Four weeks ago, we took delivery of an antique Persian Mahal rug from a client in the Scottish borders to our rug repair workshops in Edinburgh and were tasked with the cleaning and repair of the rug after some damage at home.
The client lives in a beautiful stone built farmhouse with open fireplaces which look and feel just wonderful, however this is where the problems started. A ember from the fire landed on the long edge of the rug and began to smolder. Once this had been noticed, it was apparent that the rug had been burnt in a semi-circular shape, about 6 inches long and about 4 inches into the wool pile. The cotton foundation was also burnt through, with extensive singeing to the surrounding areas. Burn marks on oriental rugs are notoriously onerous to repair.
Our assessment was as follows;
- Hand wash and dust extract the whole rug to bring back the original colour for us to match to.
- Hand dry to ensure stability in the rug with no shrinkage.
- Rebuild the foundation in the damaged area, using cotton of the same colour and density.
- Once a warp and weft foundation had been woven into the existing rug and a framework of cotton established, new wools were spun and dyed to the original spec and woven into the foundation, using traditional and matching knots. This resulted in an invisible repair that maintained the value of this beautiful antique oriental rug.
- Finally, we hand corded the damaged edge in matching organic colours – this is the long edge of the rug.
The whole process took approximately four weeks upon which we called the client to arrange our free delivery service. Mr and Mrs L were absolutely delighted with the finished result and had expected to be able to see the repair against the original rug. This in fact was not the case and there was some debate as to where the hole had been. This museum quality repair is what is necessary when dealing with antique pieces, but is in fact our standard finish regardless of the age of the rug.
As usual, it is our pleasure and passion, to restore rugs to their former glory and seeing the pleasure on our clients faces on their return.
Thank you to Mr and Mrs L for allowing us to work on their coveted rug and for recommending us to their friends.
For more information or a free appraisal of your oriental carpets and rugs please do get in touch https://www.orrc.co.uk