Choosing the right size of rug for a room
Legs on or off, how much floor to leave and the three sizes that suit most Indian living rooms.
How to read the label on a Gaanth rug
Knot count, fibre, size, dye and the weaver’s name: what each line on our label means.
Every rug that leaves our yard has a cotton label sewn into the back corner. It has five lines, and each one tells you something useful.
The first line is the knot count, given in knots per square inch. Our hand-knotted rugs range from about 60, which gives a bold pattern and a thick pile, to 150 or more for fine silk work. More knots means more detail and more time, not necessarily a better rug for your room. The second is the fibre. We write exactly what is in the pile and the foundation: hand-spun Rajasthani wool, New Zealand wool, mulberry silk, or a blend with the proportion stated. If silk is only in the pattern, the label says so.
The third is the size, measured after washing and finishing, in feet and centimetres. Hand-made rugs can vary by an inch or two from the stated size, and the label gives the real one. The fourth is the dye. Some ranges use madder, indigo and walnut, others use synthetic dyes for colours natural dyes cannot reach. We say which.
The last line is the weaver’s name and village, and the months the rug was on the loom. Keep the label on. If the rug ever needs repair, it tells us which dye lot and which weaver to go back to.
