We often receive questions about production chains and fair working conditions. To be able to answer them, one should understand how rugs are produced and traded in Iran.
100% natural materials
All our rugs are handmade from natural materials such as wool and cotton. Most often the rugs and Kelim are made of virgin wool from Iranian sheep. In fact, in most cases, the wool of nomads comes from their own flocks of sheep. Sheep wool is a popular and important material for making Iranian rugs, and Iranian sheep wool is known for its good quality, as most of the sheep herds are kept in the mountains. Due to the high altitude and the cold, the wool is therefore particularly thick and robust.The handspinning of the wool
In most cases, the wool is still spun by hand. In a lengthy process, the individual wool threads are repeatedly pulled into length and twisted into one strand.
The dying of the wool
After the wool is spun, it is most likely dyed. This often involves the use of natural pigments, which have been used for centuries to dye Persian rugs. A popular example is madder red, which is obtained from the plant Rubia tinctorum.The Loom
The Knotting & Weaving
Each knot is set by hand. It is said that experienced weavers can set up to 1000 knots per hour. If we assume that a medium-sized rug measuring 120 x 180 has a normal knot density of 200,000 knots/m2, this means that a weaver must set 432,000 knots. At 1000 knots/hour, this would result in an hourly rate of 432 hours. Assuming that the weaver works about 6 hours per day, she would have to work about 2 1/2 months on a rug of this size. If she works every day ! If we were to calculate a rug measuring 200 x 300 with 400,000 knots, she would have to set 2,400,000 knots. Imagine how long it will take her!The Tools
The entire process of making a rug is manual labor. Traditionally, it uses tools that were used hundreds of years ago. These include the rug comb. This tool is used to firmly knock down the already woven or knotted part again, so that everything sits tightly on each other.
The Finishing touches
Possible mistakes are repaired and the edges are reworked on all four sides.The rug is ready
After a rug is finished, it is washed, sheared and spread out in the sun to dry and reduce the color. Then the carpets are stretched to give them their final shape, packed and transported to Hamburg.