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We are often asked about the differences in the way area rugs are manufactured
There are basically three kinds of area rugs.
1. Hand Tufted Area Rugs
2. Hand Knotted Area Rugs
3. Machine Made Area Rugs
HAND TUFTED AREA RUGS:
You’ll always know how to distinguish a Hand Tufted area rug because it will have a cloth like muslin backing.
A Hand Tufted rug is kind of made like a latch hook. It is punched in with a gun or by hand one tuft at a time.
Generally the patterns are mass-produced in your standard sizes 3’6 x 5’6, 5 x 8, 8 x 11, and 9’6 x 13’6.
The cost of hand-tufted area rugs is impacted by the type of wool they are using, and how many tufts per inch.
The more tufts per inch and the denser the pile the higher the cost. This also impacts the memory the rug will have, meaning it won’t crush the pile, so it will wear longer.
With a Hand Tufted rug, glue is used on the back of the rug to hold the wool pile in place. So you will get some shedding, but how much depends on how dense (tufts per inch) the rug is, and what type of wool has been used. Because the tufting process does not produce the fringe that is more common with hand-woven rugs (where the fringe is the end of the warp strings that run from one end of the rug to the other), separate fringe (usually woven as a tape) is often glued or sewn to the ends of a tufted rug.
The hand tufted area rug will rarely wear as well as the Hand Knotted rug because the wool is almost always a cheaper grade and the glue used tends to be the inexpensive latex glue which becomes brittle and deteriorates over time. With years of experience The Rug Goddess knows the best manufacturers that use the better glues, wools, and materials for longer wearing Hand Tufted rugs.
A Hand Tufted rug has resale value equivalent to a machine-made wool rug of the same size. But there are really nice hand-tufted wool rugs out there. You just need to know what questions to ask and what to look for when selecting a hand tufted rug.
Some types of hand tufted rugs you’ll notice they have beveling on the top of the pile. This is a very nice, rich looking style which is all done in the manufacturing process. In most cases this is done manually by people on their hands and knees. It’s a great look, but the price will higher.
In short, you should run your hand across the pile to test shedding, and remember the softer and the denser the pile is, the better the area rug.
We know it can be overwhelming when picking an area rug but don't worry, the Rug Goddess and her area rug consultants are here to help.
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