COLOR RUN

COLOR RUN

Color run is a major flaw and rugs with a little bleeding of one dye into another should,in general,be avoided.Most dealers do not buy carpets with color run.It is because most of synthetic colors runs easily and this shows that the rug is not an early piece.

A small amount of bleeding often indicates that the fugitive dye pervades the entire piece.Color run on the fringes of red Afgan and other rugs is usually not very serious.Red and blue occasionally run into ivory and carpets should be closely examined for this problem.Ivory or white wool should be clear and not even slightly tinged with red,blue,or any other color.A little fugitive red dye can often be successfuly removed with certain chemicals found in rug supply stores,but these fugitive dyes should generally be left untreated because there is always a danger of bleaching adjacent colors.

Old carpets that have recently been painted and new rugs whose dyes have not been adequately tested for color fastness,should probably not be washed for a few years to let the colors settle in the wool.

The more extraordinary the carpet the more forgiving one might be about a little color run.Very rare and important Agra (Indian) rugs,with tightly packed knots,sometimes have a slight degree of bleeding,but this imperfection does not seriously affect their value.