What is a hand-tufted rug?

One of the distinguishing traditional characteristics of our selection of Persian, Turkish, and Oriental rugs is that they are handmade. In the world of rug-weaving, there are two unique styles a weaver will use to create their rugs: hand-knotted and hand-tufted. When you’re shopping for a rug, you might not know there is a difference between them, so let’s take a look at what makes a hand-tufted rug unique.

First, what is a hand-tufted rug?
We think it would be helpful to first define what makes a rug “hand-tufted.” As with hand-knotted, there is a manual labor component. A weaver will first dye their material of choice, such as wool or silk. Once ready, they will then stretch their canvas along a frame similar to the process of creating a hand-knotted rug.

Next, they’ll load their material of choice, such as wool, into a tufting gun. The use of this tool helps the weaver create their masterpiece faster. The tufting gun will push the wool through the canvas. It takes a special skill to use a tufting gun correctly, not too unlike the process of creating a hand-knotted rug.

How is a hand-tufted rug different from a hand-knotted rug?
If you noticed, at the beginning of this article we put the word “traditional” in italics. Traditional Persian, Turkish, and Oriental rugs are handmade. Hand-knotted rugs have no machine assistance whatsoever. Each knot the weaver makes is with their own hands, and the process (while perhaps more labor intensive) produces a far superior product than any mass-produced rug from a big box store or discount retailer.

As we described above, hand-tufted rugs are still made by hand but with the assistance of a tufting gun. It helps to reduce the time involved, yet still has the human component in its creation.

What about the durability of a hand-tufted rug?
Which, of course, raises a valid question. If handmade rugs are superior to their machine-produced counterparts, does this mean that a hand-tufted rug is low quality as well?

In a word, no. The difference we’re talking about between handmade and machine are ones that have no human input or variation between pieces. No two handmade rugs will ever be the same because humans inherently cannot replicate anything identically. While we may be able to produce two rugs in the same style, even with the same overall design, there will be small differences between each piece.

With a machine-produced rug, you can literally walk into a big box store and purchase two, three, or dozens of the same rug and they’ll be indistinguishable from each other. Subsequently, they lack the human touch and are of generally lower quality.

Hand-tufted rugs bridge this cap. They’re just as well made, durable, and high-quality as hand-knotted rugs and more than anything mass-produced via machine.

Hand-tufted rugs for any room or taste in decor
We carry both hand-knotted and hand-tufted rugs in our warehouse and online. From deep blues to abstract designs to geometric shapes, our selections can match any choice of décor and accent any room in your home.

Would you like to learn more? Then browse our extensive online selection of hand tufted rugs here or visit our showroom today!