A carpet from A to Z

In this chapter we will inform you on the production of hand knotted carpets. There is a lot involved before the carpet find its way to your living room. We would like you to consider that this is a general description and that variations in the described production process are certainly possible.

Since many centuries carpets are knotted and woven in North Africa, Persia, India and many other countries. Originally there are roughly two populations that knot carpets; the Nomads, they travel with weaving-looms and the (primitive) tribes that originate from several villages in Asia and Persia. The main difference is the type of carpet they produce. The Nomads use, next to the knotting, mainly the weaving technique (Kelims) and the tribes mainly knot, which gives a carpet with poles. In the last decades more and more professional and commercial production sites are opened in the larger cities of these areas. But they are still only a part of the total production.

We begin the description of the process with the preparation of wool. It is often the case that the wool from the carpet is from the same country as the carpet itself. Exceptions are the more contemporary carpets which use, for example, New Zealand wool.

The quality of the wool is determined by the kind of sheep, the feeding and the climate. The wool from the sheep from the high mountains in North Iran is, for example, stronger than the wool of sheep from the green and fertile South of Iran. The rule of thumb is: the more a sheep is fed, the lesser the quality of the wool. When we take a closer look at the fur of a sheep, we also see that certain parts of the fur consist of better wool than other parts. After the shaving of the sheep the wool is sorted by quality and colour. This is because the difference in colour nuances comes back in the dyed wool. The wool is washed after the sorting. The wool loses approximately 60 % of its weight. This is mainly due to dirt and extra fat that is washed out. The next step is the spinning of the wool. Depending on the technique and the area, this is done manually or mechanical. With manual spinning you get a slight lesser smooth thread than with mechanical spinning. Nomads and primitive tribes spin the wool manually and by the twisting of two threads you get different kind of threads; tight or loose, this depends on the type of carpet for which the threads are used.

Only if the wool is spun, it is dyed. The colouring can be done with natural or synthetic colorants. Wit a synthetic colour bath the dye will penetrate through to the centre of the wool fibre, natural colorants will attach to the outside of the fibre. This results in beautiful faded and antique colours. Also, the colour baths are never the same with natural colorants. This gives beautiful colour nuances between the different bales of wool.

The origin of the wool and the above described steps determine the quality of the wool and therefore the quality of the carpet for which the wool is used. Now the wool is ready for use, the knotting windows can be prepared. This means that they are made to measure and stringed with chain threads. This is a job that has to be carefully executed to prevent unevenness in the end result. The chain threads are usually made of cotton and sometimes made of wool or silk. The knotting can now begin. Often, several men and women (weavers) work simultaneously on a carpet (depending on the size). The weavers use a drawing of the pattern drawn on squared paper. The time it takes to knot a carpet depends, among other things, on: materials, knotting density, pattern and size. Sometimes it can take up to more than twelve months. This will be the case with, for example, a silk carpet with silk chain threads, which results in a huge knotting density of two million knots per square metre. The Nomads usually knot the carpets on the basis of the traditions of the ancestors and not on the basis of a drawing. The Nomads knot the carpets with patterns from memory and usually with their own touch.

 

After the knotting the carpet can be cut and/or shaved. In this process all poles are cut on the same height, which makes the carpet real flat and sharpens the pattern.

After the shaving we are still not done. The carpet is washed before the finishing. Outdoors or in a small river the carpet is wetted and scrubbed. This process is very important for the ultimate colours in the carpet end therefore the appeal of the carpet. Sometimes carpets are washed several times to get the desired end result. The combination of the right wool, vegetative colorants and the right washing process make the faded colours of the Ziegler carpets.

After the washing the carpets are dried in the sun. In the old days this was done on steep mountain hills, but nowadays the carpets are dried on grass land, streets and squares and on the roofs of houses. To get a good result you need a really fierce sun. Then the carpet can be pencilled, this means that the poles with equal colours can be joined by using tweezers. This is very important to get sharp contours in the pattern. Last but not least, the fringes are cut at the same length and sometimes twisted.