Tag: Hand knotted rugs

Rug Glossary II – Persian Rugs

Posted on by D F

Rug Glossary II (Persian Rugs): Oriental rugs are generally carpets that are hand-knotted using natural fibers such as wool cotton or silk or any combination of them or may be simply woven rugs. Machine made rugs or rugs woven by anything except by hand are not considered real oriental rugs. Different cultures and countries influence the design and production of oriental rugs, and they are usually categorized by their geographic origin: Persian rugs, Chinese rugs, Kurdish rugs, Turkish rugs and more. Let’s take a close look at Persian Rugs:

Tabriz Gumbat Rug

Persian Rugs: are an integral part of the culture and tradition of Persia. Iranian and Persian rugs were woven in ancient Persia thousands of years ago. The Weaving of rugs in Persia is part of it’s art and as many as million hand weavers are producing hand made Persian rugs for domestic and for export. Persian rugs in general are categorized by sizes: over 6X4 ft rugs are called Farsh, and smaller carpet includes Kilim and Zilu.

Amazing Persian Esfahan, Great Wall Hanging


Tabriz Rugs: Tabriz is a Persian city, which is famous for fine handknotted rugs with timeless classic floral designs. It is one of the cities with the longest weaving history like Esfahan, Kirman and Kashan. In this collection you will find the finest handmade and hand knotted Tabriz rugs at discount and wholesale prices with free shipping.

Tabriz Revival Rug

So whether you’re looking for a Persian Antique or Semi-Antique, Fine New Oriental Rugs, 19th century European designs or modern area rugs, log on to www.1800getarug.com where you will find a unique collection of beautiful handknotted rugs which is always up to date with color and design.

How to choose a rug? Essential carpet buying tips

Posted on by D F

Buying a rug might seem like an easy task, just head on to the local rug dealer and choose the rug you like. But actually, there are a few carpet buying tips to consider before you buy a rug and several ways to make sure you get the carpet that will best fit your needs.

Size. Before you go to the store, make sure that you know the size of the room that rug is intended for. Pay close attention to the furniture and consider a reasonable size that will not be too small or too big.

Many stores keep rugs hanging from the ceiling which can be confusing. Ask the salesman to put the rug on the floor. You will be surprised to see how small it looks when you are standing above it.

Feel the rug. Not with your hands, but with your feet. Take off your shoes, your socks and walk on the carpet. This is what it’s meant for and you have to make sure you like the feel of the carpet under your feet.

Remember that dark carpets make rooms look much smaller than they are in reality. Bright colors make rooms look a lot bigger. So color is very important here. If you have a smaller apartment, you might want to consider going for bright colors.

For more information about Persian Rugs, Antique rugs or Semi-Antique, Fine New Oriental Rugs, 19th century European designs or modern area rugs, log on to www.1800getarug.com where you will find a unique collection of beautiful hand-knotted rugs which is always up to date with color and design.

Not every Rug is an oriental Rug. How can you tell the difference?

Posted on by D F

The term Oriental Rug has been used, overused and misused throughout the last few decades. Notice that suddenly, any carpet with a certain design pattern, whether handmade or factory produced is termed “Oriental carpet” by some companies.

Carpet outlets, furniture stores and even some large home improvement stores have been known to put out a carpet that ‘looks’ like an Oriental rug and just claim it as so. But Oriental rugs are much more than patterns or designs.

In this blog post we’d like to take a minute and define what is a real hand-made Oriental Rug:

  • True Oriental rugs are made by hand and never produced in a factory. Mass factory produced carpets are not unique – the machines do a perfect job of duplicating a single pattern and we don’t like perfect, not in the rug business. Hand made carpets on the other hand, are imperfect and even if they seem to have the same design, each and every one of them is different. The beauty of the hand made carpet (or hand-knotted, or hand woven, however, you want to call it) is in its imperfection. Each carpet is a unique work of art or as we like to call it “Art on the floor”.
  • By definition, Oriental rugs should genuinely come from an Asian country (that’s why there’s Orient in Oriental Rugs). Oriental rugs could be sub-divided into Middle East or Far East and the most well-known countries in the list for hand woven carpets would include India, Afganistan, Iran, Nepal, Tibet, Pakistan, Turkey and some southern regions of what used to be the former Soviet like Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Just to be on the safe side: “Wilton”®, “Karistan”® and “Couristan”® are nice rugs that are made by machines and have Oriental carpet designs. Please don’t confuse them with authentic “Oriental carpets”. Also know that no genuine Oriental rugs are made of nylon or polypropylene.

If you’re looking for a true Oriental rug, visit us at www.1800getarug.com where you will find a unique collection of beautiful handknotted rugs which is always up to date with color and design.

The Magic Carpet is My Favorite Rug

Posted on by D F

As far as I’m concerned, it will never even be up for debate.

It won’t be two-hundred-year-old oriental rugs. It won’t be hand-stitched Persian Rugs. It won’t be hand knotted rugs, silk area rugs, or even a gorgeous brand-new vegetable dye rug.

No, no, no… as far as I’m concerned, my favorite rug will forever and always be The Magic Carpet for Disney’s 1992 film Aladdin.

I mean, how cool was that guy (thing?)? First appears in the “Cave of Wonders,” which is a pretty cool name for a place to hang out in. then, without even knowing Aladdin (or his grumpy and territorial monkey, Abu) he risks himself to save them both when the cave begins to collapse.

He clearly has some history with the Genie, a character be beats at the game of chess later on. And I mean, come on…an omnipotent, magical, wish-granting supreme being was defeated by “the rug man,” as he jokingly address’ him. Gotta give some props for that.

However, what I’ll always remember is how an animated character with ZERO lines and no face was able to seem so human just through “body” language. It’s the first animated character I can remember that was created solely with Computer Generated Imagery, and for that reason alone it will always be my favorite rug, fictional or not.

The Rug Knot Breakdown: Part I

Posted on by D F

Persian rugs, oriental rugs, hand knotted rugs, Persian carpets, symmetrical Turkish knot, asymmetrical Persian knot, Ghiordes knot, Turkish knots,

If it’s not our Persian rugs, it’s our oriental rugs that we love—or both. Nothing, and I mean, nothing, ties a room together better than a Persian or oriental rug. The intricate motifs, designs and patterns of hand knotted rugs are practically a map of the long history of Persian rugs, dating as far back as the 16th century. The craft of Persian carpets and oriental rugs has such a deep-rooted history that each weave, loop and rug knot is carefully tended down to the last thread.

There are two basic knots that are used in most Persian or oriental rugs: the symmetrical Turkish knot and the asymmetrical Persian knot. This week, we’ll be discussing the symmetrical Turkish knot.

The origin of the symmetrical Turkish knot dates from 1895-1900 and is also known as the Ghiordes knot that is used in Turkey, East Turkmenistan, the Caucasus, and some Turkish and Kurdish areas of Iran. Turkish knots are made when yarn is passed between two adjacent warps, returned back under one, wrapped around both forming a collar, and then finally pulled through the center so that both ends emerge between the warps producing an uneven pile effect. Here’s a handy diagram that might make it easier to understand this knotting process.

The Rug Knot Breakdown: Part II

Posted on by D F

Persian rugs and oriental rug history and one of the most basic knots that are used in Persian or oriental rugs, the Turkish knot, or the Ghiordes knot that originates from Turkey, East Turkmenistan, the Caucasus and other Turkish and Kurdish areas of Iran. This week, we’ll be discussing the only most basic rug knot that’s seen in Persian and oriental rugs: The Persian Knot.

The Persian knot, also known as the Senneh knot, the double knot and the asymmetrical knot is used for finer rugs is used principally in Iran, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and Egypt. The Persian knot is wrapped around only one warp, as opposed to the Turkish knot that is wrapped around two adjacent warps, then passed behind the adjacent warp so that a single warp divides the two ends. It can be open on either the left or right side, thus leading to its brother name “the asymmetrical knot”.

Other less commonly used and seen hand knotted rugs have knots include that the Jufti knot and the Spanish knot. The Jufti knot is tied around four warps strands instead of two and reduces the time it takes to weave a rug. The Spanish knot is looped around single alternate warps so that the ends are brought out on either the left or right side.

The Origins of Persian Rugs

Posted on by D F

Persian rugs origins have been around for a long time, nearly 2500 years. The oldest surviving carpet in the world is from the 5th century BC and is called the Pazyryk Carpet (above). Found in the grave of a Scythian prince from the Achaemenid period,  this carpet is a phenomenal example of Persian rugs, and it is especially interesting that it has withstood time so well since silk and wool  decay eventually.

The Achaemenid period was a time of magnificent carpet weaving. Cyrus the Great was the ruler of the court and Persia was allianced with Alexander the Great. The empire was the largest of Ancient times and is noted in history for being the foe of the Greeks; for freeing the Jews from slavery in Babylon; for having official languages throughout their territories; and for having magnificent hand knotted rugs.

The empire fell, but the making of hand knotted rugs never stopped. In the 6th century, the Persian carpets were globally famed for being the best. A carpet in the imperial hall of Khorsow I was 450 feet long and 90 feet wide. It depicted a formal garden. A hundred years later, the Sasanian capital Tuspawn (modern Iraq) fell and the Arab invaders cut the rug into fragmented rugs for booty.

Persian Rugs Care

Posted on by D F

Persian rugs are the finest in the world. Nothing grabs my attention like hand knotted rugs, made with fine silk or wool. It is another form of art, but one of the few kinds that can be executed with more than one pair of hands. Hand knotted rugs are worthy of being hung on your wall. That way you can admire them and preserve them for a longer time than if they were on the floor. Here are some more rug care tips:

Keep it away from the sun. This can fade your beautiful Persian rugs. If it is in the sun, rotate it monthly. If it is on the ground, rotate it four times a year, seasonally. This will help the rug to fade uniformly. Move furniture accordingly.

Straighten any gnarled fringe. Don’t comb the fringes, but fold one end of the rug to the other. This will straighten the fringe. Shake the rug if there are still some tangles.
Vacuum and keep clean your Persian rugs. It will also help the fibers look fluffy. Be careful, though. If your rug is expensive or antique and has threadbare spots, beater bars can make them worse. It’s best to turn off the beater bar.

Lastly, if you have a spill, clean it thoroughly and immediately. Absorb the spill with paper towel and then dampen it with water. If the spill remains, take it to a professional rugs cleaning service.

Tehran and Hand Knotted Rugs

Posted on by D F

Persian rugs come from Iran. They can be divided into three main groups: Farsh rugs, greater than 6×4 ft., Qalicheh rugs, smaller than 6×4 ft. and nomadic area rugs, or Kilim, made from rough wool. Iran’s Persian rugs are the country’s third largest export and more than five million people work in the industry.

Tehran is the capital of Iran. With almost 8.5 million people, it is the 21st largest city in the world. It is also one of the oldest. Settlements in the area date back more than 8000 years. Unfortunately, during the intra-war period, the Shah, Reza Shah Pahlavi, decided that the city’s oldest buildings should not be part of a modern city. They were razed to create new municipal buildings and wide straight avenues. The Iran-Iraq war saw more destruction of the old city and in its place were Soviet style apartment buildings. Despite their lack of a cohesive architecture, Iran retains much identity in their culture, especially their hand knotted rugs.
This is where you should go if you really want authentic Persian rugs.  Or you can call or visit online www.1800GetARug.com. They have as wide of a selection of hand knotted rugs as you’ll be able to find anywhere.

How To Choose a Rug

Posted on by D F

Picking out rugs can be a pain if you don’t know what you’re doing. And so, from all of us at 1-800 Get-a-Rug, here is our very own Rug-Buying for Dummies guide.

First, figure out what size rug you want. A large rug that takes up most of the floor can make the room seem bigger than it really is.

Next, figure out what shape you want. Round? Oval? Square? Rectangular? Round and square rugs usually don’t work, because rooms are so rarely equilateral and it looks strange to have so much more bare floor on one side of a rug than on the others. (However, if the rug is meant to be used just under a piece of furniture, a round or square rug could work nicely to match the shape of the furniture. Oval and rectangular are better for area rugs, and you could easily draw out a few sketches of the room and see how different shapes would look in it.

Then, decide what color and/or pattern you want. If you have lots of patterned furniture, you might want to stick to a simpler design for the rug, maybe with just 2 or 3 of the colors prominent in the room.

Finally, choose a weave. Do you want a hand-knotted rug? Needlepoint? Remember to take durability and cleanability into account.