The Art of Repair

The Art of Repair

Finding a good restorer is always difficult.  The best tend to be especially expensive and the mediocre are inconsistent.  In general, the dearer the cost of the repair the better the result so it is hard to comparison shop for a restorer.  Good repair work was always costly in the past ans is even more expensive today so expect to pay more than one might think is appropriate.  It is best not to scrimp on restoring a good piece.

A repair may be quite good and a client may believe it is bad or a poor restoration may be over appreciated.  For example, a hole is usually somewhat round but the restorer may cut a small area of carpet around it in the shape of a square.  A little loom is now made and a miniature rug is woven where the hole was situated.  The pile on the repair is slightly higher than the rest of the piece so the knots will not fall out, and the restored are will flatten over time and meld with the rest of the carpet.  So a small square rewoven area with a slightly higher pile may be an excellent repair, but a client might think it is not well done.

Repairs should not be made unless absolutely necessary in order to maintain the integrity of the rug.  Holes that have been stitched up and are not in danger of splitting open should probably be left alone.  Selvedges should only be replaced if they cannot be expeditiously salvaged.  Worn areas can often be protected by adding wool to the surface of the carpet.  This non-invasive cashmere embroidery is known as “khav.”

After Restoration

After Restoration

A restoration should closely resemble the design, color and the texture of the rest of the rug but will never match perfectly,  despite certain age-old remedies used by the repairer to blend it with the rest of the carpet, such as slight staining with tea or singeing with a flame.

A reliable old carpet dealer should be contacted to see if a rug merits repair.  The vast majority of dealers are objective in the performance of this valuable service which should not cost too much money.  The dealer should be able to recommend a restorer that is honest, reliable and competent, and other dealers may be asked for their opinions. Good repairers are often found in used carpet centers where they work for many dealers in the trade.  They are usually busy but accept work from private clients.  One must be patient as a good restoration takes time.  Major repair should not be done at cleaning facilities because they generally do not have qualified restorers capable of handling difficult jobs at a fair price.

REPILING

The term repiling means the replacement of lost, badly damaged or worn knots and the reinsertion of the pile.  With patience this can be done at home;  the amount of patience and tome required depends on the size of the damaged area and the fineness of the weave in the rug to be repaired.

Damage to the pile can be made by moths,continual traffic on one or two parts of the rug resulting in wear or by fire. Moths usually devour the woollen parts of oriental rugs; where the warp, weft and pile are all of wool the moth will eat through them completely, leaving a hole.  If the foundation is of cotton, the damage will only extend as far as the pile.  With the cotton warp and weft sound and strong, this can be repiled.

Rugs in use on the floor often receive heavy wear in one or two particular areas, due to their continual exposure.  These areas will, therefore, show signs of wear earlier than the rest of the rug.  A common occurrence is the wearing of a rug around the legs of  a dining room table yet the centre of the rug remains in good condition.

Rugs may also need repiling as a result of burn damage from cigars or cigarettes and burnt cinders from an open wood or coal fire.  Rugs with a thick pile obviously receive less damage than those with a short nap.  If the burn has only singed the very uppermost ends of the pile and the knot basically remains intact, the burnt tips of the fibers should be trimmed with curved scissors. This will leave the trimmed area with a slightly lower length of pile than the rest of the rug, but this does not matter as it does not normally affect the beauty or stability of the rug.  However, if the burn has damaged the actual base of the knots, this area will have to be cleaned of the damaged knots and new ones will have to be reinserted.  Where the burn is even more serious and the warp and weft threads have been destroyed by fire, this will require reinsertion of new warp and weft threads before the repiling process can be executed.

How to Repile

To carry out a lasting repiling job, it is essential that the warp and weft (the foundation) be firm, undamaged and in good condition. Damaged warp or weft threads cannot support the insertion of new knots and must therefore be replaced.  Rugs must first be cleaned before repiling is carried out.  If the pile is not cleaned first and then is cleaned after repiling, the yarns, which once matched will no longer match for the original likeness in colour was made with a dirtied colour.

Natural fibres, like wool and silk, of comparable colour, quality and age should be selected  for the replacement of the pile.  Man-made fibres should not be used even if they provide the perfect colour match.  Matching the fibres should be done in a natural light as fluorescent light distorts the shading.  We have good selections of yarns at our workshop in different quality type of wool and silk for different rugs like Angora wool, Kashan wool, Heriz silk and needlepoint wool all vegetable-dyed.  We know it is worthwhile taking time over and over for the selection of the matching fibres as a well-matched yarn is one of the secrets of an invisible repiling job.

When we start repiling; we remove the remains of any knots left within the damaged area.  Moths usually digest the wool from the front (but sometimes the back) of the rug,  but part of the knot will remain trapped between the warp and weft threads.  Particles of damaged knots will also remain in the cases of wear or burns.  We remove the damaged or partly damage knots by inserting a needle from the front of the rug between the warp and weft threads and the remainder of the knot will then fall away at the back.  Then we determine whether the type of knot used on the rug is Persian or Turkish as the new knot should match the original knot.  With a threaded needle or hook re-knot the pile into the damaged area with the correct knot.  Following the colour and design is made easy by following the design of a similarly patterned area elsewhere in the rug (often at the opposite end as many rugs are symmetrical).  Examine the similar design from the back and count the number of knots used in each colour per horizontal line, for example, two blue, three red,  two blue four brown and so on.  With the correct colour for each stitch, work horizontally in the same manner.  As each knot is re-inserted, leave the loose threads about half inch longer than the rest of the pile.  When the damaged area has been completely repiled it should be lightly ironed from the back with a warm iron in order to settle the newly-knotted pile into position.  With a pair of curved scissors carefully and evenly trim longer threads to the same height as the rest of the pile of the rug.

Repiling is a true life saver adding years to the life of a rug.  The pile covers the bare foundation of the rug and prevents it from disintegrating.

SELVEDGES AND CORDS

After the warp threads have been strung on the loom,the first stage in rug making is the weaving of the kilim ends or selvedge.  This is achieved by weaving a weft thread in and out of the taut warp threads which, when beaten down with a heavy metal comb to form the kilim ends.  Like the fringe, the kilim end acts as a protective barrier.W  hen one of the weft threads in the kilim work begins to work loose, there is cause for alarm.  One by one, the weft threads will break away from the rug until the actual knotted pile is reached.  This in turn will begin to disappear, knot by knot, row by row, causing serious damage. When there is no kilim end left at all, the weft threads are loose and the knots are already beginning to disappear, the situation is more serious and needs restoration. We carefully remove any knots which are loose until there is an undamaged and complete weft thread passing on top of a row of knots.   Remove only the loose knots,preserving as much of the rug as possible. Then we add new warps by needle and add wefts with best matching color and material.  Then secure where the last weft line ends.  This is reweaving the missing or damaged area and stop the loss.

In most oriental rugs, the side cords are formed by two or more warp threads additionally bound and secured by the weft threads.  As the rug is knotted row by row, so the weft thread secures the knots and binds the cords.   On most rugs, the side cords have an extra woollen binding besides the weft threads. The side cords have no resilient pile and, acting as the exterior guards to the rug, they receive constant wear and tear; therefore, side cords will often be the first areas requiring attention.

Damaged side cords are also cause for concern needs action taken immediately.  If left unrepaired, the cords may break away completely from the rest of the rug and, with the pile unprotected, the knots will then fall away.  Side cords should be checked regularly and carefully, for they may often be damaged without appearing so.

There are different materials used for cords like wool, cotton and goat hair.  Specially Beluch and Turkoman rugs has goat hair cords so we use exactly the same material for repair.

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