What makes a quality rug?
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What Makes a Quality Rug?

There are many factors that determine the quality of a rug. Some examples include the quality of the materials used to make the piece (the grade of wool, silk or cotton used in the foundation and the weave) and the quality of the dyes used to colour the piece. It is generally accepted that natural dyes produce the best, and most durable results.

The major determinant of rug quality is the density of the weave. Knot density (knots per square inch) is an important indicator of rug quality. Most weaves are measured simply by counting the number of knots per linear inch along the warp (i.e., along the length of the rug) and the number of knots per linear inch along the weft (across the width of the rug) and multiplying to get the number of knots per square inch (or per sq. cm.). Unfortunately, this simple concept can be tricky to apply in practice.
Because of the ways in which rug structure can vary, individual knots can be difficult to isolate from the back of the rug (it's impossible to distinguish separate knots from the face of the rug).

 
For example this is one Turkish knot, even though the wool wraps around two warps.

Often the warps of the rug lie on the same plane. If the warps of the rug lie on the same plane, each knot (whether Turkish,Pakistan,Afghan or Persian) will show on the back of the rug as two tiny squares of the same color next to each other across the width of the rug.
The warps of this Turkish-knotted rug lie on the same plane. 
 
This picture shows one cream-colored Turkish knot (surrounded by navy knots and red wefts) from the back of a Turkish rug. Can you see the two side-by-side elements of this knot? If you are counting the knots in this rug, the two cream bumps count as one knot.

Sometimes the warps are offset so greatly that from the back of the rug alternate warps are hidden. If this occurs, each knot (whether Turkish or Persian) will show on the back of the rug as a single tiny square of color.
The warps of this Turkish-knotted rug are offset. 
 
 
This picture shows one light blue knot (surrounded by pink knots) from the back of a Pakistan rug. Because alternate warps are so strongly offset, you can only see one element of the knot across the width of the rug. If you are counting the knots in this rug, the one light blue bump counts as one knot.
How do you know when to count one bump on the back of the rug as one knot? It's easy -- look carefully at the individual areas of color across the width of the back of the rug. If you only see colored elements in pairs, you need to count each pair as one knot. If you see lots of single colored elements, the rug has offset warps and each element should be counted as one knot. Many country rugs from Turkey, Afghanistan, and Iran show both knot elements on the back of the rug, as do Bokharas from Pakistan. Most rugs have strongly offset warps, and so show only one knot element on the back of the rug.

So what knot density is considered to indicate a high quality rug? This question cannot be answered precisely. High quality rugs can have densities from 700 to 1000 knots per square inch. Very fine silk rugs can go upto 1,800 knots per square inch.

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