Is My Rug Worth Repairing?

Is my rug worth repairing

You may be asking this question if you have inherited a fine rug or been given a rug by your family that is in less than perfect condition, If the rug is quite old even the giver may have known little about the rug. It may have been gifted to them also. Not everyone is an expert in oriental rugs. Some people sadly are not even interested in the long and fascinating history of this traditional craft.

If you have a rug and need advice Sarabis Fine rugs would be happy to help you discover more about your rug. What is its provenance and value?  It is possible to repair almost anything but is it practical to repair your particular rug?  You may find the more you learn about your rug the more you love it and you may enjoy having more understanding of the place and culture where it was woven. Have a look at some of the amazing photos we have here to show you of real rug repairs. Would you have thought these rugs were worth saving or even that they could be repaired?

With a hand knotted rug there are no glues or fillers holding the pile together as there is with many modern rugs and wall to wall carpet. The process of weaving and method of hand knotting holds the rug together with cleverly constructed knots without a need for glues or binders. These weaves easily withstand washing and there are no glues or latex binders to dissolve or deteriorate.

The structure of many machine made rugs causes them to be less flexible and less “well behaved” than hand made rugs. Even if a machine made rug is made only of wool and cotton the tightness of the weave causes them to be less flexible. The rugs need this rigidity to withstand the forces of the weaving machine. Machines cannot weave with the delicate touch of a human hand.  For the same reasons we do not use washing machines on delicate hand knotted rugs as they can cause damage.

A machine made rug can often only be rolled for transport whereas a hand knotted rug, even a very large one can be folded systematically to a convenient compact size without damage to the rug. Please contact us for advice on folding large rugs for transport in a normal vehicle. You may not be aware that you do not need to roll them and rent a van!! We can also collect rugs for you.

The decisions to be made around replacing or repairing handmade rugs and carpets are different to the case of fitted carpet or machine made rugs.

Machine made rugs are not as easy to repair as hand knotted rugs.  Traditionally hand made rugs were made with the expectation they would be long term use items and at some stage they would need repair.

Hand-made, hand-knotted rugs are usually possible to repair and often economical to repair, provided their foundations have not been extensively attacked or damaged by mould and damp. Pile is that has been damaged by insects such as moth or carpet beetles is more easily replaced than the foundation cords.

The foundation threads of wall to wall carpet and machine made rugs are hard or impossible to repair. These  wool cotton or silk in fitted carpet or machine made rugs may have had similar quality and potential in the beginning to be made into an heirloom hand knotted rug. What a waste of raw materials! We hope you will consider repairing or buying hand made rugs for your home as they are environmentally friendly floor coverings.

If wall to wall carpet is damaged a whole section may need replacing and if indeed there are suitably sized off cuts remaining or it is possible to match the colour which may have faded over years. Wall to wall carpet is often just ripped out and consigned to landfill and I am sure you have seen heaps of piles on their way to landfill. Don’t think the same way about hand knotted rugs.

Sarabis Fine Rugs keep in stock in their warehouse a huge variety of traditional and naturally dyed yarns  and silks in order to be able to achieve invisible or almost imperceptible repairs to almost any handmade rug.

We guarantee to be able to repair and/or clean anything which we sell. This is possible because the fundamentals of weaving Persian and Oriental rugs have not changed for centuries so many of the earliest known dyeing techniques and materials are still in use in rug producing regions of the world today. When we travel we make sure to top up our supplies of mending yarns

So think twice about discarding your imperfect hand made or hand knotted natural fibre rug. It s not a thing to thoughtlessly discard as is a cheap  polyester rug or fitted carpet. You can decide whether it’s worth it to you to keep and repair a damaged rug once we have inspected it and quoted on the repair and/or cleaning, It’s not easy to replace older rugs as many styles and patterns are not made any more.

A rug always carries the imprint of its maker in style and even tension of the threads. The feel and look of an old and lived-with tribal rug is not possible to imitate in a new product. We can however copy an older rug. You will just have to wait a bit for it to age gracefully.

This is the time decisions are being made about making homes clean and cosy for winter and there is good weather on the horizon for natural hand cleaning of rugs

A rug may be suffused with family history and memories.  Maybe your great grand parents were married upon this rug and it has been in the family for generations. Every rug tells a story. This story gives insight into to the time period it was created and the lives of the weavers. We can help you understand the story of your rug.

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