28 Nov Oriental Rug Terminology

When picking out an oriental rug it’s easy to get confused by the terminology involved in the rug-marking process. So to help you out, we’ve put together a short list of terms that you’ll probably hear from oriental rug manufacturers and weavers.

• Warps – These are the parallel strings that run lengthwise on the carpet, from loom beam to loom beam. Knots are tied between two warps.
• Wefts – These strings run the width of the rug and are woven through the warps. Between parallel wefts are rows of knots, which the wefts help hold in place.
• Knots – Knots are bits of yarn tied around pairs of warps. The ends are cut off to form what is called the “pile” of the rug.
• Knot Count – One of the measures of a rug’s quality is the number of knots per square inch, or “knot count.” The more knots per square inch, the better the rug.
• Turkish Knot – A type of knot looped around two warps.
• Persian Knot – A type of knot looped around only one warp, with only a halt-turn around an adjacent warp.
• Fringes – Fringes are formed by gathering and knotting bundles of warps at both ends of a rug after the rug has been cut from the loom.

Steamer’s Carpet Care is proud to offer oriental rug cleaning to the San Antonio area. To schedule a rug cleaning, contact us today.