Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Oriental Rugs - Get To Know Its Authentic Quality

Do you know how to identify authentic oriental rugs? Authentic are hand-woven fabric. It takes months to years to finish a genuine oriental rug. The patterns of design in one genuine rug are unique. It has no duplicate. All oriental inspired patterns are based from the memory of the weaver.

Unlike the synthetic version, genuine ones do not depreciate in value as it ages. In fact, its value goes up instead. All the more that it is used; all the more its beauty is enhanced. It is said that a genuine piece will last 50 to 100 years. From these facts, it makes it valuable, thus the reason for its expensive price.

However, knowing which is authentic or not do not come easy. It takes skills, knowledge and experience to know genuine ones from faked. If you are after for real oriental rugs it is best to make sure that what you will get is real. You would not want to spend a fortune for fake ones, right? So, to help you not get fooled it would help to note of the following.

How to Identify Authenticity

Colors/Patterns/Design

It is rich in color and patterns. Each piece comes in a unique design. If you encounter two rugs that look the same, take a closer look and search for any difference. There is always a difference somewhere.
Try staring at the rug and notice if all the more you stare at it, the more it gets attractive to the eyes. If it's so, it indicates depth. Look for signs of imperfection. Hand woven rugs are not perfect. It is its imperfection that makes it standout from fake ones.

Loose woven are richer in colors. A loose weave allows it to absorb more color. On the other hand, tight weave absorbs less dye making its color not as rich as the latter.

Weave

To reiterate, loose weave pieces have richer colors than tightly weave ones. The latter allows light to pass through. Tight weave rugs do not allow light to pass through it. To know if a rug is loose weave or not place it in a well-lit spot. Then see if it does not block the light. Oriental rugs with denser knots are usually tight weave.

Wool fiber

Know that rugs vary in wool fiber used. There are two kinds of wool fiber used. One is the low quality and cheaper "dry wool" fiber. It comes from the fleece of a dead sheep. This kind of wool is treated with an alkaline substance such as lye. The alkaline substance makes the wool dry and stiff hence its name "dry wool". The substance is used to remove traces of animal's flesh left in the wool. Fake versions use dry wool.

The other type of wool is the high quality but expensive kind. Unlike dry wool, it is soft to touch and shiny. Therefore, it is important to touch and feel the rug when buy one. This type of wool is more durable than the latter kind. In fact, it is said that it can last more than 50 to 100 years. Know that genuine oriental rugs improve as it ages. Thus, its value does not depreciate with time.


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