The differences between machine and hand-woven carpets

When choosing a carpet, hardly anyone thinks about the way it was made. In stores and showrooms both natural and synthetic carpets are available. Before you decide to buy one of them, you should know the differences in their qualities, which have to do with the way they were produced. With this knowledge, the person interested in purchasing carpet will know which one to choose and what can be gained by opting for a more expensive carpet of better quality.

Hand-woven carpets

Hand-woven carpets are often rolled to the left, to show off the density of their knots

The dominant feature of hand-woven carpets is their high quality. Thanks to the involvement of the artist-weaver you can be sure that the carpet has been woven with utmost care for even the smallest details.

The best quality materials are used in the weaving of such carpets. As a result, their value is really high, and tends to increase as years pass. Moreover, in the case of hand-woven carpets you can be confident that they are truly unique. Each hand-woven carpet is one of its kind in the entire world.

Another very important advantage of hand-woven carpets is their durability, which is in part the result of their high-density. Hand woven carpets have very neatly arranged threads, therefore the knot pattern stays the same no matter what. What is more, the decorative fringes are an integral part of the whole carpet, as they are a part of the warp. In the case of machine-produced carpets, this element is additionally sewn in, so that the carpets appear more luxurious.

Machine-made carpets

Factory-made carpets - a different pattern quality and color saturation

Carpets produced in a factory rely on thousands of reels that fit the threads into the warps. All the machines are programmed to produce the desired pattern - the same for hundreds of manufactured carpets.

What is more, the carpets produced by a machine have a very limited range of colors, often only up to 10. Moreover, very often, during the production of one type of carpet several smaller carpets - of different shapes and sizes are also made with a similar pattern and colours.

In order to achieve greater durability, such carpets are additionally stitched and have fringes attached. Nowadays, especially in mass production more and more carpet manufacturers are moving away from the use of natural materials. Increasingly the manufactured carpets are made of synthetic materials such as rayon or polypropylene. Of course, some natural materials like wool or cotton may be added, but in small quantities.

This is why hand-woven carpets made of natural materials of the highest quality, characterized by original design and rich and vibrant colors are so unique and valued.

Not all carpets are equal

Persian carpets are so soft, that it is possible to fold them into a cube - this is not recommended with machine-made carpets

To summarize the comparison presented above concerning the different ways of weaving carpets one can conclude that hand-woven carpets are characterized by incomparably higher quality than synthetic products made in factories. They are unique, precious, luxurious and extremely durable. Only natural materials are used to create them, and the process of weaving is one that requires a lot of focus and many years of experience in the craft.

This all has an impact - on the one hand on the price of the hand-woven carpets, which is higher than the price of their mass-produced counterparts; and on the other - on the unmatched quality of the carpets woven in such a way.

However, machine-made carpets also have their advantages - especially for those for whom the unique design and quality do not play the most important role. In a relatively short time in factories it is possible to produce a huge number of carpets, so that the price of the machine-woven carpets can be lower.

If you value luxury products which can last for a long time - their unique design and vibrant, rich colors, you should choose the hand-woven works of art - carpets made of natural materials like silk and cotton.