Mountain Rug - About Our Rugs

The art and craft of creating fine rugs

Authentic handmade Tibetan rug making begins with Himalayan wool brought from the remote high-altitude areas in Northern Nepal. The wool is then washed and hand-carded. Carding is a process that straightens or aligns the wool fibers. Machine carding breaks more of the fibers and may weaken or fray the spun yarn.

The carded wool is then spun into yarn by hand. The spun yarn is dyed in hot vats with natural dyes, the same dyes used for centuries. These dyes are incredibly color-fast and will not give off any harmful odors or gasses as with synthetic dyes.

The dyed yarns are then woven into a cotton warp at 100 knots per square inch. Many other rug dealers offer 60 or 80 knot rugs. Knot count is important because a higher knot count allows more distinct detail in the patterns and adds density and thus durability to the rug. It also takes more labor and time to produce.

A 6 by 9 foot rug with 100 knots per square inch will have roughly 800,000 hand tied knots. The weaving alone can take 2-3 months for the weavers to complete. An authentic handmade Tibetan rug is woven with a special knot that is less likely to come unraveled with time.

The woven rug is then embossed, a slow process using sharp scissors to snip around the rug patterns to highlight detail and create relief to the art.

Finally, the woven rug is hand washed and dried and ready for its new home.