You see a rug or you want to buy a rug and you do  not know if that is hand made or not. What do you do? Let me mention three characteristics of each group:

1- Take a look at the selvages or bindings at the sides. If the rug is hand made (hand knotted), the bindings or selvages are done by hand. It maybe thinner in one part and thicker on the other parts. There maybe some inconsistencies along the way. The selvages may not be perfectly straight as it is done by hand.If the rug is machine made, the selvages and bindings are done by machine. You may see the consistent and perfect stitches done by a machine. In this case, the selvages are straight.

 Area rug machine made rug. The binding is done by a machine. Stitches are visible.

Hand knotted rug. The selvages (bindings) is done by hand.

If a rug is machine made, fringes (tassels)are not part of the foundation and are prefabricated attached or sewn to the rug. This can be seen if you flip the rug and take a look at the back. If a rug is hand knotted, fringes are part of the foundation and are not sewn or attached to the body of the rug.

 Machine made rug with fringes sewn to the body of the rug.

Hand knotted rug. Fringes are the foundation and part of the rug.

If a rug is machine made area rug, there are no knots in the back. You can not see the knots and cannot pull the knots out with a needle or sharp knife. If a rug is hand knotted, you can see the actual knots. Some of the knots maybe smaller and some bigger. You may see the inconsistencies. The rows of the knots are not perfectly straight.

 Machine made rug. You do not see actual knots.

Hand knotted rug. You can see the actual knots and the inconsistencies.
Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085