The Rug Library

Shellac and lac dye both come from the resinous secretion of the lac insect; in India lac was also used to stain leather, wool and silk.

Jute fibre, made mostly of cellulose and lignin, comes from the bast (phloem or 'skin') of the plant stem rather than from seeds or leaves.

Retting separates bast fibres from the rest of the plant stem using microbial or chemical action that breaks down the compounds binding the fibres; for jute, bundled stems are traditionally immersed in slow-running water.

The Changthangi goat of Ladakh's high Changthang plateau, herded by the nomadic Changpa, grows a thick winter undercoat that is harvested as fine pashmina.

Pashmina is generally described as a fine subset of cashmere, roughly 12–16 microns in diameter, compared with about 12–21 microns for cashmere in general.

Retting, Britannica notes, is the fibre-separation process used for bast crops such as hemp, flax and jute.

The Changthangi pashmina goat is reported to produce some of the finest cashmere, averaging about 12–13 microns, and to account for a very small share of world cashmere output.

Lanolin, the natural wax on sheep's wool, helps sheep shed water from their fleece and protects wool and skin from the weather.

Wool can absorb large amounts of moisture vapour and release it again; merino wool has a standard moisture regain of around 17%.

A wool fibre has three main parts: an outer scaly cuticle, the inner cortex that forms most of the fibre, and in some coarser fibres a central medulla.

Panipat’s district administration describes the city as the world’s biggest centre of 'shoddy' yarn, which is spun from shredded used cloth and textile scraps.

Panipat’s handloom output includes durries, carpets, mats, table covers, bed covers and curtains, which the district reports are exported to countries such as Canada, Japan, Germany and Australia.

Panipat’s textile-recycling industry took shape in the 1980s, reportedly when imported virgin wool became unaffordable, and it now turns used garments from abroad into yarn, blankets and other products.

Panipat is often called the 'cast-off capital' of the world because of the scale of its used-textile recycling.

Reporting on Panipat’s recycling units has raised concerns about bleaching chemicals and untreated wastewater affecting groundwater, soil and public health.

Panipat’s recycling cluster was praised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 120th episode of his 'Mann Ki Baat' radio programme as an emerging global textile-recycling hub.

During a meeting with Panipat’s textile industry, Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh urged manufacturers to develop new products using different fibre blends.

Panipat’s handloom tradition is often linked back to the Mughal era, when the area lay on a trade route towards Afghanistan and was known for fabrics and hand-made carpets.

Panipat is reported to supply the large majority of blankets used by the Indian Railways and armed forces, and its district website notes that its hand- and power-loom blankets are sent to soldiers.

Panipat’s textile economy is often described as spanning several linked sub-sectors, including handloom weaving, woollen carpets, shoddy-yarn spinning, power-loom products, wet processing, hosiery and woollen yarn.

Panipat’s recycling units are reported to process more than one lakh (100,000) tonnes of textiles a year, much of it used clothing imported from Europe, North America and East Asia.

Panipat’s handloom sector is reported to have grown steadily over recent decades to around 25,000 handlooms employing more than 60,000 people.

Paisley designs became popular in the West in the 18th and 19th centuries largely through imported Kashmir shawls, which carried post-Mughal versions of the boteh motif from India.

Early Mughal carpets closely resemble contemporary Persian rugs, especially those from Herat, before a distinct Mughal way of depicting flowers emerged later in the 17th century.