How to recognize a Persian rug as real - The difference between fake and real Persian rugs
A real Persian carpet is a valuable possession. These sumptuous rugs can be found in homes and offices around the world. Just knowing they were hand knotted adds even more value to these works of art.
However, these are not the only rugs you can find today. In addition to hand-knotted carpets, there are also machine-made examples.
With so many machine made rugs and Persian looking rugs available on the market today, it can be difficult to tell if the rug you are looking at is real Persian or just looks Persian.
Sometimes the similarities are so great, especially when they are hand-knotted, that it is almost impossible to tell them apart without close inspection.
Here are a few things to look for in order to determine if a particular Persian rug is authentic.
Find out where the carpet was made
Only rugs made in the Middle East region of Iran can be called genuine Persian rugs. You will see that all these rugs are always made by hand. Machine-made carpets do not come from these regions. They are mostly made in the US and a few countries in Europe.
Besides the obvious machine-made rugs, there are other types of hand-knotted rugs made in Pakistan, India, China and some other oriental countries.
These types of hand-knotted rugs are beautiful in their own way, but it is important to note that if the rug was not made in Iran, it is not a genuine Persian rug.
Check if it is hand tufted or hand knotted
Genuine hand-knotted rugs are made by skilled weavers who spend hours painstakingly and meticulously hand-knotting each knot.
Hand-tufted rugs, on the other hand, are made using a tufting gun that punches a pattern into a canvas stretched behind a template. These rugs look good on the surface, but have several disadvantages.
Making these rugs does not require any special skills. Also, hand tufted rugs are much weaker and have a lifespan of around 7 years.
To determine if a rug is hand-knotted or hand-tufted, turn it over and examine the underside. With a real Persian rug, you should be able to see each knot clearly.
Genuine Persian rugs are a worthwhile investment and knowing how to tell the real from the fakes can help you ensure that the piece you are acquiring is worth it.
Check the front and back of the carpet
It is very rare to find a handmade rug that has a perfect pattern on both the front and back. Because these rugs are woven by hand on very basic wooden looms, they are bound to have a few imperfections.
These imperfections are to be expected and in no way diminish the value of the rug. Machine-made rugs, on the other hand, are always perfect on both the front and back.
Machine-made rugs also have a type of netting that covers the underside of the rug. It's not very easy to see, but it's there.
Genuine Persian carpets always have a soft underside
It's amazing how much the underside of a rug can tell you about whether it's a real Persian rug or not. For one thing, the presence or absence of imperfections in the knots can tell a lot about whether the rug was hand-knotted or machine-made.
Second, the texture and type of backing can also be very revealing. Real Persian carpets are always hand-knotted. The process is designed so that the pattern on the bottom of the rug matches the pattern on the top of the rug.
There is no additional pad on the underside. The lack of any kind of back coating results in a soft underside.
This is unlike machine-made rugs, where the top pile of the rug is made of synthetic materials and the bottom has a rigid plastic backing that holds the rug together.
The synthetic materials and adhesives used in these rugs not only detract from the rugs appearance but can also be toxic and cause allergic reactions.
Note the fringes
On authentic Persian rugs, the fringes are part of the rug itself. They are created during the weaving process and look like an extension of the rug's body.
With machine-made rugs, the fringes are not created during the manufacturing process.
Rather, they are sewn onto the carpet after the carpet has been completed. Take a closer look at where the fringes connect to the rug body.
If you can see that the fringes have been sewn onto the rug, you know the rug is fake.
Check the material used
Only natural materials such as wool, cotton and silk are used for genuine Persian carpets. There are no exceptions. Wool is the most commonly used material.
Hand-knotted wool rugs are antibacterial, hypoallergenic and flame retardant. They are valuable treasures that, with proper care and maintenance, will remain beautiful for generations.
A carpet made of a synthetic material is definitely not authentic.
Check the color
The weavers of genuine Persian carpets create their own color from various plant and animal materials found in nature. Thanks to years of experience, they have mastered the art of creating colorful dyes that stick firmly to materials.
These colorfast dyes will not bleed into each other or through the carpet.
To test whether a rug is colorfast or not, you can place a damp cloth on a corner of the rug and leave it there for a few hours. When you lift the cloth, check if the colors of the carpet have transferred to the cloth.
If the cloth is colorless, this is an indication that vegetable dyes were used in the rug, which means that it is more likely to be a genuine Persian rug.
If the colors of the carpet have transferred to the damp cloth, it is definitely an imitation. Imitations use synthetic dyes or ink that bleed instantly when in contact with water or oil.
Indian and Pakistani carpets have dull, dark colors
Real Persian carpets have bright colors
If you are interested in learning more about Persian rugs, please visit our rug encyclopedia and view our huge gallery of authentic Persian rugs.
How authentic Persian rugs are made
In this video we dive deep into the anatomy and construction of authentic Persian rugs. We explain the main components that make up a Persian rug and go into detail on each component. We'll cover the basics: the warp and weft, the knots and pile, the types of knots, the fringe, the fringes, and more.
