Rug Fringe Repair and Rug Fringe Restoration
Fringe (= tassels) Repair & Restoration
Hand-knotted Oriental and Persian rugs are woven by a combination of the components warps, wefts, and yarn pile which mutually build their foundation and the design of the rug. On rectangular rugs, wefts are running on the width of the rug (are sealed by the side cord) while warps are running on the length of the rug (and end in the fringes which are secured by fringe double knotting). The silk, wool, and viscose yarn which is woven on top and around the foundation are called piles. Therefore, the fringes (also called tassels) are part of the foundation of the area rug rather than a decorative element only. They run from one end all the way through the middle of the rug to the opposite side and are an extension of the warps which secure the length of the rug. Depending on the rug type the fringes are shorter or longer. Whether the weaver picked a long or short extension was depending on his decorative taste.
We emphasize the importance of rug fringe repair, because, if the fringes are damaged, they can eventually lead to unraveling and opening the pile which will damage the rug by losing its original borders, designs, and consequently its value.
How to repair oriental rug fringe?
Customers ask us how to repair rug fringes on an Oriental carpet/ area rug and which repair type to pick. Some requests include the question if there is a Do-it-yourself oriental rug fringe repair way. We agree that there are ways to maintain and keep an area rug intact at home - however when the topic is repairing or restoring, we recommend consulting an expert rather than risking doing more damage to the rug, there are several options to repair rug fringes/ tassels of your antique area rug.
1. Fringe Repair
B. Rug Fringe Repair by machine
2. Restore fringes
A. Rug Fringe Repair by Hand
We offer Rug fringe repair for hand-knotted rugs. As we have explained the fringes are the actual foundation extension. When hand-knotted area rug fringes get damaged due to wear and tear or vacuum cleaners, they need to be repaired as soon as possible to prevent further damage to the area rug. An early repair can prevent a simple, cheap repair job from becoming a complex, expensive repair job.
Rug Fringe Repair by hand is labor and time intensive, and can only be conducted by skilled rug repair professionals.
Fringe repair on hand-knotted rugs is done by exposing the fringes (foundation) of the rug and knotting a few fringes at a time. This method is called double knotting.
How do you restore worn or damaged fringes by hand?
Our fringe repair process at SoCal Rug Masters includes the following steps:
-
Opening up each individual knot below the damaged fringes without getting into the main design of the rug.
-
The expert has to assess the rug and decide how many rows of knots have to be opened up to have sufficient thread Fringes (warps). The first step includes bringing out the warps of the foundation so new fringes can be tied together.
-
After exposing the fringes to the desired length, the SoCal Rug Masters expert would grab 3 to 6 fringes at a time and tie them together twice hence double knots by selected material and color to match the existent fabric. Fringes can be Cotton, Silk, or Wool.
-
Repeating the same process, the entire width of the rug would secure the end of the rug to prevent it from further damage.
-
Please examine our provided pictures and video of Rug Fringe Repair by Hand and call us or order on our form (underline the form to be redirected to the contact us form)
B. Rug Fringe Repair by Machine
At SoCal Rug Masters, we offer fringe repair on both machine-made rugs and hand knotted rugs. The affected area needs to be cut off and trimmed, then using a binding machine we secure the edges of your rug and carpet.
-
If the area rug at hand is a machine-made rug, the fringe was added on after the manufacturing of the rug. The fringes were usually machine sewed on or glued on to the end of the rug to make it look like a hand-knotted rug.
-
Therefore, when the fringes on these rugs get damaged, they can be cut off and add a prefabricated fringe or serge or bind to the edge of the rug.
-
Regarding prefabricated fringes they are available in many styles and colors. The fringes will be sewn or knotted in a way to make it look as natural as possible.
-
Alternatively, we can remove the damaged fringes /tassels and bind or serge the edges of the rug to secure the rug and prevent it from unraveling.
C. Rug Fringe Restoration by Hand
At SoCal Rug Masters, we offer Rug Fringe Restoration and reviewing of Antique Rugs and Vintage Rugs. Rug Fringe Restoration is done by our rug restoration experts with decades of experience. If your antique or vintage rugs have lost rows of borders and designs, we can restore it to its original condition by using antique wool and other fabrics collected from antique kilims and Soumak rugs.
We can add real fringe to your rugs by sewing the correct fringe yarn into your rug edges to recreate the original look.
-
We create a platform/frame to attach the width of the rug and start by finding straight edges at the end that need fringe restoration.
-
Correct fibers such as wool, silk, or cotton of exact size to the original fringe are selected.
-
Using a small needle our technicians restore the new fringes into the edge of your rug. This process is very time consuming and requires steady hands and expertise.
-
Running the new fringes back and forth through the width of the rug would create the fringes which can be tied and secured by double knotting.
-
When the fringes are secured, we can cut the fringes off the frame and detach the rug from the frame.
-
Your rug is ready for delivery or pickup.
Rug Reweaving and Fringe Repair
Here are the steps to restore fringes and reweaving your antique rugs.
-
First thing we need to wash your antique rugs to eliminate any loss fibers and get the rug ready for restoration.
-
We evaluate the extent of the damage and come up with a game plan.
-
Color evaluation and measurement of the damage is done in order to collect all the required materials and yarns to be used in the weaving process.
-
We create a custom frame to attach the damaged area of the rug.
-
We start by laying the foundation of the rug using correct fabric for the foundation such as wool, cotton, or silk.
-
Our experienced rug masters will collect the matching yarn and start weaving the missing part of the rug based on the lost pattern.
-
When the woven area is done, we secure the ends by double knotting or kilim and double knotting, and we cut the fringes according to the desired length.
-
We fish up the process by shaving the long new yarns to match the rest of the rug.
-
At this point your valuable rug is ready to be returned to you.
Rug Resizing, Rug binding and Rug Serging
To fix worn and frayed edges of your antique and Oriental area rugs our experts can bind the edges (side-binding, cotton canvas binding). Binding refers to using binding tape folded over the edge of a rug which is stitched on with a binding machine. Our experts try to match the colors close to the main color of the rug, so the bound edge perfectly blends in without standing out. Binding creates a more tailored look with a nice classic and elegant finish for an area rug. Another method to fix the outermost areas of a rug is serging. Serging refers to the process where our craftsmen wrap a thick yarn continuously around the edge of an antique Oriental or modern rug. Serging the edge of an area rug produces a look similar to a hand-sewn sidecord, even though it’s mostly done by a heavy sewing machine, like binding.
However, for some traditional Oriental and Persian rugs customers select our hand-serging (Shiraze) service to maintain the initial look of the area rug.
If you are looking for experienced rug cleaners and restoration experts in OC, LA., San Diego and Redlands: We offerFree Rug Cleaning & Repair Inspection
Contact us for any questions you might have such as the following:
-
How much does it cost to clean and repair an Oriental or modern area rug?
-
How to repair fringes of an Oriental area rug?
-
How to repair moth damaged Oriental and antique area rugs?
-
Rug resizing near me?
-
Area rug cleaning pick up and delivery near me? Rug alterations near me?
Our services are 100% insured and guaranteed. Our brand promise is to provide customized rug cleaning, rug repair & restoration to the highest satisfaction of our customers. If you are not happy with the service, we will re-clean it for FREE!