There are many ways a rug can be constructed. The way that a rug is woven adds to its character, and will impact the cost of the final product. Understanding the different types of rug constructions, can help you make an educated purchase and ensure the type of rug selected lines up with your budget and lifestyle.
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Hand-Knotted
How to Identify: Individual often uneven knots are visible on the back mirroring the pattern on the Front of the rug.
- This is the most labor intensive weaving process, conducted by specially trained artisans
- Working off a rug map, artisans tie individual knots to build up the rug’s design one row at a time
- The quality of a hand knotted rug is determined by the number of knots per square inch (KPSI)
- A higher KPSI requires a greater skill and results in a higher quality rug
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Hand-Tufted
How to Identify: These rugs have a canvas backing glued on to hold the knots in place and usually have a cut or cut and loop pile.
- Individual tufts of yarn are punched into a pre-made backing fabric with a special tufting gun
- This tool hooks and pulls yarn through the backing to form loops or piles
- This process is less skill and labor intensive than hand knotting, so rugs can be completed in a shorter amount of time
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Hand-Hooked
How to Identify: These rugs have a similar canvas backing to Hand-Tufted rugs, but have a looped pile
- An entry-level alternative to hand-knotted rugs
- Like hand-tufted rugs, individual tufts of yarn are punched through a backing fabric, but the result is a looped pile not a cut pile
- Larger loops create a plush heavier texture, while smaller loops allow for a more detailed pattern
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Flat-Weave
How to Identify: With their woven construction, these rugs are flat and don’t have a pile.
- These rugs are often reversible, with designs on both sides
- Because they only consist of warp and weft threads they don’t have the thickness of knotted and tufted rugs
- Flat-weave rugs are lightweight and often require a rug pad to stay in place
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Machine-Made
How to Identify: These rugs can be identified by the uniform stitching visible on the back, handmade rugs show more irregular construction.
- These rugs are made on a power loom operated by a machine, computer or person in order to produce area rugs quickly
- They can be produced in large quantities with several colors and complex designs
*Information and pictures from Jaipur Crafted Publication
www.jaipurrugs.com