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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