Rugs are a beautiful addition to your home because they add color, texture, and pattern to any room. Choosing from a variety of rugs in the market can be overwhelming, however. Although the appearance can help you decide what suits your home, you should also consider how the rug is produced to make the most of your money.

When shopping for a rug, you usually have to choose between hand-knotted and hand-tufted. But what is the difference between the two? What type should you get for your home?

Both Handmade but Different Process

Most wool rugs for sale are handmade, which is a traditional way of rug making; they can be hand-tufted or hand-knotted. Despite being both handmade, these types of rug have different production processes.

Weavers construct hand-knotted rugs entirely by hand where they use only individual strands of fabric. A hand-knotted rug would usually take a year to complete, depending on the design, size, and the capabilities of the weaver.

Hand-tufted rugs, meanwhile, takes only a day to complete because artisans use tufting gun to trace a design onto the canvas. Constructing this type of rug doesn’t require the same skills that knotting needs.

It can be confusing to distinguish hand-knotted and hand-tufted rugs from one another. But a few signs will help you find identify the type of rug. The two common signs are:

• Design – you can identify a hand-knotted rug if the design on the back and the front mirror each other. The back of a hand-tufted rug, however, has no design.
• Fringe – hand-knotted rugs have the fabric knotted within the fringe, lending elegance to the handmade rug. The fringe in hand-tufted rugs, meanwhile, is often glued or stitched to the back of the rug.

Despite the differences between the two types of rug, both of them have their advantages. But which type is more worthy of your money?

Why Choose Hand-Knotted over Hand-Tufted Rugs

Both hand-knotted and hand-tufted rugs help enhance the look of your home. When shopping for a rug, however, you should consider certain factors, including the cost, quality, and design.

Knotted rugs may cost higher than tufted ones because they require more time and capbilities to complete. But tufted rugs are ideal if you’re on a budget.

Although a hand-knotted rug costs more, it lasts longer than a hand-tufted alternative. This type of rug is the most durable you can get because of its production process. You can even make it as a family heirloom and pass it on to the next generations.

Additionally, hand-knotted rugs offer the most handmade and organic appearance. They have fewer imperfections, like slight variations throughout the design or the fringe varies in size. But these flaws show they were made from scratch.

Not all hand-knotted rugs have the same value, however. You can find exquisitely made hand-knotted rugs as well as poorly made ones. 

Handmade rugs will vary in style and workmanship. Look for hand-knotted rugs made by expert artisans to make sure you spend your money on a rug that holds more value than being a home décor.