About Carpets and Rugs

Although the exact origins of carpet weaving have not been determined, it is known that the Egyptians of the third millennium B.C. wove carpets of linen ornamented with embroidery onto brightly colored pieces of woolen cloth. Egyptian influence apparently spread throughout the Middle East and then to Mongolia and China. Some investigators acknowledge Central Asia, Turkestan, and China with the origination of carpets, and in the early 1950s a rug dating back 2,400 years, made with Turkish knots, was found in Siberia.

Early Chinese carpets were made of knotted silk pile with backings of wool or cotton, but later the pile was made of wool. Wool pile was also used in Central Asia by early nomadic tribes who found wool effortlessly in their wanderings. Nomadic rugs were woven on simple horizontal frames that could be rolled up for travelling.

Until the nineteenth century the word carpet was used for any cover, such as a table cover or wall hanging; since the beginning of machine-made products, however, it has been used almost exclusively for a floor covering. Both in Great Britain and in the United States the word rug is often used for a partial floor covering as distinguished from carpet, which normally is tacked down to the floor and usually covers it wall-to-wall. When referring to handmade carpets, however, the names rug and carpet are used interchangeably.

Handmade carpets are works of art as well as functional objects. Indeed, many Oriental carpets have reached such heights of artistic expression that they have been held in the same regard in the East as objects of extraordinary beauty and luxury that masterpieces of painting have been in the West.

The principal methods used to manufacture pile carpets and rugs today are weaving and tufting. In the weaving process, pile yarns and backing yarns are interlocked simultaneously. In tufting, pile yarns are attached to a preconstructed backing.

Today's carpets and rugs are made from both natural and man-made fibers. Wool remains popular, but nylon has exceeded wool in poundage consumed in the United States since the 1960s. Carpet wools are imported by United States manufacturers. Domestic breeds of sheep yield fine wool; coarser and more resilient wool is used in rugmaking. New Zealand and Argentina are the chief producers of carpet wool. Some also comes from the Middle East. The use of cotton for carpetmaking is relatively minor, confined mainly to the production of scatter rugs. Most handmade rugs are Orientals, made in the Middle and Far East.

When you select a carpet or rug for your home, you have many things to consider and many different options to think about as well. Carpeting and rugs come in many different colors and styles, textures and fibers, and there are many different qualities to choose from as well. Learn more to choose the best rug or carpet.