Materials of Decoration - FLOOR COVERING

Dhurrie

A Tibetan carpet of Kelim weave; Flat woven and reversible rug; old rugs were made by nomadic people with bold geometric designs in bright colors; modern rugs have subdued colors and patterns.

Wilton

A basic type of weaving process for carpets constructed on a modified jacquard loom, perforated cards control the creation of the pattern, used to produce carpets with as many as FIVE COLORS, produces a carpet that is thick and heavy because yarn of every color used is carried beneath the pile surface.

Axminster

A basic type of weaving process where the carpet or the rug designs are often inspired by European and Oriental Patterns, the COLORS are virtually LIMITLESS because the colored yarns are inserted individually as they are required by the design.

Main Border

A border found in a rug's design that is the widest decorative design sound the outside of the rug.

Guard Border

A border found in the rug's design that is described as narrow decorative designs flanking the main border.

Tackless Stripping

A carpet installation method also known as stretch-in installation; traditional installation where by pre-tacked thin strips of plywood are fastened all around the perimeter of the space to be carpets.

Glue-down Method

A carpet installation method usually employed with a bonded fabric; high density foam rubber is used as the secondary backing and is cemented directly to the floor.

Random Shear

A combination of loop and cut pile where the loops are sheared to different heights, forming a pattern that can be definite or irregular; produces a tonal contrast between the cut and uncut loops of varying heights.

Double Glue-down

A glue-down method of installation of fabric that combines the underfoot comfort of stretch-in installation with the stability of the direct-glue down method, the carpet cushion is adhered to the floor and the carped is then glued to the cushion.

Direct Glue-down

A glue-down method that is the most common method of commercial installation; the carpet is glued directly to the floor without cushion.

Turkish Knot or Ghiordes Knot

A kind of knot (hand knotted) for rugs that has a symmetrical structure; a short piece of thread is laid across two warps, and the ends are carried down outside and up between them and pulled tight.

Persian Knot or Sehna/ Senneh Knot

A kind of knot (hand knotted) for rugs that is as symmetric and invented by Persians who developed the art of rug making; a short piece of thread is laid across the two warps but on end is carried down outside and up between the two warp threads, the other end passes down between the 2 warp threads and up outside.

level loop pile

A kind of loop pile where the entire surface is made of uniform uncut loops, which are or the same height, very sturdy and offers little textural variation.

Wilton Loom

A kind of machine weave for rugs that bear close resemblance to hand-knotted rugs, but are machine made; the pile is woven between two backings and then split down the middle to get two separate rugs.

Ply

Affects color, surface texture, and feel underfoot; it is the number of strands of a single yarn twisted together to form one pile yarn.

Twist / Frieze

All cut pile surface made from yarns that have been tightly twisted and the twist set by a special heating treatment that imparts a grainy appearance; it has a heavier rougher texture than cut pile plush, hides dirt well.

Total weight

Also called finished weight; includes the face weight and the weight of backing materials, finished, and coatings.

Face Weight

Also referred to as pile weight or yarn weight; it is the weight of the pile yarn stated in ounces per square yard of carpet; describes the amount of yarn in the wear surface of the carpet.

Oriental rugs

An authentic __________ is a handmade carpet that is either knotted with pile or woven without pile; rugs that come from the orient where people form different cultures, countries, racial groups, and religious faiths are involved in the production.

Turkoman

An oriental rug closely woven with a short, firm pile, predominantly red with designs including squares, diamonds, octagons, and other simple angular motifs; woven by nomadic tribes of Boukara, Afghanistan, Belouchistan, and Turkestan.

Indian

An oriental rug decorated with motifs of flowers, vines, and animals; characterized by more brilliant colors and a more naturalistic style; associated with places like Agra, Lahore, Kashmir, and Srinagar.

Persian

An oriental rug that generally has a delicately colored all-over pattern of flower, vines, or leaves, which start from a center medallion and almost completely cover the background color.

Turkish

An oriental rug that is sometimes called Asia-Minor; woven in both geometric and floral designs but with smaller patterns than the Persian or Indian rugs, brighter and sharper colors than the Turkoman or Caucasian.

Fiber Cushions

Are carpet cushions made by needle punching fibers into a felt like pad; tend to have a firm feel underfoot.

velvet

Basic type of weaving process for carpets and rugs that is the least complex and the most inexpensive; used primarily to produce solid color carpets, but variations in color and pattern are possible; all the yarn in this type appears on the back of the carpet and usually has ONE COLOR; made on looms similar to Wilton looms but without the Jacquard mechanism.

Scottish Wool

Black face sheep bears the finest of all carpet wool, staples as long as 15 inches

Antique

Classification of rugs that are 100 years or more; purists believe that Oriental rugs are only if it dates prior to 1856 before synthetic dyes where in use.

Semi-antique or Old

Classification of rugs that are between 50 to 100 years old.

Blends

Combination of two or more fibers into a single carpet yarn, with each yarn lending to the other its dominant characteristic, its objectives are to improve performance standards, more appealing aesthetic quality, and improved economics.

Loop Pile

Created by weaving, tufting, or knitting the pile yarn into loops, it is left uncut and is sometimes referred to as "round wire" in woven carpets.

Sponge Rubber Cushion

Cushions that are flat sponge, ripple sponge, or reinforced rubber foam.

Yarn Weight

Expressed as count which indicates the fineness or coarseness of the finished yarn.

Bachtiari

Geometric rug with bright yellows, greens, and reds predominate.

Kazakh

Geometric rug woven with sharp reds, blues, and off whites.

Boukara

Geometric woven rugs usually in some shade of red, and until recently, some in ivory.

Sisal

Grass-like product is twisted together into strands and sewn into squares; squares attached together in any number make up the finished rug.

Hand Tufted

Hand woven method for rugs where an inked-on foundation cloth is stretched over a loom then a manually operated hand-tufting gun pushes the yarn through the back of the cloth.

Hand-Knotted

Hand woven method for rugs where each knot is individually tied by hand; these knots are single strands of yarn that have been looped around two adjacent warp threads; best kind of rug construction.

Hand-Hooked

Hand woven method for rugs where the weaver pushes a hooking tool through the foundation or base to the rug, then pulls the yarn to the back leaving a loop on the surface.

Gabbeh

Hand woven pile rug of coarse quality characterized by an abstract design that relies upon open fields of color and playfulness with geometry; it is much thicker and coarser than other Persian carpets.

Aubusson

Handmade rug where the weave resembles needlepoint; usually had a pale cream ground with floral designs and arabesques in pastel shades of rose, blue, lavender, green, and beige.

Braided

Handmade rugs by Americans in the late 18th Century; consisting of many fabric scraps braided and sewn together into colorful round or oval rugs of various sizes; usually found in Appalachians.

Alpujira

Handmade, coarse, and heavy rugs originally meant as bed spreads; hand loomed by peasants in **, Spain; bold designs woven in 2-10 colors and includes the tree of life, flowers, and leaves and grapes patterns.

Moroccan

Handwoven rug from Morocco with thick, shaggy pile and fringed edges; dominant geometric patterns with strong contrasting colors like black and rust-brown, white or bright orange on red grounds.

Savonnerie

Handwoven rugs with a high pile, in pastel colors and floral and scroll patterns; designed for the 18th or 19th century houses and palaces.

Kelim, Kilim, or Kelem

Handwoven rugs with all-over geometric patterns with a center motif; colors are usually strong usually deep red or blue.

Needlework (Needlepoint or Gros-point)

Handwoven tapestry stick embroidered work with wool yarns on a canvas mesh backing

Chenille

It is known to be the most expensive rug-weaving method for rugs as 2 loom operations are required.

Density or Pile Density

It is simply the weight of the pile yarn in a given volume of carpet face.

Self-Stick

It is the latest development in carpet installation the cheques, a flexible adhesive layer is applied to the carpet backing and covered with a protective plastic film.

Mir

It is the name of the village in this district where the design had its source, and the trade trade name today of the finest Saraband.

Texture

It is the prime visual characteristic of a carpet after color; produced as a result of the pile construction, pile height, and the manner in which the carpet is cut.

Recessing

It is the process of actually weaving a design into a low level rather than shearing down or carving it into the carpet.

Embossing

It is the process of weaving a design, to a carpet, in a higher level.

Saxony Plush

It is the texture between cut pile plush and cut pile shag; it makes use of thicker and twisted yarns which give definition to each tuf,made with head-set yarn, usually in a dense low-pile construction.

Stitch Rate

Lengthwise density measurement for tufted carpets, also referred to as stitches per inch; defines the number of times per inch a stitch occurs, just as a gauge expresses the frequency of tufts across the width.

Pile Height

Lengthwise density measurement that is the length of the tuft from the primary backing to the tip.

Denier

Measurement of weight in grams of a standard 9000 meter length of yarn.

Coir or Coco Fiber

Natural fiber used to make carpet, sting and flexible hair like fiber from coconut shells; tough, does not pill, can withstand a great deal of abrasion, and highly resistant and is proven to be unfriendly to insects.

Resist Dyeing

Opposite of differential dying; the yarn is treated to resist additional dyes and produces no discernible pattern and used for shading only.

Chinese

Oriental rug recognizable by their soft ground colors of yellow, rose, salmon-red, beige, and browns; pattern in one blue color; design are Chinese religious symbols and the finest examples are K'ang Hsi and Ch'ien Lung era.

Caucasian

Oriental rugs described as small rugs with contrasting, strong colors woven by nomadic tribes with geometric designs, often incorporating stylized people and animals; dyed in different colors other than blood red; principle types include Shirvan, Kuba, Soumak, Daghestan, and Ghendje Rugs.

Field

Part of design of the rug described as the background of the rug inside the borders; may be solid color or patterned.

Medallion

Part of design of the rug described as the round, oval, or polygonal design element that sometimes occupies the center of the field.

Border

Part of design of the rug that is composed of decorative designs repeated in one direction around the outside of the rug.

Floral Rugs

Patterned rugs made by educate urban people, sometimes philosophers, poets, and leaders in oriental art and handwork; made of fine quality wool; intricate flowing patterns indicate a sophisticated lifestyle; named after cities that have been a capital in the past (Kirman, Keshan, Kazvin, Meshed, Tabriz, Isfahan, Nain, Qum, Sarouk).

Conventional Rugs

Patterned rugs made by townspeople who make their living weaving during the winter months; tend to use repetitive, stylized, conventional rugs; small motifs are repeated again and again; (examples include: Saraband, Herati, Senna, Fereghan, Kandahar, Hamadan, Serab, Bibikebad, Enjelus, and some of the Bijar rugs).

Modified Prime Polyurethane

Polyurethane foam cushion that is manufactured in a continuous sheet and contain fillers.

Arraiolo

Portuguese hand-embroidered accent rugs made in either bright or pastel colors.

Roller Printing

Printing process done on carpet that employs embossed cylinders to deposit the design on the face of the carpet.

Screen Printing

Printing process done on carpet that employs flat templates or screens through which dyes are forced to form the finished pattern on the carpet pile.

Deep-dye Printing

Printing process done on carpet that is similar to screening, an electrostatic charge forces the pre-metallize dyes deep into the pile, it puts down all the colors in the design at the same time.

Jet Printing

Printing process done on carpet that utilizes rows of very closely spaced jets which spray the carpet with color as it passes by, the texture is often preferred because it does not crush the carpet pile.

Woolen Count

Refers to the number of running yards in one ounce of finished yarn; refers to a yarn whether woolen or not.

Rya

Scandinavian rugs of hand-knotted shaggy weave with alternating short and long pile in abstract or contemporary peasant designs.

Flokati

Shaggy wool handmade area rugs made in Greece; solid colors as well as natural off white shade.

New Zealand Wool

The wool from this country absorbs dye easily, colors with great clarity and uniformity, staples are lustrous and tough, and the wool's color is almost white

Iraqi Wool

The wool from this country is among the most luxurious and costly wool, it has high abrasion resistance and durability

Indian Wool

The wool from this country is crush resistant

Argentinian Wool

The wool from this country is noted for its gloss and sheen with natural resistance to soiling, the wool is not as white as New Zealand Wool.

Hairline Carving

Type of carving used between colors in a multicolor design carpet in order to accentuate or give a design some dimension.

Gauge

Widthwise density measurement for tufted carpets that is the distance between the needles measured in fractions of an inch.

pitch

Widthwise density measurement for woven carpets that is the number of ends/ loops in a 27" width of carpet.

Carpet

thick material for covering floors, often made of wool, carpita Italian for pluck

Rugs

A single piece of compact, woven, knitted, or tufted fabric that has borders and are intended as a floor covering,

Multi-level Loop

A loop pile surface that is made of different pile heights, all uncut loops which tend to give a dimensional character to the carpet; capable of producing sculpted patterns.

Jet Beck Dyeing

A method of coloring fabric that achieves a very consistent level of color, the carpet is sewn together end to end, forming a continuous loop placed in large circular tubes called jet Becks,the fabric is circulated under a jet of dye liquor.

Open Beck Dyeing

A method of coloring fabric that produces about 1,000 yards of dyed fabric; the carpet ends are attached to form a large loop, which is submerged in a dye vat.

Weaving

A method of manufacturing carpets considered as the traditional way of making carpets on a loom; produced by intertwining the surface pile and the backing simultaneously into an integrated whole, usually does not require backing; slower and more labor-intensive than tufting and more expensive.

Tufting

A method of manufacturing carpets that is far less expensive and faster to produce than woven carpet; constructed by punching tufts of yarn into a backing, yarns are threaded through hundreds of individual needles on a device that extends the entire width of the finished carpet.

Knitting

A method of manufacturing carpets that is similar to weaving because the pile and backing are made in single operation and uses three needles to loop the pile backing yarn and the stitching yarns together; known for the plush piles because there is more yarn in the wear surface than tufted carpets.

Flocked carpet

A method of manufacturing carpets that uses an electrostatic method; dyed short ends of fiber are electro statically treated and sprayed onto an electrically charged backing sheet which has been treated with adhesive.

Needle-punched Carpet

A method of manufacturing carpets where the fibers, usually acrylic or polypropylene, are punched into a web of synthetic fiber to form a homogenized layer of fiber.

Shag

A multi directional, high pile twist, giving an attractive informal look, heavily textured surface created by the long, twisting yarns.

Cotton

A natural fiber used for carpets described as softer than wool but is less durable.

Sisal

A natural fiber used for carpets, it is a natural product that grows like grass and is light cream to oatmeal in color, it is a strong, woody fiber produced form the leaves of the agave plant; used mostly in twine, rugs, floor mats, and rope

wool

A natural fiber used for centuries in the manufacture of carpet, it is the standard against which other carpet fibers are judged. Generally the most expensive carpet the fiber and is commonly used in woven carpets

Maize

A natural fiber used to make carpet that comes from corn husks

Wefts

A part of a rug described as the filling yarn that are woven through warps, they run across the width of the rug, over and under the warp strings and between rows of knots.

Warps

A part of a rug described as the parallel strings stretched from loom beam to look beam upon which rows of knots are tied; strongest part of the rug where the wefts intersect.

Pile

A part of a rug described as the surface yarn that makes up the face of the rug; created by knots.

Fringes

A part of a rug formed by gathering and knotting together bundles of warp strings at both ends of the rug after the rug has been cut from the loom.

Edge Bindings

A part of a rug made by wrapping several warps at the edge of the rug with yarn to reinforce this part of the rug.,

Knots

A part of a rug that are tied by looping yarn around pairs of warps and cutting off the standing end, the ends of it become the pile and nap of the rug.

End Finishes

A part of a rug that hold the knots and wefts from working off the rugs's warp strings; many rugs have a for woven Kilim selvage at both ends.

Bonded Polyurethane Foam

A polyurethane foam cushion, that is sometimes called rebounded, is manufactured from scraps of foam bonded together through an adhesive ad heat fusion process.

Densified Foam

A polyurethane foam that is denser than modified prime foam and is highly resistant to bottoming out.

Space Dyeing

A process of coloring fabric where different colors are 'printed' along the length of the yarn before it is manufactured into a carpet, with different color baths for each of the yarns.

Random Multi-color Dyeing

A process of dyeing carpet achieved with a random dyer application or a TAK random pattern machine, which disperses regulated amounts of dye on carpet that is already dyed a single ground color or even on undyed goods.

Package Dyeing

A process of dyeing carpet where spun yarns are wound on large perforated forms; under heat or pressure, dyes are forced through the perforation and onto the yarn.

Flat Weave

A rug type that is woven without knots; constructed without a pile but colored weft yarns are woven through the warps to create the pattern.

Carpet Cushion or Underlay

A separated foundation, otherwise referred to as lining or cushioning, applied to fabric to increase its wearability, give added insulation and provide comfort underfoot, it also prolongs thief or th carpet to as much as 70%.

Level Type Shear

In the loop surface, some of the loops are cut and some remain uncut; adds interest to colors and gives a desirable pattern effect.

Wire Heiht

In woven carpet, the pile height is referred to as ___________, referring to the height of the steel blades in the 100m on which the tufts are formed.

Hamadan

Is a Persian Oriental Rug described as a camel's hair rug with a coarse weave in light browns, reds, and blues.

Sehna

Is a Persian Oriental Rug described as a close woven small rug with minute pattern.

Sarouk

Is a Persian Oriental Rug described as a fine pile in dark reds and blues mixed with lighter colors.

Kerman and Kermanshah

Is a Persian Oriental Rug described as a fine pile in soft cream, rose, light blue, and other pastel color.

Bijar

Is a Persian Oriental Rug that is as thick as two or three ordinary rugs.

Polonnaise

Is a Persian Oriental Rug that is described as a delicately colored antique silk rug.

Feraghan

Is a Persian Oriental Rug that is usually produced with a small all-over design of flowers or conventional forms arrayed in rows.

Ispahan Heart

Is a Persian Oriental Rug were the coarse piles are intricately done and stately design on claret ground using Turkish knot.

Saraband

Is a Persian Oriental Rug where the entire field is covered with a repeating pattern of Palm leaves with rose or blue ground.

American Indian

Is a colorful hand-woven Navajo rug of wool in the Indian reservations of the Southwest; motifs are primitive, geometric patterns, stripes and borders; weave is flat.

Polypropylene

Is a more popular secondary backing material because it is moisture resistant.

Latex

Is a part of a carpet described as the mixed synthetic natural latex rubber compound used to glue on the 'roots' of the yarns on the cotton canvas backing on which they are woven; the composition is formulated to provide superior tuft lock and resilience in stretching.

Secondary Backing

Is a part of a carpet that is also known as a carpet pad; it is designed to add dimensional stability to the carpet, provide added protection to the yarn at the back of the carpet, and to ensure that the latex adhesive which is applied to the back of the carpet gives the proper binding characteristics required.

Face

Is a part of a carpet that is composed of the pile, which is the upright end of yarn whether uncut or looped,forms the wearing surface of carpet or rugs.

Primary Backing

Is a part of a carpet that is the foundation or canvas on which the yarns are woven (hand tufted), the yarns need a 'ground' on which to 'hook' themselves,

Acrylic

Is a synthetic or man-made fiber first used successfully in the production of carpet,has many of the characteristics of wool and has the lowest static build-up, commonly used as bath mats and rugs.

Modacrylic

Is a synthetic or man-made fiber for making carpets that has better heat retention and is flame retardant as compared to acrylic.

Polyester

Is a synthetic or man-made fiber that is soft and luxurious; it is strong, durable, and with high abrasion resistance, popularly used for residential carpet applications than for commercial ones, used mainly as shags and random sheared carpet.

nylon

Is a synthetic or man-made fiber that is the most popular and second best carpet fiber used today, versatile and easy to maintain and clean, withstands heavy foot traffic and has excellent durability.

Azlons

Is a synthetic or man-made fiber with Vicara as its brand name.

Triacetate

Is a synthetic or man-made fiber with a brand name like Arnel.

Saran

Is a synthetic or man-made fiber with brand names like Rovana and Saran.

Rayon

Is a synthetic or man-made fiber with brand names such as Avicolor, Avicron, Avsio, Corval, Fibro, Kolorbon, Skybloom, Skyloft, Soluran, Spunvis, Staylux, and Tufton.

Cut Pile Plush

It is a smooth cut pile where, sometimes, the cut ends of the yarn blend with each other for a consistent surface appearance; it is subject to shading and shows footmarks.

Acetate

Synthetic or man-made fiber, brand names include Avisco, Celaire, Cromspun, and Estron.

Cut Pile

Texture of carpet created by cutting each loop of pile.

Pazyryk Carpet

The earliest surviving Poe carpet that was excavated by Sergei Voinovich Rodenko in the Alatai Mountains of Siberia, 6'6" x 6' and framed by a border of Griffins.

Floral

The half of the pattern for rugs in Persia and Iran are ________.

Piece Dyeing

The most common post dyeing method.

Polypropylene Olefins

The newest and one of the most economical synthetic fibers used in making carpets, it is comparable to Nylon in durability, strength, and wear resistance, it is the lightest commercial carpet fiber commonly used in outdoor carpeting, repels water and impervious to most stains

Geometric

The pattern for rugs woven in Turkey are almost all _________.;Rug pattern described as the rugs of the tribal and primitive village people of Persia.

Continuous Dyeing

The process of dyeing carpet in a continuous production line rather than piece-dyeing; most often done on Kusters, continuous dyeing equipment, which flows on dyestuff as distinguished from submerging carpet in separate dye becks.

Carving

The process of incising a design into a carpet or rug which has already been woven.

Beveling

The process of rounding off parts of a carpet that have already been carved, recessed, or embossed.

Jute

The softest of all natural grass-based fibers used in making carpets, it may face or darken in color when exposed to sunlight and its fiber disintegrates with prolonged exposure to moisture.

Rows in Axminster Wires in Wilton and velvet

The terms _________ in Axminster, and _________ in Wilton and velvet carpets referees to the number of ends/ loops per inch lengthwise.

Utility Value

The value of oriental rugs depends entirely on the durably of the fabric as a floor covering.

Art Value

The value of oriental rugs depends upon the color and design rather than upon the texture.

Collector's Value

The value of oriental rugs depends upon the rarity of the art value.