The People Want To Know About Rugs!
I did a little experiment and decided to just google the ‘most googled questions about Turkish rugs’ to see what would come up.
And surprisingly, people are googling a lot about Turkish rugs. There are other rug nerds out there, just like us! What a nice community to find - I don’t know who any of you are yet, but hopefully one day we can all come together and talk about how much we freaking love rugs.
It’s a lot of the same questions asked in different ways. BUT I’ve gathered the top 8 or so and am going to answer them for you right here, right now. By the end of this, you’ll hopefully feel like a mini-rug expert.
Let’s get started:
Top 8 Questions About Turkish Rugs
- Are Turkish rugs good?
- Are Turkish rugs expensive?
- Can Turkish rugs get wet?
- Why are Turkish rugs so expensive?
- Where are Turkish rugs made?
- How Turkish rugs are made?
- Where to buy Turkish rugs?
- Do Turkish rugs increase in value?
When I read these, I laughed a little bit. I've googled these at one point or another but that was old Carly. New Carly has so much knowledge stored in her noggin after the last year.
We’ll go 1 by 1 down the list so by the end, you’ll be an expert too!
1. Are Turkish Rugs Good?
This one made me laugh I don’t know why. It just seems so simple but also there’s a lot to the question. In short, yes.
But why are Turkish rugs good?
Turkish rugs are good for a few different reasons:
- Each rug is unique and one-of-a-kind, meaning its resale value only increases.
- Natural fibers mean cleaning stains is easier and more effective. Natural fibers don’t hold onto stains like synthetic fibers do.
- Weaving has been around for centuries. Rugs were used for decoration and art, but also for warmth and protection from the elements.
- This is called the Turkish Ghiordes knot and it gives a firmer weave than the traditional single knot (used in Persian and other types of rugs).
- Because of the natural materials and the knot type explained above, these rugs are passed down for generations. If you take proper care of your rug, they can be used for over 100 years. Our oldest rug is 90 years old and a stunner.
Need I say more?
2. Are Turkish Rugs Expensive?
Yes and no. They can be. But you can also find affordable Turkish rugs.
Women (typically only women are making the rugs) sit for hours, days, weeks, years to finish these true pieces of art. Entire communities are involved in the creation of these pieces. So why would something like that be cheap?
The price depends on the number of knots per square inch, the age, quality, region, time it took to weave - so many factors!
If it’s handmade, and lasts forever, it’s going to cost you. But our goal at High Pile Designs has been to make rugs affordable to the average human. Because in our short time on earth, whenever we saw a rug we loved, it was always out of our price range.
Our rugs range from ~$160-1000 so that you can have these pieces of art in your home for decades. And if you do the math, $1000/100 years means the rug will cost you $10/year. We did a nice video about this comparing one of our rugs to an Amazon, machine-made rug. #girlmath
3. Can Turkish Rugs Get Wet?
Yup. They can! And it’s okay if they do. People don’t know this!
Wool is a natural fiber, which absorbs moisture extremely well. A lot of people are afraid to put rugs in places like bathrooms, but we say, DO IT. Our mini’s are perfect for bathrooms - we also have a few small rugs that would look amazing in a bathroom as well. Even kitchens.
Wool wicks moisture which means wool rugs can absorb a good amount of moisture and actually dry quickly when compared to synthetic fibers used in machine-made rugs. Wool moves the moisture throughout the fabric, vs. trapping it.
Some rugs are a blend of wool and cotton and this is also great. Think of your cotton dishtowels - they get wet all the time, and then gradually dry. Turkish rugs are the same.
4. Why Are Turkish Rugs So Expensive?
I feel like I answered this question pretty well above but let’s go even deeper and start to understand how these pieces are made. I’m going to summarize here and make this shorter than the actual process for the sake of your attention span. 🙃
Now this isn’t the process every time, but here’s a good example of what goes into creating 1 single rug:
- The senior man of the family ventures to the nearest town to seek out a designer to work with
- Once a design has been chosen and paid for, the wool and cotton (and/or silk) are chosen
- The materials are brought to a dye maker where the exact shades are chosen
- The loom construction begins
- Once finished, the warp threads are assembled
- After, one end of the rug begins with fringes to frame out the end of the rug
- After a few inches of rug are woven, individual pieces of wool tied to the threads, the rug is ready for an initial cutting
- Once this process is repeated (for weeks, months, etc), the rug is finished and ready to be cleaned
- Once the rug is clean and dry, a master shearer shaves it with what looks like a straight-edged razor
- Sometimes the rug needs to be ironed as a finishing touch
So the next time you ask yourself why you’re paying more than you would on Amazon or Target - think about this blog post!
5. Where are Turkish Rugs Made?
Might be obvious, but I'll answer. Turkey! Doesn’t need much explanation.
There are rugs made in other countries but we wouldn’t call these Turkish rugs.
6. How Are Turkish Rugs Made?
We love this question, and actually got to see it live when we went to Turkey for the first time.
It’s quite the process but here’s a video example so you can see it ‘live’ as well.
Also, see the answer to question 4 again. It’s labor intensive and just so complicated!
7. Where to Buy Turkish Rugs?
There are MANY places to buy Turkish rugs, but it can be a daunting process.
The questions you have to ask yourself when buying are endless. Is it real? Is this a fair price? Are the dye’s vegetable or chemical? Does the age seem valid? Am I actually buying a Turkish rug? Or is it a rug from another region being marketed as a Turkish rug (this has happened to us 🙂)
We’ve seen Turkish rugs on Etsy, Fb Marketplace, Craigslist - basically all over the internet. Also rug shops. But ask yourself first if you trust the information being given to you is accurate. A few pieces of basic info each rug should have:
- Age
- Dimensions
- Region it’s from
If that information is unavailable, ask some solid questions to whoever is selling to you.
At High Pile Designs, it was important to us from the very beginning to provide you with as much information as we possibly could for each piece of inventory. That’s why we’ve taken it a step further and provided you with the Symbolism in each piece, as well as the material it’s made out of.
8. Do Turkish Rugs Increase in Value?
We mentioned this above, but they do! They are a pretty amazing investment. And that is one of the reasons we love these pieces of art.
If you buy a machine-made rug, it instantly decreases in value. But a handmade, one-of-a-kind piece that lasts a lifetime only increases in value.
The older the rug, the more valuable its said to be. And this is one of the only things that changes over time with a rug. You can’t change the colors, the material, etc. But the longer you hold onto your piece, the more ‘value points’ you can place on it.
Even if you purchased a rug and sold it the next day, you’d be able to sell it for the same price, or even slightly higher.
The More You Know
So now you know.
You know why Turkish rugs cost what they do, why they’re more than a rug at Target, or Amazon. You know what information you should be looking for when thinking about buying, and how they’re made.
We don’t expect you to be as obsessed with Turkish rugs as we are, but if you are, we’re here for it!
Hopefully you have more appreciation for their beauty and history though after reading and learning.
As always, Love & Rugs.