Persian rugs are highly valued for obvious reasons apart from the fact that they are expensive and provide Haute couture with a whole new meaning. And that’s why they are in such demand these days; apart from that, they come in various designs and styles so when you are out shopping for the right Persian carpet, you may want to check out these tips beforehand. If you have traveled to the mid-east, with the high hopes of purchasing an antique and an original Persian carpet, you would do well to check out these essential tips.
Choose carefully
You’re bound to feel a little more than overwhelmed when it comes to purchasing the right Persian carpet. One word of advice, rather than heading to a high-end boutique to purchase the carpet, you would be better off traveling to Iran to purchase the carpet in situ. One of the reasons is that you are bound to come across more than one fake Persian carpet even in a boutique which is why you need to go the extra mile, to get the real McCoy. Granted traveling to Iran is not everyone’s cup of tea which is why you can opt for any one of the other west Asian countries rather than purchasing it in a downtown boutique.
Just keep in mind that an original Persian carpet will always be handwoven and a lot of labor would have gone into it to create it, from the design to the overall finish. So do not be flabbergasted at the asking price but most sellers would expect you to bargain and that’s part of the selling process. Above all, once you have purchased the right one, you would have to take care of it when it comes to washing Persian rugs and carpets, but more on that later.
Find out about the knot count
One way to determine which is a better carpet than the other is to find out about the knot count. A real Persian carpet is handwoven and it would have a knot count. A knot count essentially tells you a lot about how the carpet was made, so when you head into the shop, ask the proprietor to turn over the carpet/ rug and if the knots are uniform, then it has been manufactured by a machine. Whereas if the knots are uneven, then it has been prepared by human hands.
On average, a quality Persian carpet would have 120 knots per square inch, so you can imagine the amount of labor that would have gone into it. The other way to tell a handmade rug apart from one prepped by a machine is to find out if the concerned rug has a soft backing as most handmade rugs come with it, along with uneven knots. So make sure that you pay attention to the knots in the carpet, before you purchase it.
The material counts
When it comes to selecting a Persian carpet, you need to know that most of these are usually made from wool, silk, or wool and silk blend. There are those carpets that are manufactured entirely from silk and come with a shiny appearance but just know that very, very few carpets are made from cotton for the simple reason that they are not durable and hardly last more than a few months.
Natural dyes
When purchasing Persian carpets, the one thing that you need to remember is the fact that original, authentic Persian carpets always use natural dyes as opposed to artificial ones. When it comes to authentic carpets, they use these natural dyes, as they mellow with age and make the carpet stand apart for the right reasons.
These are a few must-read tips that you need to check out before purchasing the carpet.
