Hand-Knotted vs Machine-Made Rugs: Pros, Cons & How to Tell the Difference

Every debate has two sides, even ones which seemingly should have very clear-cut winners, pun not intended. The cushiony world of rugs is no exception to this rule, and when it comes to you buying the right one for your house, knowing both sides of these debates is essential. Hand-knotted vs Machine-made rugs is one of the most long-standing debates in this field, and the winning argument has shifted between the two throughout history! So let’s perform a rug quality comparison, get an understanding of the pros and cons of both of these rug types, and figure out which is the perfect option for you!

Hand-Knotted Rugs: Pros and Cons

Pros

• Durability: Handmade rugs are made with techniques honed across history, applying principles of weaving which were created well before human life became as cushy as it is today! Every individual tuft is hand-knotted and pure fiber, meaning even the modern artisan or restorer can always bring back the rug to its original quality. Even its materials are ones which promote bounce and resist soiling, which ultimately, makes for a rug that will last for generations!
• Authenticity: For some, irregularities in weaving can be seen as a negative. But at the highest grade of purchase, the unique ‘signatures’ of the weavers, be it from certain themed motifs or even some popular imperfections, make their rugs the most coveted in the markets. These can include signature weaving techniques or preferences of the artist, which mean a lot to design professionals, and such authentic value is lost entirely when a rug design is mass produced to perfection.
• Value Retention: Handmade rugs combine a golden trident of value, with time, skill and scarcity! Producing these rugs requires an artist with decades of experience, plus months’ work on actually weaving it together, which means a sole weaver can only produce so many during their lifetime. Add to this the fact that these rugs can be repaired easily, and they instantly become more than just a piece of furnishing. They become the softest investment you can make and get excellent value for it!

Cons

• Price: Value retention naturally only plays a role once you already have the rug. Until then, you have to pay the premium value yourself, which isn’t exciting for many buyers! Handmade rugs require massive investment of time and skill, and are accordingly the most expensive ones on the market. At least they’re still value for money!
• Production Time: If you need a rug now, or perhaps even in the coming week, your options in handmade rugs become instantly limited. While many such rugs are available for purchase on the market, getting one custom-made for your needs can take several weeks, or even months.
• Irregularities: As mentioned in the authenticity section, irregularities are a negative for some buyers. These rugs are coveted for their imperfections and personality, which may not work for you if you already have a personality in your mind! Go for machine-made if you want a very specific design, like a football team logo!

Machine-Made Rugs: Pros and Cons

Pros

• Affordable: Machine rugs are designed specifically for the markets, and as such, they sport significantly lower prices as compared to handmade rugs. If you don’t want to worry much about other factors and simply want a rug in your home, these can be the right choice for you!
• Quick Production: Machine production of rugs has evolved to such a degree, that computers can more or less print out any custom design required for your personal needs. Moreover, any design also comes with a large number of copies, meaning finding replacements if ever required is also a very easy task!
• Precise: Machines are designed to be perfect, as they simply lack the code to produce anything else! The rugs prepared by them are thus absolutely faultless, which gives guaranteed value for money, while also allowing for purchases of multiple copies, which is extremely useful for design professionals as they create their own signature styles with consistent pattern choices.
• Variety: Since these rugs are easier to produce with whichever colour or design the market desires, the options for purchase are also plentiful in the machine-made section! You can find nearly every design and colour combination imaginable in these markets, meaning the one which specifically works for you, is bound to be somewhere out there!

Cons

• Low Durability: Unlike handmade rugs, which are bound by complex weaving techniques and pure fiber, machine rugs use adhesives to fulfil their purpose. Adhesives can powder or dry out with time, causing its fronds to separate at the edges. These are not durable rugs, they were never designed to be, so be mindful of the same when you enter the market yourself.
• Synthetic Feel: Machine-rug materials like nylon and polyester, designed to be stain-resistant, do not breathe nearly as well as wool, leading to reduced softness. They can also feel plasticky underfoot, which is the sacrifice paid for lower maintenance costs.
• Low Resale Value: Time, skill, scarcity, these rugs are designed to require minimum amounts of all three of these. Accordingly, these rugs have little to no resale value, with even that only diminishing with use. These are need-fulfilling products only, and should not be considered as investments.

Hand Knotted vs Machine-made Rugs: How to Tell Them Apart

• Look at the Back: Hand-knotted rugs would have an almost mirror image on their back, with the individual knots and warps visible to the eye. A machine-rug would instead have either a cloth or a latex coating, and its back would look like a pixelated mesh.
• Perfection: The fringes of handmade rugs are not only intentional, they are structural, and a consequence of the production process which made them. The mass-produced twin does not have such a requirement, and as a result would either not sport loose fringes at all, or feature them as only a decorative element.
• Label: The rug would often come with its origin attached to it in the form of a label or a tag. However, marketing terms can be deceptive, and you need to ensure that you don’t fall prey to dubious wordings like ‘hand-tufted’, which implies a tufting gun and glue backing. Stick to ‘hand-crafted’ or ‘hand-knotted’.
• Price: If you find a handmade rug available for cheap, that’s an instant red flag. These rugs all come with long histories, either of the artisan or the rug itself. If the price is suspiciously cheap, the rug almost always has robotic origins!

Thus, the differences between handmade and machine-made rugs are night and day! The former is a piece of art, the latter, a product of market demands. There are use cases for each, and so there is no definitive answer as to which is better. What is important, is that you are aware of all of these factors when you enter the market, so you can find the perfect rug to fulfil your specific needs!