper than pile rugs, they have become increasingly popular in recent years. Their indigenous motifs and authentic hand weaving and dyeing of the yarn have transcended trends with a universal appetite that sees them exported all over the world.

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Weaving technique

Kilims are produced by tightly interweaving the warp and weft strands of the weave to produce a flat surface with no pile. Kilim weaves are tapestry weaves, technically weft-faced plain weaves, that is, the horizontal weft strands are pulled tightly downward so that they hide the vertical warp strands.

When the end of a color boundary is reached, the weft yarn is wound back from the boundary point. Thus, if the boundary of a field is a straight vertical line, a vertical slit forms between the two different color areas where they meet. For this reason, most kilims can be classed as “slit woven” textiles. The slits are beloved by collectors, as they produce very sharp-etched designs, emphasizing the geometry of the weave. Weaving strategies for avoiding slit formation, such as interlocking, produce a more blurred design image.

The weft strands, which carry the visible design and color, are almost always wool, whereas the hidden warp strands can be either wool or cotton. The warp strands are only visible at the ends, where they emerge as the fringe. This fringe is usually tied in bunches, to ensure against loosening or unraveling of the weave.

The Differences Between Traditional & Kilim Rugs

Traditional rugs, by contrast, do have a pile. This means they are thicker and heavier. They are not quite as delicate and are more luxurious. These types of carpets and rugs are still made using traditional techniques.

Of course, these days it’s possible to get traditional rugs that have those wonderful traditional designs and motifs but don’t carry the price tag of hand-

woven rugs because they are made using machines rather than by hand. This means all budgets are covered when it comes to traditional rugs!

A difference between the Kilim style of rugs and traditional rugs is that Kilims can have a wider range of uses compared to rugs. Due to the way that Kilims are woven, they can also be crafted into other things rather than just a rug. For example, items such as room dividers or even Chuval bags as seen above!

hand-made-rug

How to choose a Hand-made rugs?

January 28, 2019
faride khandero

Hand-made rugs

Handmade rugs have an intrinsic value derived not only through high-quality threads, but from the weaver themselves—the art of rug-making is sustained by the talent of each artist. Appreciators of technique view their work as a multiplying of the rug’s overall value, both economically and culturally. This is why handmade rugs have maintained a tremendous presence in the global market in spite of the speed of machine-made processing.

   

How  to choose a rug

Persian and oriental rugs are so versatile; they will suit almost any décor in your home. Our rugs work successfully in places you would not normally expect like your kitchen or bathroom, or as a wall hanging – see our photo gallery. Come in and see us and we will help you choose.

Choosing a rug you should think of the following

Consider the advantages of handmade. Handmade carpets are mostly woven with hand-dyed yarn and traditional weaving techniques. These hand-knotted rugs can seem to be costly and that is because of the amount of work that goes into making them some can take up to a year to complete. Handmade wool rugs will be more durable than similar rugs of man-made materials; handmade rugs can last more than one lifetime.

Buying machine-made. Machine made rugs are made can also echo traditional designs and symbols, other include contemporary designs. Most use man-made fibres and colours and can be less expensive but may not last for many generations.

Decide on colours and patterns. The range of patterns and colours are endless – from traditional, classic to modern patterns with either vibrant earthy colours or a muted, pastel palette. So choose the combination that appeals most to you – a photo of the room or a swatch of fabric can help you choose what will suit.

Choose the right size rug. No matter which style you choose, the best way to make sure the rug looks right in the room is to get the right size. A photo of the room will help with this.