How to Tell What Kind of Rug You're Looking At

There are four ways a rug gets made, and the difference between them is the difference between a rug your grandchildren argue over and a rug you replace in four years. Most stores would rather you didn't know which is which. We make all four, so we have no reason to hide it.

Turn the rug over. That's the whole test.

The back of a rug tells you almost everything, and it takes five seconds.

• You can see the pattern clearly on the back, made of thousands of tiny knots — hand-knotted.
• You see the pattern, but softer, with no individual knots — hand-loomed.
• The back is covered in fabric or a stiff glue layer — hand-tufted.
• The back is perfectly uniform, machine-neat, often with a grid texture — power-loomed.

Fringe is the second tell. On a hand-knotted rug the fringe is the foundation — the warp threads the whole rug is tied onto. On most other rugs it is sewn on afterward. Fold the end back and look at where the fringe meets the pile.

Hand-knotted

Each knot is tied by hand around the foundation threads, then beaten down and cut. A single fine rug can hold well over a million knots and take months on the loom — the finest work we do can run up to nine months.

Lifespan: generations. Hand-knotted rugs are the ones that get repaired rather than replaced, because there is something there to repair — knot by knot, we can rebuild a worn section or reweave a chewed corner.

Best for: the room you care most about, and anything you want to still own in thirty years. This is also the only construction that reliably gains character rather than looking tired as it ages.

Hand-loomed

Woven by hand on a loom, but with a continuous weave rather than individual knots. Faster to make than hand-knotted, which is why it costs less, but still genuinely handmade and still repairable.

Lifespan: decades with reasonable care.

Best for: people who want a handmade rug with real wool and real texture without hand-knotted pricing. Most of our modern solids and textured designs are made this way.

Hand-tufted

Wool is punched through a fabric backing with a hand-held tool, then a second backing is glued on to hold the tufts in place. It is made by hand, but it is not woven — and that glue is the part nobody mentions.

Lifespan: typically five to ten years in a real room. The glue eventually breaks down, at which point the rug sheds and can't be economically repaired. Hand-tufted rugs also shed noticeably for the first year or two — that is normal for the construction, not a defect.

Best for: a specific look at a lower price, a guest room, a child's room, or a space you expect to redecorate. We sell hand-tufted rugs and we'll happily sell you one — we just won't let you buy it thinking it's an heirloom.

Power-loomed

Made by machine, usually from synthetic fiber or machine-spun wool, thousands of identical copies at a time. There is no knot and no hand in it.

Lifespan: three to seven years before it flattens and the colors dull.

Best for: honestly — mudrooms, basements, dorm rooms, rental turnover, under a dining table with young children, and any situation where you'd rather throw a rug away than mourn it. There is nothing wrong with buying one for the right reason. The problem is paying handmade prices for one, which happens constantly online.

What each one is really costing you

Price per year is the number that matters, not price on the tag. A power-loomed rug replaced every five years costs more over twenty years than a single hand-knotted rug that is washed twice in that time and handed down afterward. That maths doesn't work for every room or every budget — but it should be the maths you're doing.

Questions we get asked

Is "handmade" the same as "hand-knotted"?

No, and this is where most people get caught. Hand-knotted, hand-loomed and hand-tufted are all sold as "handmade," and they are — but they are three very different products with three very different lifespans. Ask which one specifically. A seller who won't answer plainly is telling you something.

Does a higher knot count mean a better rug?

Not by itself. Knot count controls how fine the detail can be, so an intricate floral design needs a high count while a bold tribal or modern design doesn't. Wool quality matters more than knot count for how a rug wears. A high-count rug in poor wool is a worse buy than a lower-count rug in good wool.

My rug is shedding. Did I buy a bad rug?

Probably not. New handmade wool rugs shed loose fibers for a few months and then settle. Hand-tufted rugs shed considerably longer. Shedding that never stops, or that comes with visible backing, usually means the glue layer is failing.

Can you tell me what mine is?

Yes, and there's no charge for asking. Send a photo of the front and the back to us, or bring the rug into the showroom. We'll tell you what you have and whether it's worth cleaning or repairing — even if you bought it somewhere else.

Come look at all four

Reading about the back of a rug is not the same as feeling one. We keep all four constructions on the floor, and turning them over side by side takes about two minutes and settles the question permanently.

Cassim Rug Gallery · 239 Ogden Ave, Downers Grove, IL 60515 · (630) 324-6567 · Mon–Sat 10–6, Sun 12–5.

Browse by construction: hand-knotted, hand-loomed, hand-tufted and power-loomed rugs. Not sure what size you need? See the rug size guide.