Nine times out of ten, when you say Persian rugs, people automatically picture an intricately designed carpet that is both beautiful and expensive. Nine times out of ten, the assumption they have about Persian rugs is correct, they are both beautiful and expensive. But, on that tenth time you may get something entirely different when you get Persian rugs.
The main difference in these carpets is the materials that are used to make them. Wool is the most frequently used material to create these carpets from. There are instances when cotton threads are used to craft them and there are instances when the weaver used silk threads to make the carpet.
Persian rugs that are crafted from silk threads are not as durable as the ones made from cotton or wool. Silk thread is not as strong as wool and cotton are, and because of the reduced amount of strength these items are more suitable to be hung on the wall than they are to be placed on the floor. Silk threaded carpets are far more expensive than the ones crafted from wool or cotton. Silk threads are more expensive and the price of the materials changes the price of the final product.
Most of the carpets crafted in this area of the world are made by hand on manual powered looms. Generations within a family pass the skills and patterns down to the next generation. You can find carpets that are made on automated looms, and these items will be priced lower than the hand-made versions are. The demand for more affordable carpets with the intricate designs created the necessity of making some of these items with machines that could perform mass production.
Some of the carpets take a few months to create. This is dependent on the size of the piece, the skill of the craftsman, and the quality of the threads they are using. Some of these items take years to complete. The price differences will be a reflection of the amount of time the weaver spent on the creation of the carpet.
There are different patterns, and different motifs, used by each different weaver and their family. Some of the carpets have different designs because they were made for special occasions like wedding gifts. The designs and motifs on the carpets will cause differences in the price of the final item.
You will find that the number of knots tied in each square inch of the carpet will be different. The more knots that are fit into each square inch; the more expensive the final carpet is. The typical rugs have between sixteen and five hundred and fifty knots. Some of the time the skill of the weaver will determine the number of knots per square inch and some of the time the quality of the threads used will cause the differences in the number of knots per square inch.
These carpets can be made with flat piles or with raised and lush pile. This difference will depend on the pattern and the person weaving the carpet.