The Rug Library

The Vankar weavers of Bhujodi in Kutch trace their ancestry to the Meghwal community, who are said to have migrated from Rajasthan several centuries ago.

Antique or chemical washes are applied to some new rugs to make them look older; these aggressive treatments can strip the wool's outer cuticle, mute colours and make fibres more brittle.

A luster wash softens a rug's pile to give it a sheen, but it works by dissolving some of the wool's outer cuticle layers.

'Tea wash' or 'herbal wash' treatments mellow the colours of a new rug through a light over-dyeing process rather than through age.

Chemical 'antique washing' of oriental rugs is reported to have begun around 1900, as rising Western demand outstripped the supply of genuinely old rugs.

Rugs that have been heavily luster- or antique-washed tend to be more sensitive to sun fading and to colour change from some spot-cleaning solutions.

In the Indian carpet trade, a newly woven carpet is washed to remove dust and dirt, and a final wash is also relied on to bring out the pile's lustre.

Washing a newly woven rug removes excess dye and dirt and softens the pile; workshops typically wash it by hand with water and scrubbing tools before it is dried.

The panja is a heavy comb-like beater with metal prongs used in Indian dhurrie weaving to pack each weft pass down firmly, giving a dense, even weave.

During knotting, balls of yarn in each colour hang from the loom's upper beam so the weaver can reach the right colour for each knot.

The comb beater used to compact rows of knots and weft is known by several Persian names, including shana, dastak and daftin.

The basic tool kit of a pile-rug weaver is a knife for cutting yarn, a beating comb for packing rows, and shears for trimming the pile level.

Namda makers press the wet wool layers with a tool called a pinjra, or roll them up inside a grass or jute mat, before leaving the felt to dry.

In Kashmiri carpet workshops the loom is called the waan, and weavers periodically beat down knots and weft with a heavy comb known locally as a punja.

The comb beater is typically made of a row of metal blades splayed to form teeth, used to beat each weft pass tight against the knots.

The panja's weight helps settle wefts firmly in place, which contributes to the dense, durable weave of panja dhurries.

Tibetan-style rug weavers use a metal gauge rod as a key tool: its height sets the pile length and a groove along it guides the knife that cuts the loops.

The Central Wool Development Board serves as an advisory body to India's Ministry of Textiles on matters relating to the growth and development of the wool sector.

The Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute at Avikanagar, Rajasthan, developed the Avikalin sheep strain for carpet wool and the Bharat Merino strain for fine wool.

Wool is chiefly composed of the protein keratin, whose helical molecular structure contributes to the fibre's elasticity, strength and resilience.

The natural crimp, or wave, of wool fibres gives wool its bulk and springiness: a stretched fibre straightens but returns to its crimped shape when released.

Woolmark notes that wool's chemical structure makes it naturally flame resistant, and unlike many synthetics it does not melt and drip.

Research promoted by Woolmark reports that wool carpets can improve indoor air quality by absorbing certain airborne pollutants and buffering changes in indoor humidity.

The Magra sheep of Rajasthan's Bikaner region, also called Bikaneri Chokla, is known for an extremely white, lustrous fleece of medium carpet quality.