If you are hoping to buy a genuine oriental carpet, there are a number of factors to bear in mind. You need to know what material the rug is made from, how it has been made, which country it was made in, whether the design matches the region, and the density of the knots. All of these factors must be considered when judging the quality of a carpet you may purchase to avoid being hoodwinked by unscrupulous salesmen.
Is the Carpet Genuine?
A machine-woven oriental carpet is not generally considered ‘authentic’, and this is one of the ways carpet sales-people may try to trick you into a purchase. Two further hints that your carpet is not genuine will be that the design of the rug does not match the design typically seen from the specific region the rug has come from; and the use of chemical or artificially brightened dyes. Although chemically enhanced dyes can be beneficial for the longevity of the rug – the dyes protect the fibres and can ensure the rug stays cleaner for longer periods – the traditional method of dying (natural dyes derived from vegetables and plant roots) has a much finer result.
Woollen Carpets
If you decide to purchase a wool rug, one factor to bear in mind is the sort of wool used in the making of the carpet – the animal and body-part the wool came from, as well as the region and climate the animal was reared in, affect the quality of the wool. Some ‘wool’ rugs may have cotton matting, warps and wefts, as this is more flexible and holds the rug’s shape more accurately.
Knotting
You may also want to take a closer look at the knotting technique used on the rug: some salespeople will mention ‘knots per square centimetre’ or ‘knots per square inch’. Generally the grade of rug can range from 20 knots per square inch up to 600, or for a particularly fine rug, 1000 knots per square inch. The finer the knotting, the more expensive the rug is likely to be, however there are regional variations of numbers of knots per square inch/centimetre due to the techniques used in the making of the rug.