Handmade or Machine Made Rug? How to Choose Which is Best for You
Handmade rugs are woven and knotted by hand, a method which is labour intensive and time-consuming, whereas machine made rugs are generally mass produced using powered loom technology. The result is that machine made rugs are less expensive than those that are handmade, an important factor if your budget is limited. Handmade rugs are made with natural fibres – typically wool, silk or cotton – with limited demand on energy resources. Power loomed rugs tend to be made of industrially produced synthetic fibres such as polypropylene, acrylic and viscose (although some may be woollen or wool/synthetic mixtures), which may have some influence on your choice if your interests lie with the environment.
Good quality handmade oriental rugs may last for several generations and can appreciate in antique value. The life of machine made rugs is in the order of about twenty years, and because of their mass produced nature they don’t have value as antiques, so if you are looking for a family heirloom you would obviously need to consider selecting a handmade rug. This value distinction is very important because traditional tribal/oriental rug patterns have an enduring popularity, and over the past thirty years there have been enormous advances in power weaving technology which have increased the availability of these designs.
Computer controlled looms can use up to fourteen colours in a single rug, and by cross weaving can produce more than forty shades of colour in vibrant or muted palettes using synthetic fibres. Soft-touch synthetic fibres are also being incorporated in machine made rugs to improve their texture (and feel), and some machines have been modified to use wool and other spun yarns.
These technologies have not only increased the design potential for modern rug patterns, but have also made traditional rug patterns readily available to a much wider market. It is now possible to find good quality machine made rugs in copies of traditional designs such as Aubusson and Bokhara patterns, at prices far below the cost of handmade originals. So, if you love traditional rug patterns and you wish to make a sophisticated design statement, a machine made traditional rug would be an excellent option. Since you would also avoid the cost likely to be incurred with a handmade rug, you would also be in the fortunate position of being able to afford another new rug at some time in the future.
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Tags: Bokhara rugs, Cheap Rugs, hand knotted, machine made rugs, traditional rugs, wool rugs