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Know what stands behind. Rug Manufacturing
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While the art of rug-making started thousands of years ago as a
handmade craft, the modern production of rugs does include
machine-based manufacturing. Machine-made rugs are manufactured in
countries around the world, including Canada, Ireland, Portugal, and
the United States to name just a few. The process of making a rug
using a machine involves industrial-sized looms, first invented and
used in the United States in 1839.
By 1926, textile industrialists in the United States had modified
the early electric looms so that they could produce fairly faithful
replicas of Oriental rugs. The machine-made rugs were viewed by both
the producers and the buying public as a more affordable alternative
to the beautiful and elaborate, yet expensive, hand-made rugs that
came from exotic lands. The advent of mechanized rug production also
greatly increased the availability, range of selection, and sheer
quantity of rugs available for local purchase.
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These large mechanized looms mimic the process of making rugs by
hand. Yarn on enormous spools is fed into the looms, which operate
at high speeds, producing an almost-finished rug in a matter of
minutes, rather than months. Once the basic rug is produced, it may
be sent off for patterning. Again, this process occurs with the use
of a machine. In mechanized rug production, the colors are not
produced using vegetable, seed, or natural dyes, but rather are
chemical mixtures that result in vibrant colors.
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The chemical dyes are fed into a large screen-printing machine and a
particular pattern or design, whether floral, Oriental, or
geometric, is set. The screen-printing machine literally stamps the
rug with its particular pattern, and the rug is then sent on for
finishing. The finishing process may involve pulling the fibers at
the corners of the rug for a fringe or tufted look, or it may
involve adding a border.
Since the mechanization of rug manufacturing in the 1930s, the rug
production process has become increasingly more sophisticated,
paralleling the trajectory of the hand-made rugs in a sense.
Innovations in machinery and raw products allow the use of new
materials, including synthetics, as well as new designs, styles, and
shapes. The mechanized production has introduced a certain variety
to the rug market, but traditionalists are likely to continue
seeking hand-made rugs, and are willing to pay the price for them.
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Consumers who are in the market for a new rug are well advised to
determine whether the rug they are considering purchasing is
hand-made or machine-made. It is widely believed that hand-made rugs
last longer and are generally of a better quality. The consumer’s
ultimate choice should depend not only on price, but on intended use
and personal style preferences.
TheAreaRugs.com Glossary |
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