· By ZenRug
Handmade vs Machine-Made Rugs: What Is the Difference?
Three rugs can look alike in a photo and be completely different underfoot. Here is how hand-knotted, hand-tufted and machine-made rugs are made, and how to tell them apart.
Hand-knotted
Each knot is tied by hand around the warp threads of a loom, row after row. The pile is part of the structure, so the rug is strong and lasts for decades. Moroccan pile rugs, including all of ours, are hand-knotted.
Hand-tufted
Yarn is punched into a backing cloth with a tufting gun, then held in place with glue and a second backing. It is faster to make and cheaper, but the glue weakens over time and the tufts can loosen.
Machine-made
Woven on power looms, often from synthetic fibers such as polypropylene. Patterns are perfectly regular and the price is low, but the pile flattens and the rug wears out much faster.
How to tell them apart
- Back: hand-knotted shows the pattern knot by knot; hand-tufted has a cloth or latex backing; machine-made is perfectly even.
- Fringe: hand-knotted fringe is the warp itself; on the others it is usually sewn or glued on.
- Pattern: small irregularities mean a hand; perfect repetition means a machine.
- Feel: natural wool is springy and warm; synthetics feel slippery or squeaky.
