Each rug is inspected for pre-existing conditions. The inspection takes place at our shop. We look for conditions that can be covered up with soils such as dye variations (abrash), staining, prior dye bleeding, wear and white knots. We will discuss any areas of concern with you.
Abrash is color variation in the rug. This happens when the weaver runs out of wool to complete a rug, a new batch is taken that does not match the first batch, so you have what appears to be a stripe of a shade of different color that runs left to right. This is not a flaw or damage, it is a characteristic of ALL hand made rugs. It adds character to the piece.
White knots are part of the foundation of the rug. Rugs have cotton warp threads that run the legnth of the rug, cotton weft threads run left to right. The wool fibers are then knotted through this foundation. During the weaving process, the weft and warp threads may break and there is no way of replacing these threads so a knot is tied from the two broken pieces. After the waeving is complete the knots are hidden by the face yarns of the rug. Over time the wool fibers are worn down revealing these knots. They appear as white dots on the face of the rug.
Handmade rugs are very rarely symmetrical. Rugs can be out of square or there can be shifts in the pattern. Sometimes this can be helped a little but not much by drying on out special Blocking Table.
