Repair
Oriental Rugs are functional art forms made of natural fibers. Many rugs are over 100 years old and are still beautiful and functional because they have been maintained correctly and not abused.
Basic Repair
All hand-knotted rugs are based on a foundation of warp (vertical) threads and weft (horizontal) threads that are strung on a loom. This is the infrastructure that houses the knots (what the knots are tied onto). This infrastructure must be kept in good condition or knots will be lost and the actual body of the rug will become damaged and begin to disappear. The ends of the warp threads make up the fringe. While fringe is asthetically pleasing to many people it is actually made to eventually wear off; it protects the knots from wear.
Overcasting
As the fringe and the ends of the rug wear, the weft thread needs to be kept in place to keep the infrastructure of knots intact. This blanket stitching process is known as overcasting.
Selvedge
The sides of the rug consist of a weave of the warp and the weft threads. These sides are protected by wrapping the edges with yarn. This is known as selvege. This selvedge must be kept in good condition to protect the sides of the rug.
Blindstitch, Reweaving, and Reknotting
After years of use rugs can become thin and/or loose in places. An invisible stitch called a blindstitch can be used to tighten and support the warp and weft threads.Reweaving and reknotting areas of rugs that are badly worn or moth damaged, etc. is also an option. Reknotting takes a high skill level - there are many types and qualities of knots that can be reproduced. Our repair artisans are highly skilled and trained to perform this type of repair.
Before and after Repairing Hook
Before and after Reknotting
Before and after Cleaning
Before and after Cutting
Painting
Painting or reproducing the pattern on badly worn areas of rugs is a process that is also an option. As long as the foundation is in good condition the face of the rug can have the color and pattern painted back onto the surface. Once again this is a highly specialized area of restoration.
Fringe
As we stated above, fringe is made to eventually wear off of rugs. It is an important visual component to some people. In cases where the fringe is quite worn we can sew on machine made fringe to reproduce the look of original fringe.
It is important to recognize that each rug is unique and one of a kind. Age, environment, application of use, etc. mean that repair and restoration processes are unique to each rug as well. Most carpets can be repaired and restored to add many years to their use and your enjoyment of them. All of our repair is hands on and repair is priced on an individual basis.