How Rugs are made

Hand Made rugs go through a variety of procedures before they come to you.  Within each process there can be different degrees of how well the end product will come out.  A basic rug has to go through the following steps: cutting the wool> wool spinning > wool dying> making the loom for the rug> making the knots on the rug> cleaning and shaving the rug> the broker> the retailer> your house

Getting the Wool: 

The first step to starting a rug is to prepare its wool.  Each region will have a different type of wool due to its weather, the food each sheep consumes, and how/when the wool is cut.  This is one reason why different regions have different styles of rugs with different qualities and different prices.

The wool of the sheep is either shaved with a shaver, or shorn with scissors, just like human hair. The wool is then sent to the next step for further processing.  However, not every set of wool is the same.  In general, the shearer separates the wools in four different sections:  regular wool, baby wool, under the belly/arms wool, and dead sheep’s wool.

• Regular wool:  Most wool would be categorized as regular wool.  This is when the ship’s wool is cut normally from its back.  This is very common for most rugs. 

• Baby wool:  When wool is cut from a baby sheep (lamb), it tends to be a lot softer and finer, thus the farmers can get more money for the baby wool rather than regular wool.  This type of wool is mostly used for finer rugs. This type of wool is called ‘kork’

• Under the belly/arm wool:  Wool that is cut from under the belly and the arms of the sheep tends to be as soft as lamb’s wool and can often  be categorized in the same section (“Baby Wool”).  However, in some special cases the wool cut from under the belly of a lamb can be almost as soft as silk.  This type of wool is also called ‘kork’.

• Dead wool: when a sheep dies, the owners can still profit from it by selling its wool.  However the dead wool will be a lot cheaper than any other wool.  This is because the dead wool does not absorb dyes as well as the other types of wool and tends to be rougher in texture.  It is typically used in lower quality inexpensive rugs. 

Further Processing (wool spinning)

After the wool has been cut and categorized, they are sent to specialized wool experts who wash and spin the wool.  In this process the wool is converted into actual usable strands that can be used for various purposes (whether it be sewing a sweater or weaving a rug).  The wool is washed in rivers or rain water in order to get to wool clean and get rid of any grease.  Once the wool has been cleaned and dried, it is handed over to carders.  Carders are people who beat the wool, in order to bring out the “fluff” in the wool. Once the wool is nice and soft, the carders use a yun darağ, which is basically a sturdy metal-toothed brush.  Carding/brushing the wool separates, straightens, and aligns the wool fibers, thereby making the job easier for the spinners.   In today’s more modern world there are two different ways wool can be spun, either by a machine or by hand.  This is another reason why two different rugs that seemingly look alike have a difference in price.  As a rug ages, it is harder to tell whether the wool on the rug was originally hand-spun or machine-spun.

• Hand-Spun Wool:    Hand-spun wool is an art in its own right.  In most cases women spin the wool. The wool is spun using one of three tools: a spindle, a drop spindle, or a spinning wheel.  No matter which of the three spinning devices is used, the process is virtually the same—the wool that has been fluffed by the carders is slowly stretched and then slowly fed into the machine while it’s spinning.  This causes the wool to end up in a continuous strand.  Since this process is done by hand, the wool will have different thicknesses in different parts of the wool.  In some parts the wool will be dense and strong, while in other sections the wool will be weaker and less dense.  This causes the dye to set in unevenly.  In the dense sections the dye will not penetrate as deeply as it will the sections that are less dense.  Thus giving the end product of the rug an uneven abrash* look.   This type of wool is usually used by nomads in small villages.      *abrash: when a solid color appears to have different shades 

• Machine-Spun Wool:   Machine-spun wool is more common than hand-spun wool.  This type of wool is mass produced with a machine doing the entire job.  This causes the wool to have a harmonious density throughout the wool.  Wool with an even density is important because it allows the dyes to absorb evenly as well.  As an end result the rug will have a uniform even color and pile.   This type of wool is usually used by rug makers who purchase their wool in markets and factories that make rugs. Although there is a big difference in the amount of time that goes into preparing the wool, it should not affect its price tremendously.

Wool Dye

Vegetable Dye:  Each vegetable has a certain color associated with it.  The expert dyers know exactly which plant to use and for how long to cook it, in order to get the exact color they want.  Here are a few examples:

•  Reds:  dried ground madder root and cochineal, or ox blood; older plants have a harsher red.

• Blues: indigo plant; the depth of the blue depends on how many times it has been dipped ( these plants are grown in warm countries of the East)

• Yellows: Saffron crocus, vine leaves, milkwort, reseda, or buckthorn. 

• Muddy Yellows: Pomegranate skin

• Olive green/ lime green: pomegranate skin with blended metal salts.

• Other greens:  turmeric berries and vine leaves;  or any combination of blue and yellow

• Oranges: henna or wine leaves. 

• Golden browns: Persian berries, madder and pomegranate skin

• Browns: Catechu, walnut shells and oak bark

• Blackish:  mixing henna and indigo or using logwood combined with ferrous sulfate

• Whites: simply the natural wool, or a special ingredient is added to a fire to make white smoke which “dyes” the natural wool a brighter shade of white.

Synthetic dye: Today, most rugs are made with a combination of synthetic dye and vegetable dye.  The synthetic dye is just as strong as the vegetable dye in most cases.  However, the shine that a vegetable dyed rug has, is not going to be the same as a rug dyed with a synthetic dye.   For example, if the wool is dyed green, the synthetic dye is going to appear dull, whereas the vegetable green is going to look more alive.  A vegetable green will be more harmonious with other colors because, like the sun, the full spectrum of light and colors exist in the natural dye.  

As we have mentioned before, it is not as important whether the wool is dyed synthetically or with vegetable dyes, what matters is how well the dye is set into the rug.  If the dye is weak, your rug can change color over time or the colors can bleed.  The best way to check the quality of the dye is with a simple test.  Take a white handkerchief, spit on it (spit contains alkaline) and rub the rug. The less the handkerchief is stained the better the dye of the rug.  Don’t be freaked out if most new rugs give a little bit of color, some might do that because the dye is new.  (This is one reason why older rugs are more desirable since the dye has set and there will be no further color change to the rug.)

The Loom

• Vertical loom:  This type of loom is used on more intricate pieces and cannot be moved.  People working on vertical looms strive for perfection as much as possible. They are either used in factories, were skilled workers are supervised by master weavers, or commissioned in houses.  (Since making a rug takes a long time and less wealthy families make them, they don’t have the financial resources to be income-free for long.  Thus they are paid by their progress).   A vertical loom has two vertical stands, which represent the width of the rug, and two cross beams at the top and bottom, representing the height of the rug.   The threads (cotton, silk, or wool) are wrapped over and under the two cross beams repeatedly, equidistance apart. Once this process is finished, the loom is ready for the weaver to start.  Some vertical looms are made so that the weaver does not have to move their seat; as a result the weft part is rolled backwards.  On other vertical looms the weaver has to continually adjust his/her seat to the appropriate height, sometimes up to ten to twelve feet above the floor.  Once the rug is finished, the top and bottom of the loom is cut and the threads that were holding the rug, become the fringe or the rug. 

• Horizontal Loom:  A rug that is made on a horizontal loom cannot be as intricate as the ones made on vertical loom.  Small villages use this type of loom because it’s one of the simplest looms to make.  Nomads in particular prefer this style of loom because it is a lot easier to move the loom when the time for migration comes.   With horizontal looms, mostly smaller rugs and oddly sized rugs are made.  These types of rugs tend to be more coarsely woven with very simple designs.  Horizontal looms are very similar to vertical looms with the exception that they are laid flat on the floor.  Instead of having two vertical beams and two horizontal beams, all the beams are horizontal and form the shape of a square or rectangle.  The threads are still wrapped around the top and bottom of the loom and represent the height of the rug, while the other two beams represent the width.  Each corner of the loom is staked to the floor, until it needs to be moved.  Most rugs are small so that they finish before they have to move them.  In some cases the weaver does not finish the rug in time, thus it has to be moved.  This causes to rug to have some abnormalities which can consist of: rug not being straight, the top skewed inwards, or wrinkles. 

The knots

Making the actual knots is one of the hardest and the most time consuming of all the rug-making processes.  The professional weaver starts on the rug, after the loom is ready.  They first make a kilim type weave at the bottom and then start making the rest of the knots.  The kilim holds for the start of the rug, so that consecutive knots can be knotted.  One row of knots is made horizontally and then the second row can be weft on top.  The rug has to progress row by row.  This means that if there are two people working simultaneously on the rug, one weaver has to wait while the other weaver catches up, before they can continue.   The weavers pick their color according to a map.  The map looks similar to a graph paper with each of the squares representing a different color.  Imagine drawing a flower on graph paper.  Then think about how many squares each leaf has in it.  This is exactly how a rug is made.  Instead of one leaf at a time, they have to move horizontally, row by row, until the leaf finishes.  This means that the weaver has to keep count of the squares in order not to mix up the colors.    There are two types of knots, the Persian knot and the Turkish knot.  In most cases a Persian knot is preferred to a Turkish knot.  There is no real way to describe the knot, without pictures: 

Persian knot:           Turkish knot:

Shave and wash

Once the weaver is done with all the knots of the rug, the rug is finished.   The rug is cut from the bottom and top of the loom, and the threads become the fringe of the rug; this is why we call the fringe the bone of the body, because without bones the body is just “meat.”  Same goes for the rug. 

At this point, the rug is a “pile” of various colored wools.  The design is distorted and has no real border.  So the rug is taken to a professional shaver.  The shaver uses a specialized shaving machine for wool to shave the rug to the desired thickness.  This reveals the actual design and how well the rug is made.   If the shaver over shaves a particular part, then the rug significantly drops in value.   In smaller villages the wool is cut by hand with scissors.

After the shave, the rug is taken for a wash in a local river or designated washing area to clean off any excess oil or leftover wool.   The professionals, who wash them, know what type of soap to use, and at what temperature, in order to get the rug clean without damaging it.  In some cases the color of the wool will run, as a consequence of weak dye, thus depreciating the rug’s value.

The Broker> Retailer > Your House

At this point, the rug is still not done.  The broker and the retailer usually decide what kind of finishing touches they want on it.  The rug still needs an edging and some minor repairs.  Thus the retailer tells the broker what/how he wants them done, and the broker arranges everything and then ships out the rug to the retailer.  Once it reaches the retailer, he determines a reasonable price for the rug and waits for the right customer to come along and fall in love with it.