Hand Woven Rugs

Among Oriental rugs, hand-knotted or hand woven rugs are the genuine article. Artisans weave these rugs entirely by hand, looping and knotting strands of the finest wool yarn. The quality of hand-knotted rugs is assessed by the number of knots per square inch, with the highest quality having more than 290 knots per square inch. The best hand-knotted rugs are durable heirlooms that you can pass down to future generations. The rugs can also be very expensive, with the price reflecting the time, labor and skill involved in producing them.

An alternative to hand-knotted rugs are hand-tufted rugs. Hand-tufted rugs resemble hand-knotted rugs in that both are handmade and they come in authentic designs. Craftsmen make hand-tufted rugs using a tufting gun, a tool that punches strands of wool yarn onto a canvas. Then the wool is glued to the backside of the rug. This method is less time-consuming than hand-knotting, and so hand-tufted rugs are generally less expensive than hand woven rugs.

Because glue holds the rug together, rather than knots, a hand-tufted rug is often not considered as high-quality or long-lasting as a hand-knotted rug. One way to tell a hand-knotted rug from a hand-tufted rug is by the fringe. Hand-knotted rugs naturally have excess yarn that creates a fringe on two sides. Hand-tufted rugs often have a fringe that is glued or sewn onto each end, mimicking the appearance of a hand woven rug.