5 Reasons To Buy a Handmade Rug
When purchasing a rug, there are numerous factors to consider. What size is optimal for your space? Which colors complement your decor? What style and pile height do you prefer? Will you buy handmade or machine-made?
In order to make that last choice, you have to know the difference. On the surface, the distinction seems pretty simple: people make one and a machine produces the other. Below the pile, though, there is a world of difference.
Machine-Made:
Machine-made rugs are crafted on power looms in a quick and precise process. An artist creates the design either by hand or with computer software, then turns it into a pattern.
Next, the yarn is portioned, cut, and fed into the machine. Because there are no artisans involved in the weaving or knot making process, these rugs take far less time to produce and are often cheaper. They are also less durable than handmade rugs.
As they are less expensive to purchase and have a shorter lifespan, machine-made rugs often end up dumped in landfills after only a few years.
They can still be beautiful, and there is no discounting their accessibility to people with lower budgets, but if you’re looking for a rug that will last decades, that tells a story, and that is better for the environment, handmade is the way to go.
Handmade:
1. Hand-Knotted:
We have a whole post about the difference between these rugs, but here’s a brief summary:
Artisans tie thousands of knots across a loom. The process takes months to complete before someone shears and levels the rug.
2. Hand-Woven:
These rugs, also called flat weaves, have no pile (the yarn height of the rug). They are flat and both sides are displayable.
3. Hand-Tufted:
This method blends machine-made and handmade processes. The rug makers use a tufting gun to follow the pattern on a cloth, then sheared and leveled out the yarn.
why buy handmade?
1. Quality
The craftsmanship of handmade rugs is unparallelled. Even smaller hand-woven rugs can take upwards of four months to make, and hand-knotted rugs can take up to a year. Compare that to machine-made rugs which only take a few hours and are more likely to shed in the long run.
The natural materials and time-tested techniques used to craft handmade rugs are proven to last.
2. longevity
Due to the high quality, handmade rugs are far more durable than machine-made ones. The Pazyryk Carpet is a hand-knotted carpet that is over thousands of years old! It isn’t in perfect condition, but you can still see the knots and patterns. Synthetics like nylon, which is often used in widely sold machine-made rugs, break down in around 40 years. There is no way for a rug like that to survive the test of time.
The methods passed down from artisan to artisan are also far more structurally sound than any machine-made knot or weave.
3. Environmental Impacts
Synthetic fibers make up a majority (but not all) of machine-made rugs. Research shows that people have disposed of 1.4 billion square meters of carpet since 1954. That breaks down to 33 metric tons (Mt) of nylon, 16 Mt of polypropylene, 5.5 Mt of polyethylene, 47 Mt of carpet backing, and 7 Mt of other fibers.
Although natural fibers such as cotton constitute less than 1% of all rugs in the United States, they are often diverted from landfills due to the recyclability of the material.
Handmade carpets mostly use wool, cotton, silk, and other natural materials. When they are eventually discarded, they are significantly better for the environment because these materials break down more easily. From creation to disposal, handmade rugs are consistently better for the world around us.
4. Uniqueness
Every handmade rug is unique. Even if two rugs share a pattern, they will each have quirks in their knots, lines, and weaves. While a machine-made rug can be eye-catching or elegant, it can never be a piece of art like a handmade rug.
This is especially true for certain patterns that are unique to a country’s history and culture. Something similar can be reproduced by machine, but it will never be the same.
5. cost
Why are handmade rugs more expensive? Why is this a benefit rather than a drawback?
With proper maintenance, a high quality handmade rug can last beyond your lifetime. Not only is this purchase a one-time investment compared to however many machine-made area rugs you may need to buy, it can be an heirloom.
The money also supports artisans and small businesses, which is wildly important in this age of mass production. When you buy a handmade rug, you are buying a piece of history. Even if it is newly made, the techniques are centuries old.
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