Hand-Tufted Oriental Area Rugs – Are They Really Hand Made?
Tufting Gun
Many hand-tufted rugs use high-quality wool so the finished product looks and wears much like a hand-knotted rug. Unlike a hand-knotted rug, a hand-tufted rug is created without tying knots. Creating a hand-tufted area rug takes a fraction of the time to make, therefore greatly reducing the cost. As a result, hand-tufted rugs are very affordable area rugs.
These wool rugs are made with a tool called a “tufting gun.” Loops of wool are pushed through a backing, also called a cartoon or stencil, which has been imprinted with the overall design. When the rug maker is through with this process another foundation, called a scrim is applied with latex glue. When this dries, the final protective cloth backing is applied and the fringe, if any, is added by either sewing on, or gluing.
The last step is to shear the rug so that all of the loops on the top of the rug are cut, which in turn creates the pile.
Hand-tufted rugs can withstand high traffic and will begin to wear out after 12 to 20 years of use. High traffic areas include hallways, family room, and entryway. Medium traffic areas include the dining room and home office. Low traffic areas include bedrooms and formal living room.
Cost Difference
A hand-tufted rug will generally cost less than a hand-knotted rug because it is produced using a less labor and skill intensive process. Tufted rugs take less time to produce, are less costly to produce and in many instances, the manufacturer pass these savings along to the consumer.
Cleaning Considerations
Tufted rugs are also called “Glue-back” which refers to a type of rug where a layer of glue is placed between the tufting of the rug and either a canvas or cloth backing. While often sold as quality “Hand-made” rugs, there are many problems that this glue can cause over time. Eventually, it starts to decompose and a white powder will begin to fall out of the rug.
Also, most Glue-backs will eventually “off-gas” a strong latex smell. Furthermore, it is very common that when the glue begins to wear out, the backing will “delaminate” and detach from the body of the rug, making a terrible mess and leaving you with a rug that is best thrown away rather than repaired. Lastly, “Glue-backs” do not take well to cleaning. Nearly all types of wash have the potential to damage the glue and can cause problems such as causing the backing to separate from the rug. For these reasons, we highly recommend avoiding any rugs that are labeled “hand-tufted” or that have a layer of cloth on the back.
Oriental Rug Salon is a Certified Partner with the prestigious Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) and the international Carpet & Rug Institute (CRI). In addition, we are A+ rated with the Better Business Bureau and Angie’s List and our technicians are certified by the world’s most respected certification body for textile professionals.
For more information about Oriental Rug Salon and our Oriental area rug cleaning services please visit us online at www.OrientalRugSalon.com or call us anytime at 239-424-8171.
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Tufted Area Rug Below
