Rug Glossary

Abrash is the gentle shift in tone you see across a rug where one batch of dyed yarn gives way to another. It shows as soft horizontal bands, most often in hand-knotted pieces where yarn is dyed in small lots. Stand at one end of the rug and look along it in daylight: true abrash reads as a slow change in depth of colour, not a stain or a fade. Many people value it as a sign of a hand at work.

Alpaca is the fleece of the alpaca, a camelid related to the llama. The fibre is hollow in places, which makes it light and warm, and it has very little grease, so it feels smooth rather than waxy. Fine grades sit in the low 20s of microns. In a rug it gives a soft, slightly slippery hand with a muted lustre. It is usually blended with wool, which adds spring and helps the pile recover.

Backing cloth is the secondary fabric glued to the underside of a hand-tufted rug. It covers the tufting cloth and the anchoring layer, giving the rug a neat, stable reverse. It is usually a cotton or synthetic canvas. Turn a corner over and press it with your thumb: a good backing lies flat, is fixed evenly to the edges and does not lift or bubble. On marble and vitrified floors, pair it with an underlay to stop slipping.

Bamboo silk is a trade name for a regenerated cellulose yarn made by dissolving plant pulp and spinning it into a bright, smooth filament. It is not silk from the silkworm. It gives strong sheen at a gentler price but is weaker when wet, so spills can leave marks and the pile can flatten. Blot spills at once and never rub. Ask for the fibre by its proper name when you buy.

Binding is the finish that wraps and protects the edge of a rug so it does not fray. On tufted rugs it is often a fabric tape stitched over the edge. On woven or knotted rugs the edge may be overcast with yarn instead. Run your hand along the side: the binding should feel firm and even, with no loose loops or gaps. A worn binding is easy to repair early, so check edges where chair legs and vacuums catch them.

A border is the band of design that frames the central field of a rug. It can be a single line, a series of narrow guard stripes or a wide decorated band. A border gives a rug a clear edge and helps it sit like a picture within a room. In smaller living rooms a strong border can make a rug read smaller, while a borderless field lets the floor seem to run on.

Carving is the technique of cutting the pile to different depths, or trimming a channel along the edge of a motif, so the design stands out in relief. On a hand-tufted rug it is done with electric shears after the pile is sheared level. Run your fingers across the rug and you will feel a clear step of a few millimetres where the pattern begins. Carving adds shadow, so a single-colour rug can still carry a pattern.

A cashmere blend combines cashmere, the fine undercoat fibre of the cashmere goat, with wool. The cashmere brings softness, while the wool gives the yarn strength, spring and resilience for daily use. Rugberry's Cashmere Blend collection is handloom woven in a wool and cashmere blend, fine, dense and very soft underfoot. Press your palm flat on one and it should feel close and silky rather than fluffy. It suits bedrooms and quiet sitting rooms best.

A colour pom is a small ball or bundle of dyed yarn used to match and approve colour before a rug is made. Designers hold poms against paint, upholstery and floors to choose shades for a custom rug. Always view a pom in the room where the rug will live, in morning and evening light, since a warm LED and north light can change a colour noticeably. Many Rugberry designs offer custom colours on request.

A colourway is one specific combination of colours in which a design is offered. The same pattern may come in an ivory and sand colourway and a charcoal and rust colourway, each changing the mood of a room. When you compare colourways, look at the darkest and lightest tones rather than the average, since those decide how well the rug hides dust and wear. Many Rugberry designs come in several colourways and can be custom coloured on request.

Crimp is the natural wave along a wool fibre. The more crimp, the more the fibre springs back after it is pressed, and the more air it traps for warmth and bounce. Pull a single strand from a skein and stretch it gently: a well-crimped wool lengthens, then curls back when you let go. Good crimp helps a rug recover from footprints and furniture dents, which matters in busy family homes with daily foot traffic.

Cut pile is pile in which the yarn loops have been cut so that each tuft stands as two open ends. It gives a soft, even, velvety surface that shows the colour of the yarn clearly. Most of Rugberry's hand-tufted range is cut pile, typically around 14 to 16 mm. Brush your hand across a cut-pile rug and you will see the shade change slightly with direction, which is normal and called shading.

A dhurrie is a flat-woven rug with no pile, traditionally woven in cotton or wool on a loom by passing weft yarns over and under the warp. It is thin, light and reversible in many cases, so it is easy to lift, shake out and wash. Dhurries have long been used in South Asian homes on floors and beds, much as kilims and sadu weaving are used across the region. They suit kitchens, verandas and summer rooms, and need an underlay on smooth floors.

A dye lot is a single batch of yarn dyed together in one bath. Yarn from different lots of the same colour can differ slightly in shade because water, temperature and fibre vary. For this reason a matching pair of rugs or a rug and its swatch may not be identical. If you need two rugs to match, say so when ordering so they can be made from the same lot. Rugberry sells swatches for most rugs.

The field is the main central area of a rug, inside any border. It may be plain, carry an all-over pattern or hold a central medallion. When you plan placement, the field is what shows between your furniture, so look at it rather than the border when choosing scale. A busy field hides crumbs and pet hair better than a plain one, which helps in dining rooms and family spaces.

A flatweave is any rug woven without a pile, where the surface is made by the weft passing over and under the warp. Kilims and dhurries are both flatweaves. The result is thin, often under 10 mm, light and easy to clean, with no tufts to trap dust. Lift a corner: a flatweave bends like heavy cloth. It suits high-traffic spots, dining areas and rooms where a chair must slide easily.

Fringe is the row of loose threads at the ends of a rug. On a hand-knotted or handwoven rug it is usually the warp ends, tied off so the weave cannot unravel, which means it is part of the structure. On a tufted rug any fringe is sewn on as decoration. To check, follow a fringe thread into the rug. Vacuum fringe gently from the rug outwards and never pull a loose strand.

A gradient is a gradual change from one colour or tone to another across a rug. It can run from end to end, side to side or in soft clouds. In a hand-tufted rug it is built by changing yarn shades in small steps so the transition reads smoothly from a distance. Rugberry's ombre collection is built on this idea. Gradients help a long room feel calmer and can lead the eye towards a window or doorway.

A hand-knotted rug is made by tying each knot of pile by hand around pairs of warp threads on a loom, row by row, then beating down the weft. It is the slowest rug construction and the most durable. Turn the rug over: you should see each knot as a small dot on the back, with the pattern clearly visible. Density is measured in knots per square inch. Rugberry offers a hand-knotted collection.

Hand-spun yarn is yarn twisted from loose fibre by hand, on a wheel or a spindle, rather than by machine. It varies a little in thickness along its length, which gives the finished rug a lively, slightly irregular surface with natural tonal movement. Roll a strand between your fingers and you will feel thick and thin places. That variation is a feature, not a fault, and it hides footprints well.

A hand-tufted rug is made by pushing yarn through a stretched cloth with a hand-held tufting gun, following a drawn design. The loops are then sheared or cut, and a backing cloth is fixed to the reverse. It allows rich pattern and dense pile at a lower cost than knotting. Most of Rugberry's range is hand-tufted in New Zealand wool or wool with silk.

Handloom describes a rug woven on a loom operated by hand and foot, without a power motor. The weaver throws the weft across the warp and beats each pass in place, so the tension and rhythm come from a person. Handloom rugs are usually dense and flat or low in pile, with a crisp, fabric-like surface. Rugberry's Cashmere Blend collection and several silk and wool rugs are handloom woven.

Handwoven is a broad term for a rug made by interlacing warp and weft yarns by hand on a loom. It includes flatweaves such as dhurries and kilims, handloom rugs and some textured pile weaves. A handwoven rug has no glued backing, so turning it over shows the same structure as the face. Rugberry's handwoven rugs include firm, textured jute and wool pieces and flat reversible rugs in recycled and natural fibres.

Heathered yarn is yarn spun from fibres of two or more shades blended together before spinning, so the colour reads as a soft mix rather than a flat tone. Look closely and you will see flecks of lighter and darker fibre within one strand. Heathered rugs hide dust, lint and light stains better than solid colours, which makes them practical in homes where floors pick up fine sand and dust.

High low pile is a texture in which some areas of a rug are cut longer than others, so the pattern is shaped in relief. The difference may be a few millimetres or more than ten. You can feel it with closed eyes as your hand rises and falls across the surface. It adds depth to single-colour rugs. Vacuum with the brush bar raised so the higher areas are not crushed.

Jute is a long plant fibre taken from the stem of the jute plant. It is coarse, strong and has a soft golden shine. Jute rugs feel firm and textured underfoot, are cool in summer and suit living rooms and dining areas. Jute absorbs water and can stain or brown if soaked, so keep it away from wet spots and blot spills dry. Rugberry offers jute and wool and jute rugs.

KPSI stands for knots per square inch, the standard measure of how finely a hand-knotted rug is woven. A coarse rug may have 40 to 80 KPSI, a fine one 150 and above. Count the dots on the back along one inch across and one inch down, then multiply. Higher KPSI takes longer to knot, but texture, fibre and design matter as much as the number.

A kilim is a flat-woven rug made with the slit tapestry technique, in which coloured weft yarns are packed tightly so they hide the warp completely. Where two colours meet, small slits can form along vertical lines. Kilims are thin, light and often reversible, with bold geometric patterns. Hold one up to the light: you may see tiny gaps at colour changes, which are part of the weave.

Knot density is the number of knots in a given area of a hand-knotted rug, usually quoted as knots per square inch. Higher density allows finer detail and a smoother surface, but it is only one measure of quality alongside wool, dye and finish. To estimate it, turn the rug over and count the knots along one inch horizontally and vertically, then multiply the two numbers.

Lanolin is the natural wax that sheep secrete into their fleece. Some of it stays on wool after scouring, and it helps the fibre resist water and soil for a few seconds, giving you time to blot a spill. It also gives wool a slightly soft, waxy hand. Rub a new wool rug and smell your fingers: a faint, clean animal note is lanolin. Harsh cleaners strip it, so use mild wool-safe products.

Latex is the rubber adhesive used on the back of a hand-tufted rug. It locks the tufts into the tufting cloth and bonds the backing cloth to the reverse. A well-applied layer is even and flexible and keeps the rug flat. Fold a corner gently: the back should bend without cracking. Keep tufted rugs out of long direct sun and avoid soaking them, since heat and water age latex faster.

Loop pile is pile in which the yarn is left as uncut loops rather than cut tufts. It gives a nubby, textured surface that hides footprints and wears well. Because the loops are continuous, a snag from a pet claw or a sandal buckle can pull a loop, so trim a pulled loop level with scissors rather than tugging it. Loop pile is often combined with cut pile to make a pattern.

Lustre is the way a fibre reflects light. Silk and some fine wools have high lustre, while jute and coarse wools reflect less. Lustre makes colour look richer and changes as you walk around a rug. To judge it, view the rug from both ends in daylight. A rug that looks lighter from one end and deeper from the other has good lustre. Rugberry's silk and wool and silk rugs show this clearly.

Made to measure means a rug produced to the exact size you need rather than chosen from standard sizes. It suits rooms with unusual proportions, alcoves or built-in furniture. Measure the floor area, mark the outline with masking tape and live with it for a day before ordering. Rugberry offers customisable rugs, including custom sizes, and runs a Quick Custom Program.

Melange is a yarn or fabric effect made by blending fibres of different colours before spinning, so the yarn shows small flecks of each. It gives a soft, speckled surface with depth. A melange rug in grey, for example, may contain white, charcoal and taupe fibres. It is practical in busy homes because it disguises fine sand, dust and everyday marks.

Merino is wool from the merino breed of sheep, known for fine, soft fibre, often under 24 microns, with high crimp and good elasticity. In rugs it is soft against bare feet and recovers well from pressure. Its fineness also makes it more delicate than coarser rug wools, so it is suited to bedrooms and quiet rooms. Press a merino pile and release: it should spring back quickly.

A micron is one thousandth of a millimetre, and it is the unit used to measure the diameter of a wool fibre. Lower microns mean finer, softer wool. Fine apparel wool may be under 20 microns, while rug wools often sit between 28 and 38 microns, which is coarser but more hard-wearing. The right number depends on the room: finer for bedrooms, stronger for hallways.

Mohair is the fleece of the angora goat. It is smooth, strong and very lustrous, and it takes dye brightly. In rugs it is usually blended with wool to add sheen and resilience. Mohair has a slightly slippery hand and can shed a little at first. Run your palm across it and you should see a soft glow as the fibres catch the light.

New Zealand wool is wool grown in New Zealand, known in the rug world for its whiteness, long staple and good resilience. Its pale base colour takes dye cleanly, so shades come out clear. Much of Rugberry's hand-tufted range is made in New Zealand wool, as noted on each product. When you press the pile, it should spring back quickly and feel soft rather than wiry.

Ombre is a colour effect in which one shade fades gradually into another, usually from light to dark. In rugs it is made by changing yarn colours in small steps, or by dyeing yarn in graded baths. It brings movement to a plain rug and can make a long room feel calmer. Rugberry's ombre rugs are hand-tufted in New Zealand wool, each a slow gradation of tone. View an ombre rug from a distance as well as close up.

The Persian knot, also called the asymmetrical knot, is tied around two warp threads with one end coming up between them and the other outside. This allows very fine knotting and crisp curves in a design. To tell it from other knots, part the pile and look at the base: one strand wraps a warp completely, the other sits loose beside it. It is one of the main knots in hand-knotted rugs.

Pile is the raised surface of a rug made from cut tufts or loops of yarn standing up from the base. It is what you feel underfoot and see as colour. Pile can be cut, looped, carved or left long, and its height is measured in millimetres from the base to the tips. Brush your hand across a rug and the direction in which the pile lies will show as a change of shade.

Pile direction is the way the tufts of a rug lean after making. Brush against it and the rug looks darker and feels rougher. Brush with it and it looks lighter and smoother. To find it, run your hand from one end to the other. When placing a rug, turn the pile direction away from a main window or your usual viewing point for the richest colour, and vacuum with the pile.

Pile height is the length of the pile from the base of the rug to the tips of the tufts, measured in millimetres. Low pile under about 6 mm suits dining rooms and entries. Medium pile of around 10 to 16 mm suits living rooms and bedrooms. Much of Rugberry's hand-tufted range sits around 14 to 16 mm. Measure it by pressing a ruler into the pile until it touches the backing.

Plant silk is a broad term for silk-like yarns made from plant fibre, most often regenerated cellulose, sometimes sold as bamboo silk or art silk. It has a bright sheen but is weaker when wet than true silk or wool. Before you buy, ask what the fibre is chemically. At home keep plant silk rugs away from dining tables and pets, and blot spills at once.

Plush pile is a dense, deep cut pile with a soft, velvety surface. Tufts are packed closely and sheared level, so the rug feels thick underfoot and shows colour richly. Plush pile shows footprints and shading more than textured rugs, which some people enjoy. Press your hand into it: it should feel full and spring back. Rugberry's Plush rugs are handloom woven in New Zealand wool with a deep, quiet pile.

Recycled fibre is yarn made from reclaimed material, such as textile waste or plastic, which is cleaned, broken down and spun again. It reduces demand for new raw material. Rugs with recycled fibre are usually flat or low and easy to clean. Some of Rugberry's handwoven reversible rugs are made in recycled and natural fibres, flat and light with two usable faces.

A reversible rug is woven so that both faces can be used. It is usually a flatweave or handwoven rug without a glued backing. You can turn it over to spread wear, hide a stain or change the look of a room. Rugberry's reversible rugs are handwoven in recycled and natural fibres, flat and light, with two usable faces. Flip it every few months for even wear.

Rotation means turning a rug 180 degrees at regular intervals so wear and sunlight fade spread evenly across it. Traffic paths and sunlight from one window can otherwise leave one side paler or flatter than the other. A good rule is to rotate every six months, or every three in a sunny room or a busy hallway. Vacuum the floor beneath it before you lay it back down.

A round rug is a rug cut or woven in a circle. It softens rooms full of straight lines, suits round dining tables and works in entrances and reading corners. Under a dining table, choose a diameter at least 60 cm larger than the table so chairs stay on the rug when pulled out. Rugberry offers round sizes in 6, 8 and 10 ft diameters for some designs.

A runner is a long, narrow rug made for corridors, entrances and the sides of beds or kitchen counters. Leave about 10 to 15 cm of floor visible on each side in a passage so it does not look cramped. In villas and apartments with long passages, a runner reduces footfall noise and protects marble from grit. Choose a low pile or flatweave so doors clear it easily.

The selvedge is the finished long side of a woven rug, where the weft turns back at the edge of the warp. It is woven as part of the structure, often reinforced with extra warp threads or overcast with yarn, so the side cannot fray. Run your hand along it: a good selvedge is straight, firm and slightly thicker than the body of the rug.

Serging is a way of finishing the sides of a rug by wrapping them tightly with yarn using a stitching machine or by hand. The yarn covers the edge completely and holds the pile and backing together. It is common on tufted and machine-cut rugs. Check serging by running a finger along the edge: the stitches should be even and close, with no gaps showing the backing.

Shading is the apparent change in colour seen when pile lies in different directions. A patch where the tufts have been pressed one way looks lighter or darker than the area around it. It is a property of cut pile and silk, not a defect. You can see it most on plush pile and on silk or wool and silk rugs. Brushing the pile in one direction evens it out.

Shag is a rug with a long, loose pile, often 30 mm or more, which gives a deep, informal surface. It is soft and warm underfoot and suits bedrooms and low-traffic sitting areas. Shag holds dust and crumbs deeper in the pile, so shake it outdoors or use a vacuum with the beater bar off. Rugberry has a shag rugs collection for those who want that depth.

Shearing is the step in which the pile of a finished rug is trimmed to an even height with electric shears. It removes loose fibre ends, sets the final pile height and makes the colour read cleanly. A well-sheared rug looks level when you view it at floor height from the side. Sheared hand-tufted rugs may shed a little loose fibre in the first weeks, which is normal.

Shedding is the release of loose fibres from a new rug, especially a wool one. These are short fibre ends left from spinning and shearing, not the pile coming apart. It usually slows within a few months of regular vacuuming. Use a suction-only vacuum or a gentle brush head, and avoid pulling tufts. Wool rugs with longer staple fibres generally shed less over time.

Sheen is the soft gloss of a rug's surface, caused by fibres reflecting light. Silk and plant silk have strong sheen, while wool has a gentle glow. Sheen changes with the angle of light and the direction of the pile, so a rug may look lighter from one side of the room. Rugberry describes several silk rugs as having a sheen that deepens and softens as the light turns.

Silk is the protein fibre spun by the silkworm to make its cocoon. It is fine, strong and highly lustrous, and it gives rugs depth of colour and a cool, smooth hand. It is also delicate when wet and shows pressure marks, so it suits bedrooms and formal rooms more than busy family spaces. Rugberry's silk rugs include handloom pieces that are cool underfoot with a soft sheen.

Sisal is a stiff plant fibre taken from the leaves of the agave sisalana plant. It is one of the hardest-wearing natural rug fibres and has a crisp, slightly rough texture. Sisal resists crushing well but stains easily with water, so it is best in dry, busy areas such as hallways. Walk on it barefoot and you will feel firmer ridges than jute.

Spot cleaning means treating a stain on one part of a rug rather than washing it all. Act quickly, blot with a white cloth from the edge inwards and never rub. For turmeric, oil or curry stains, blot, then dab with a mild wool-safe detergent mixed in cool water, and rinse by blotting with plain water. Test any cleaner on a hidden corner first.

Sprouting is when a tuft or yarn end rises above the surface of the pile. It usually happens where a loop has been caught by a vacuum, a pet claw or a sandal. Do not pull it, since that can unravel neighbouring tufts. Trim the raised end level with the rest of the pile using sharp scissors. Sprouting is common in new rugs and does not mean the rug is coming apart.

Staple length is the natural length of a single fibre before spinning. In wool it can range from a few centimetres to over 15 cm. Longer staple fibres twist into stronger, smoother yarn that sheds less and pills less. Pull a few fibres from a loose strand and measure them against a ruler. Good rug wool usually has a medium to long staple.

A swatch is a small sample of a rug's fibre, colour and construction. It lets you see the true colour in your own light, test feel underfoot and check the pile with your hand before committing to a full rug. Lay it on your floor next to your sofa and curtains, and look at it in morning and evening light. Rugberry sells swatches for most of its rugs.

The Tibetan knot is a looped knotting method in which yarn is wrapped around a temporary rod laid across the warps, then the loops are cut to form pile. It produces a dense, slightly textured surface and is usually counted in knots per square inch like other knots. The back of a Tibetan-knotted rug shows a distinctive, slightly ribbed grid rather than tiny individual dots.

A tufting gun is the hand-held tool used to make hand-tufted rugs. It pushes yarn through a stretched tufting cloth from the back, following a design drawn on the cloth, and can be set to make cut or loop pile at chosen heights. The skill lies in steady hands and even spacing. The tufts are later locked in place with latex and covered with a backing cloth.

The warp is the set of threads stretched lengthwise on a loom, which forms the foundation of a woven or hand-knotted rug. Pile knots are tied around the warps, and the weft passes across them. In many rugs the warp ends become the fringe. Look at the ends of the rug: the threads running the full length are warps, usually cotton or wool.

The weft is the set of threads woven across the warp, from side to side, on a loom. In a flatweave the weft forms the visible pattern. In a hand-knotted rug the weft runs between each row of knots and is beaten down to lock them in. Turn the rug over and you will see weft as fine horizontal lines between the knot rows.

Wool and silk describes a rug that combines both fibres, usually wool for the body and silk for highlights or certain areas. The wool brings warmth and resilience, while the silk adds sheen and definition. Touch both areas: the wool feels soft and springy, the silk cool and smooth. Some Rugberry rugs, such as Terraform, are hand-tufted in New Zealand wool and silk, with a low sheen that shifts as you cross the room.

Yarn dyeing means dyeing the yarn before it is woven, knotted or tufted into a rug, so the colour runs through every fibre. It gives deep, even colour and allows precise placement of shades in a design. Dyes may be natural or synthetic. To see if a rug is yarn-dyed, part the pile: the colour should be the same from tip to base. Small differences between dye lots are normal.