I use the term “oriental rug” to mean a hand-woven rug (as opposed to an “area rug” which is a machine made rug).
Technically “oriental” refers to “the East” (the Orient) and rugs woven over on the other side of this great planet of ours. Academics use “occidental rug” to refer to those rugs woven in the western hemisphere, such as Navajo rugs.
I know that technically I should distinguish between oriental and occidental – but I don’t. I’ve never used the term occidental with a client, ever. They think I’m saying accidental rug with a pompous “oh” instead of the “ax” – so I keep it simple. Hand woven is “oriental rug” to me – and this is what I see in my head:
Loom from Castle Cleaning in Colorado.
I see the hand work that has twisted every single knot around those warp threads. I see the sheared wool, the dyeing process, the spinning process, the months (and sometimes years) of creation time.
I see a piece of someone’s life in front of me. A part of someone’s soul in a piece of art now place in your home for you to enjoy.
A hand woven rug makes me smile.
Machine woven rugs? Tufted rugs with material backing? They just have no heart to me. No soul. No love.
I have loved many, many wonderful rugs, brand new and some centuries old. None have been machine made. It’s like really loving GOOD food, and having to go to McDonald’s – there is just no pleasure in a knock off. At least not for me. It’s one of the joys – and curses – of knowing so much about a craft … when you really appreciate the art, you are drawn to the well-made pieces.
And I appreciate those who in a world full of commodity, cheap, machine-made product, will choose to buy a hand crafted rug. I appreciate those who value and buy a REAL rug. (I am still very nice to everyone who buys area rugs also – I just enjoy the hand woven rugs more.)
I received an email today from a peer who received a brand new hand woven rug from a client. She has had the rug a few days, and noticed that a damp cloth makes the red dye transfer to it. The peer was asking me for some advice – here is the rug from Iran:
Wool hand woven rug.
With brand new rugs, it is possible that they have a certain amount of “excess dye” in the fibers. This washes away in the first cleaning (some rugs are washed thoroughly before being sold and these do not have this situation).
If the rug is in an area where there may be spills, then they might pose a problem, because the dye may move and migrate to other areas. So this is what I suggested to my peer. Not to wash it fully, but to rinse the tips of the fibers.
Rugs, especially oriental rugs, should be given a bath when cleaned. This is the recommended thorough way of cleaning rugs. This should be done in a rug plant, because thorough dusting, the wash, and complete drying are required. Many rugs have dyes that are not colorfast, so these professionals are trained to stabilize the dyes during the cleaning process.
But with this rug, a bath is not needed. The issue is not soil, but excess dye. If you are a professional rug cleaner, these are the steps I’d recommend:
1) Use your Drimaster tool. This is the PERFECT tool because you want to be able to rinse the fibers thoroughly and IMMEDIATELY extract without the water moving to other areas and potentially making the red dye move to neighboring areas. (If you do not own a Drimaster tool you can find it on the Hydramaster site.)
2) You can adjust the amount of water flow, and you can see the water through the viewer to see if it is red or simply clear. Make short strokes WITH the grain of the wool fibers several times, and then turn off the water flow and follow up with a dry stroke to pick up any remaining moisture.
(To determine the GRAIN of the fibers, pet the rug as you would your dog. You will know when you are going WITH the grain or AGAINST it – and you always want your tool strokes or brushing strokes to be WITH the grain.)
3) Keep the rug out flat, and dry it quickly. If you use a Dri-Eaz AirPath, it will dry in minutes. Set it beside the rug rather than over it so as not to leave any impressions from the airmover legs.
4) Take a damp towel to verify that no more dye transfers as before.
It is not unusual to have “excess dye” in the fibers of a new rug. This wool is very thoroughly dyed those beautiful colors, and just as with new sweaters in the laundry, some dye comes off in the first cleaning. (Just as your grandmother used to add vinegar to her wash to help stabilize and protect neighboring fabrics from absorbing this migrated dye – many rug plants use vinegar also as a rug dye stabilizing agent in their facilities. Old world ways in new world operations.)
The reason I like this “surface rinse” of a brand new rug is because it takes away that excess dye (which might give a rug owner problems if there is a spill), but also because even though the rug is “new” it is not necessarily clean. Dust settles in the store, some have people who walk on them in the store, and the shipping and transport from overseas is not necessarily the cleanest experience. The thorough rinse can remove surface contaminants as well as that excess dye.
If you are a proud owner of a brand new wonderfully hand woven rug, and you find a little dye coming off on a damp towel and you are concerned – now you know what to do. A surface rinse with a new piece of technology that keeps the rug from having to be given a bath just to remove a little bit of extra dye.
Some rugs last for centuries – so they are not a part of our lives; we are a part of theirs. I hope you enjoy your new (or old) woven rug for many years to come.
- Lisa
