When you’re searching for a rug to buy, a lot of beginners run into mass-produced coarse commercial-grade rugs that are likely to get so beat up over the course of the next 6-10 years they’ll inevitably require replacement.
Compare that experience to having a good-quality handmade rug. With rugs like these, it’s common to find some that have lasted upwards of a century or more. A hand-knotted rug is quality-made through and through. Here are some of the differences between good quality handmade rugs and those that are mass-produced.
Lifespan On A Good Quality Rug is Longer
Some choose a mass-produced rug because it’s easier, it’s there in-store, and you want it. As we’ve already gone over, don’t expect the kind of rug to last longer than a decade. Most commercial-grade rugs have an average life span of 7 years. A handmade good quality rug taken care of can last 100 years or more on average.
Rug-Making Philosophy – Appearance v. Function
Looking at the way these carpets and rugs are marketed, it gives away a lot of the secrets in creating them. Mass-produced rugs focus on beauty, appeal, and perceived quality. Comparatively, good quality rugs focus more on the overall design, regional characteristics, the knot count, and regional differences in the weaving techniques. In a sense, good quality rugs market themselves more for function as opposed to simply holding up an appearance.
Cost Difference Between Mass Production v. Good Quality Rugs
Buying rugs, you’ll notice the price for a good quality rug to be higher than one mass-produced. Calculating the cost of a rug over a lifespan, oftentimes a good quality rug is cheaper than a commercial-grade rug which requires multiple replacements as the years go by.
Good Quality Rugs Can Take Years to Make
A major reason why upfront costs on good quality rugs are higher is because they do take significantly longer to weave. A rug measuring 9-by-12 feet with a knot count of 500 kpsi can require over 12 months of work to complete – assuming you have 4 or 5 rug weavers working 8 hours a day for six days a week. Needless to say, there is a lot of time and effort put in these exquisitely done rugs.
Mass-Produced Carpets Are More Scratchy And Synthetic
Mass-produced rugs are made by machine. They often use synthetic fibers like nylon, acrylic, polyester, and viscose. Holding a good quality rug and a mass-produced rug in both hands, there’s no questioning which the better product is. The result from mass production is thick, scratchy, coarse rugs that unsuccessfully attempt to duplicate the look and feel of being handmade.
Expertise in Rug-Making v. Duplicating the Same Pattern
Mass-produced rugs are identical to one another. In rug-making done by hand, the result is unique. No two good quality rugs are the same. When you buy a wool rug from a city of established rug weavers, some of these areas have been training weaving for centuries. The knowledge is passed down from generation to generation, in a manner that you don’t find at mass production facilities.
There’s no comparison between mass-produced v. quality handmade rugs. That’s why at ArtiPlanto, we choose to offer only the best. Soft, wool rugs hand-knotted rugs done right. Find the perfect rug for your space today.
