Nowadays, finding an authentic product is becoming more and more difficult. Both designer labels and the second-hand market are flooded with counterfeit items that look almost identical to the original ones! This makes it hard for any buyer to know what they are purchasing: a fake or an authentic item? The same is the problem when buying a truly authentic oriental rug for your home. The number of fakes has increased dramatically in the past years, making it very difficult for any buyer to spot them. That being said, authentic oriental rugs have a few distinctive traits that can help you identify whether you are purchasing an original or a replica. How can you tell if your oriental rug is authentic? This question has been asked by many, and the answer might surprise you. Here is a list of 11 ways to distinguish between the two.
Check the Color of the Rug
The color of your rug is one of the first things you should look at. A rug with a solid or faded color is not made from high-quality material, and therefore, it cannot be an authentic oriental rug. Original and best oriental rugs are handcrafted, meaning they have been dyed in a specific way to give them their unique appearance. No two rugs will ever be the same, even if they come from the same loom because of their different knots and weaves. The color of the rug has to be uniform all over the rug with no fading.
Check the Weaves of Your Rug
The most delicate rugs are made from high-quality material, and therefore, they have a tight weave that is not easily visible to anyone looking at it. An excellent authentic oriental rug will also look identical on both sides if you flip it around. The rug weaving will be uniform and tight with no fraying, loose threads, or signs of wear. An authentic rug will also have no signs of wear. If you are looking at a hand-knotted rug, then make sure that the knots are tight and uniform all over the rug with no unevenness or visible flaws. The individual threads should be thick enough to appear well crafted but not so thin as to look fragile. This is because authentic rugs will have threads up to four times thicker than their modern counterparts. Also, authentic rugs will have a high knot count, which you can tell by counting the knots per square inch of your rug. The higher the knots, the more expensive it is because hand-knotted rugs take longer and require more manufacturing skills.
Check for Knots in Your Rug
The number of knots per square inch is an important factor when you are examining your oriental rug. The finest rugs have a knot count between 50 to 65, while cheaper ones may have fewer than 30 knots per square inch. If the knots form an irregular pattern, it is likely that your rug was made by machine and not by hand. Moreover, there should be symmetrical patterns in your oriental rug which means that two sides of the same knot should match perfectly when you flip over your rug. If the pattern is symmetrical, it means that your rug was made by hand and not by machine. These vintage rugs are timeless and the finest of all vintage rugs.
Check for Looping in Your Rug
Inspecting loops on a strand-by-strand basis is very important when checking an oriental rug to determine whether or not it has been handmade since this process takes more time than the other two. Checking loops will help you determine whether or not your oriental rug is authentic and handmade, but it doesn’t provide any information about the condition of that rug. When checking for lopping in an oriental rug, begin by looking at one row on the left side of a strand (the rows are usually numbered from top to bottom). From that row, check every other loop in both directions. If you find any missing loops or broken ones, move onto the next row and repeat this process until you have checked all rows on one side of your oriental rug.
Check for Fringe Pulling at Seams
If any is pulling away from the seams, this will indicate that your oriental rug is not original. These fringes were sewn to a backing and glued down with hot glue or stapled in place on an Oriental Rug’s backside. If you find any of these fringes pulled off at a seam, it means one of two things: either your oriental rug was poorly constructed, or it is not authentic.
Check for Knots and Pile Height
If you notice that the pile height of your Oriental Rugs seems to be unnaturally even, this may indicate that there are synthetic materials in use on parts of the rug. This will also show up as loops that look like they should be straight but instead appear to be curved or bent. You can also check for knots and excessive knotting, which is a quality of lower grade rugs like the Chinese Shag Rug.
Check for Signs of Repair
Carpet weavers will often replace damaged areas on an Oriental-style Rug with matching fabric from another part of the rug, especially if they cannot replace the whole rug. You can check for these signs of repair by inspecting your rug closely and looking for areas where it appears that there has been a different dye used or an area is wider than other parts of the pattern.
Inspect the Dye of Your Rug
Authentic oriental rugs have been dyed in a specific way. For example, an authentic Chinese rug will contain very dark indigo borders and accents with extremely bright yellow centers, so they are so popular among people who want to decorate their homes using modern Oriental décor. The color should be even, and the pattern should not fade in any way. Even when you look at your rug from a distance, make sure that it does not have any faded areas or lighter colors than others.
Check the Pattern of Your Rug
Look at how your rug appears on both sides; is there a difference? You might want to examine it closely as some Oriental-style rugs have been known to use wool or silk pieces that are stained differently. The stained pieces are then sewn together without any concern for the kind of pattern they form. If you notice that the color and patterns on either side look different, it is a sign that your rug has been made using such methods.
On a Final Note
We have the perfect solution if you want to buy a rug but can’t afford an authentic one. RugKnots offers beautiful oriental rugs at affordable prices that are high quality and look. Whether you’re looking for a silk Persian rug or Turkish wool carpet in your living room, our experts will help you find what you need so it matches your decor perfectly. With over 300 years’ worth of experience behind us when it comes to handcrafting these intricate pieces from all around the world, there is no better place than Rug Knots for anyone who wants an excellent reproduction of any oriental rug!