Whats a Kilim Rug ?

A vintage kilim is a flat tapestry-woven carpet or rug traditionally produced in countries of the former Persian Empire, including Iran, Azerbaijan, the Balkans, and the Turkic countries of Central Asia. Kilims can be purely decorative or can function as prayer rugs. However, Modern kilims are very popular floor coverings in Western households nowadays. 

Kilim rugs are recognized by their simple and bold geometric designs. They are sometimes referred to as 'slit-woven' textiles. This is down to the design feature you'll see if you look close - small vertical slits along the edges of the patterns, between the different areas of color/ where the different colors meet. The slits are desirable as they highlight the geometric shapes and give the design an art experience.

How are kilim rugs made? 

The main difference between a Kilim rug and other types of handmade rugs is that a Kilim is a flat weave. What is a flatweave? Flatweave describes a rug that is woven on a loom rather than knotted (by hand one knot at a time). It is created by interlocking warp (vertical) and weft (horizontal) threads. So still very much made by hand - but with a weaving technique, rather than knotting. 

Handmade rugs that have a pile, and are therefore not flatweaves, are created by knotting individual strands, of different colors, onto the warps. Then they are held together by tightly pressing the wefts against each other. 

Differences Between an Ordinary and a kilim rug? 

Traditional rugs, by contrast, all do have a pile This means they are thicker and heavier. They are not quite as delicate and are more luxurious. These types of carpets and rugs are still made using traditional techniques.

Of course, these days it’s possible to get traditional rugs that have those wonderful traditional designs and motifs but don’t carry the price tag of hand-woven rugs because they are made using machines rather than by hand. This means all budgets are covered when it comes to traditional rugs!

however, the big difference between a vintage Kilim style of rugs and traditional rugs is that Kilims can have a wider range of uses compared to rugs. Due to the way that Kilims are woven, they can also be crafted into other things rather than just a rug. For example, items such as room dividers or even Chuval bags. 

What material are kilim rugs made from? 

What is needed to make a Kilim rug? In terms of materials, there isn’t much required. A loom, a beating comb, and a knife or scissors are the simple tools needed with wool being the primary material. Cotton, silk, and animal hair (usually goat hair) are also often used, but mainly when combined with wool. This is usually because hair such as that from an Angora Goat is very soft and gives a silky sheen when combined with wool.

Sometimes included in these rugs are gold or silver thread, beads, and other small decorative baubles that the weaver believes look good, but this is not always the case.

The durability of the kilim rug

A rug is a serious investment and so the durability of the rug you purchase is something that needs to be considered. Handmade Kilim rugs are more durable than Traditional machine-made rugs due to the way they are woven.

Furthermore, due to the easy replaceability, and they are made incredibly fast the way they are made, machine-made rugs are more likely to wear through before a handmade Kilim rug would. As previously mentioned, traditional rugs are usually thicker (due to the pile) than Kilim rugs, but this does not mean they’re more capable of taking any extra wear.