There are many things to consider when investing in an oriental rug. Whatever rug you choose, you are likely to have it for a long time, possibly even passing it down to future generations for their use. Here are some tips and guidelines for judging the quality of any rug.

1. Is it machine made or handmade? Look at the fringe. If the fringe is sewn on, the rug is probably machine made. Occasionally someone will replace a worn fringe with a pre-fabricated one, but the fringe is your first clue that a rug may be machine made. Also, the pile of a handmade rug is made of tufts of yarn that have been individually tied into the carpet. These show up on the back of the rug as little individual squares. Machine made rugs lack this kind of definition on the back of the rug. Also, remember that hand tufted rugs are not the same as hand knotted. Hand tufted means that the manufacturer uses a "tufting gun" to shoot a "V"-shaped piece of yarn into a plastic grid, creating the pattern in the rug. Another version of hand tufting entails a weaver pulling the "V"-shaped piece of yarn through the warp threads, but not tying a knot in it. Though faster for the manufacturer, this corner-cutting technique makes a rug that lacks the strength and structural integrity of a true hand-knotted rug. Avoid hand tufted rugs unless you are just looking for cheap floor covering. A hand-tufted rug cannot be repaired.

2. Wool Quality One of the most important factors in the longevity and beauty of your rug will be the quality of the wool. We have found that the best carpet wools in the world come from Iran, which is why I believe that Iranian rugs have always been sought after as the finest rugs. Wool quality is determined by the breed of sheep, as well as what the sheep eat and drink. Minerals in the water can give the wool extra strength and luster. Feel the rug, massaging the wool between your fingers. Does it feel strong, supple, and rich? Or is it dry, brashy, and crisp to the touch. Good wool will always feel rich and supple. One thing to be particularly careful of is "tabatchi" or dead wool. This is wool shorn from sheep that have already been slaughtered. Tabatchi wool is very brittle, and will wear out in a very short time. Rub your hand firmly over a spot on the surface of the carpet a few times. If you have more than a tiny bit of loose wool fiber, it is a likely that the rug is made of tabatchi wool. Avoid the rug no matter how much you like everything else about it. In just a few years the rug of tabatchi wool will loose all its pile and be worthless.

The best wool is called "kurk". Kurk comes from the first shearing of lambs between 9 and 14 months old,, and only from the neck and under the arms. Kurk has a feel almost like velvet, but is exceptionally strong.

3. Colors Are the colors pleasing to your eye? Will they work with the other furnishings in your home or office? This is a subjective matter, but remember, you will have the rug for a long time. Choose colors that will work for you.

4. Knot count Many dealers try to sell knot count as the only measure of quality. It is true, the higher the knot count a rug has, the longer it takes to make. Knot counts in rugs can vary from as low as 40 per square inch to as high as 1200. Think of knots as pixels on a screen. The finer the knot count, the higher the resolution of the picture. So higher knot counts work best for rugs with a great amount of detail. Curvilinear designs need higher knot counts. Geometric designs can often do with far lower counts.

In Iran, most knot counts are measured in "raj". One raj is the number of warp threads in 7 centimeters. a 30 raj carpet is usually considered "commercial" grade, with somewhere between 120 and 140 knots per square inch.. Carpets of 50 raj and higher are considered fine carpets. A 50 raj carpet usually has about 330 knots per square inch. An 80 raj carpet, like our Serafian carpet, has about 900 knots per inch.

An average weaver can tie between 4,000 and 8,000 knots a day. This means that a 9' X 12' carpet woven at 350 knots per inch (as in many fine Bijar carpets) can take over two man-years to make.

5. Pile density related to knot count, pile density affects the longevity of a carpet. The tighter and denser the pile is, the better the rug will wear. Take your fingers and try to wiggle them into the pile. Is it difficult to work them all the way to the bottom of the pile? If so the carpet is dense and likely to wear well.

6. Rarity Some carpets, particularly some tribal pieces, are rare simply because the tribes that weave them are small. An example of this is carpets from Yallameh region in Iran. Woven by members of the Luri tribe, these carpets are fairly rare. The Luri weave most of their rugs on small looms in their homes, so larger pieces can be very hard to find. Another example is Quashquli carpets from the Quasqai region in Iran. These exceptionally tight and dense carpets are very rare.

7. Is there damage? Look the rug over carefully, front and back. Look for repairs, worn places, or other signs of trouble. If a rug has a repair, is it obvious, or does it blend in almost unnoticeably? Turn the rug over and pinch the back of the rug in several places. If you notice spots that are dry and crackle when pinched, they probably have dry-rot from improper drying at some point in the carpet's past. This weakens the foundation of the rug, leading to repairs later on. Avoid any carpet with dry rot, as it has almost no resale value.

8. Avoid Chemically washed rugs. Many rugs are chemically washed to fade or soften the colors. The caustic chemicals used to do this also strip the lanolin out of the wool, rendering it brittle and weak. Though the colors of chemically washed rugs may be appealing, the rug will wear out much more quickly. You may see rugs that are labeled as "Tea Washed" or "Herbal Washed". This process entails fading a rug chemically with caustics, then soaking the rug in an herbal formula (usually henna or tea) to give the rug an antique patina. Though the colors in these rugs are very much in fashion today, these rugs can not be expected to last as long as traditionally made rugs.

A safer way to fade a rugs colors is to put the rug in the sun every day for anywhere from a few days to a few months. Because this is time consuming, few rug importers are willing to commit the time and resources to "sun-washing" their rugs. Most of the true Persian (Iranian) rugs we carry have been sun-faded if they are faded at all.