Rugs Made by People NOT Machines

When I search online for Handmade rugs or Oriental rugs, I often end up on websites with a “really nice looking” rug at a “really cheap” price! That’s where I get suspicious and discover that what some websites call handmade rugs are NOT at all handmade but “hand-tufted rugs” made using a “tufting gun”.

You can see some hand-tufted rugs here.

A gun to make a rug? What’s the story behind these so-called hand-tufted rugs ?

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Have you ever heard of KPSI, Knots per Square cm or Knots per square meter? Do you know how many knots your rug has?

I thought it’s worth explaining some of these words and what they really mean. This particular post is about the rugs knots density and how it is measured.

What is “knots density”?

Knots density is the number of knots a carpet has for a given metric. You can compare this to the number of pixels you have in your camera. The more pixels you have, the more detailed your picture will be.

Knots density makes sense when your rug has knots (Gordes or Turkish double knots, Persian single knots or other type of knots). You cannot really speak of knots density for rugs that are weaved like Kilim rugs or embroidered like Soumak or Suzani rugs.

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This first episode of “Confession from a Rug Dealer” is about how to haggle, bargain or buy a handmade rug?

Lots of buyers and tourists visiting rug producing countries ask themselves the same question. Some travel guides will advice you to bargain but they won’t tell you how.

The key question I guess is not how to haggle but how to buy a handmade rug? While in some shops you will need to bargain to get a fair price, in others the dealer will already provide you a good price.

I think if you follow some basic rules, you can’t go much wrong:

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From some queries we got, I’ve decide to post periodically some tips on what to consider when buying a rug online.
1. Buy only rugs that you like.
You need to like what you buy! This is crucial. I would never recommend to buy a rug simply because it is a good quality rug or because it [...]

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