How to Purchase and Maintain Handmade Silk Rugs

As a symbol of one’s wealth and taste, handmade rugs have drawn more and more attention than ever before. An exquisite handmade rug has value both in workmanship and art, so people have to acknowledge special knowledge so as to choose and maintain a worthy rug.

Nowadays, it has been customary for a family to keep several rugs such asPersian rugs, oriental rugs, silk rugs, area rugs, etc. Different rugs will be purchased and used at different seasons. Paintings and ornaments, which are durable and of great technology value, can keep or gain value. These are the features to lead handmade rugs walk into people’s eyes.

Chemical fiber rugs made by machine in mass production are ordinary and of less value in technology and art. However, first-rate handmade rugs are considered as soft gold. Knitted by hand with wool or silk from Australia and New Zealand, each rug will be a solid and unique art craft of great value in collection after a bunch of processes like weaving, flattening, cleaning and washing, polishing, etc. Therefore a rise in cost of labor will lead a revaluation in handmade rugs. Dazzled by countless rugs in the market, how can people find a handmade rug of real value? Here is some information for you to refer.

Differences

Rugs can be manufactured by three methods, i.e. hand, bayonet and machine.

1. Handmade rugs are 100% hand made. Pure wool and silk are the most commonly used materials. After design, color matching, manual knotting, flattening, whisking, washing, cutting, polishing and other ten plus procedures, tens of colors on the rug are perfectly mixed. A close-knit and exquisite rug will last for decades even a century. It will take several month, one year or two year to make a handmade rug because of its complicate workmanship. Special attentions should be paid to silk rugs, as the quality of silk directly determines the price and lifespan of a rug.

2. Bayonet-made rugs are performed on a special cloth. Bayonet patterns by more than ten kinds of colorful strings, glue a cloth under the back of the rug and sew up by hand. Materials like wool, wool mixed by some silk, polypropylene fiber, nylon are often used. However, bayonet-made rugs are not as durable and delicate as 100% handmade ones. It takes about 1-2weeks to complete a new rug.

3. Machine made rugs, made from polypropylene fiber, nylon and some wool, depend on advanced machines and equipments at present. Ten colors can be displayed by knotting machine so far. Though its colors, patterns as well as lifespan cannot be compared with that of a handmade rug, its price is much cheaper and competitive.
Types
1. Most Persian rugs are made from wool plus some silk and easily identified by their geometric patterns and intricate floral patterns. They have a strong Western Asia flavor and look elegant and poised.

2. European and Western rugs also knitted by pure wool and wool. The magnificent and romantic designs and patterns make the rugs look like an oil painting, full of rich European feel.

3. Tibet rugs are one of the most prized rugs to own. The wool of the Himalayan sheep and silk are used to make these rugs. Tibetan rugs can be recognized from their very rich colors, cream color served by gold, pink and red. Neat and pleasing patterns contribute its elegance and secrecy. Each rug is truly a unique piece and a work of art.

4. China rugs, full of rich ethnic folklore, are embodied by Chinese traditional culture. It adds your home with a deep cultural atmosphere.

How to select

1. The first thing you have to bear in mind is pay attention to the materials of a rug. Wool of high quality and real silk will guarantee you a first-rate rug.

2. After that, workmanship is another key. Although there are kinds of ways and skills to make a handmade rug in the world, people only need to check the backside of a rug to see if it’s tightly knitted or not. A rug, twisted in a shape of number 8 or Turkey way, is always intricate and durable.

3. Handmade rugs particularly emphasize on details. For example, over ten even decades of colors will be applied to embellish a piece of peach blossom. Each color will be evenly scattered in another color. On the sunny side, colors will be lighter or vice versa. These are what a machine can never do. A machine made rugs cannot display ten colors at most or a gradual change of color for the same pattern.

4. Colors and style of a rug should be suitable for your house.

5. Don’t forget the after - sale service. Expensive handmade rugs require expert maintenance. Luckily, it’s not hard for you to find out a good manufacturer.

Special tips for price

1. There are many handmade rugs bases in the world. China, Indian, Iran, Turkey are large homemade rug producers and exporters. Due to cheap labor cost, China has a great advantage in rug industry. Excellent Chinese rugs sell at a lower price, about one per of its price in international market.

2. Different types with the same size and materials have different prices. A Handmade rug is the most expensive one, about 3 times as much as a bayonet-made rug costs. While machine made rugs are the cheapest one, only tenth part of a homemade rug cost.

3. Fine-grained density also determines a price of a rug. From 90 lines to 300 lines, price can be floated in a large range.

Tips for maintenance

1. Do regular cleanness by vacuum to sweep out the dusts.

2. Move it outside to drive away dumps every year, but avoid being exposed to the sun.

3. Wash and clean the floor before displaying the rug. After two or three years, brush the rug by washing liquid and dry it on the backside under sunshine.

I hope you will find one certain rug that you like.

About this author:
Loui Lu is the CEO of arearugs2door.com. For more information on Persian rugs, oriental rugs, silk rugs, rug sale, online rugs, area rugs, visit them on the web at http://arearugs2door.com