How to Spot a Fake Oriental Rug

How to Spot a Fake Oriental Rug

If you are looking for an oriental rug to add charm to your room, make sure you are buying an authentic one so you are getting your money’s worth! When buying an original oriental rug, it’s important to look out for fakes. Don’t get duped and know the signs to spot a fake rug below!

Hard Plastic Back

Authentic hand-knotted oriental rugs always come with a soft backing with patterns that are identical to the top pile. When the top pile of a rug is made from a synthetic material and the plastic backing holds it up together, it is a fake. If the back doesn’t have a mirror image of the front and has a hard plastic back that is holding it together, the oriental rug is a fake. Many synthetic oriental rugs are held together with latex glue and the materials used to make this rug can be harmful to your family especially if you or one of your family members are allergic to latex.

Color Bleeding

Oriental rugs that are authentic are dyed with all-natural vegetable dyes. The dyes used on an authentic oriental rug are durable and doesn’t bleed through the rug. Be on the lookout for oriental rugs made out of fugitive dyes or ink because it will bleed and stain everything if water or oil is spilled on the fake rug. Authentic oriental rugs are usually rinsed and hand-washed to ensure your rug will never bleed and that the rug is soft as possible.

Not Hand-Knotted

Special artisans meticulously hand tie every single knot on an authentic hand-knotted oriental rug. Hand-tufted rugs are different from hand-knotted rugs in that rugs that are hand-tufted are made on a canvas backing which is stretched behind a stencil. Then a tufting gun is used to punch a design into the canvas. The practice of hand-tufting takes very little skills but makes weak rug structures causing the rug to lose its investment potential. Genuine oriental rugs have a lifetime of 50+ years while hand-tufted rugs only have a lifetime of about 7 years even though they have comparable prices.

Not Made of Wool

Authentic oriental rugs are made with wool which is hypoallergenic, antibacterial, and flame retardant. If taken care of properly, hand-knotted wool rugs hold their value well and can be an investment or heirloom for you and your family.

Persia Oriental Rug Gallery

Now that you know the signs of spotting a fake oriental rug, you can buy an authentic rug without any precautions! If you are interested in buying or cleaning a genuine oriental rug, call Persia Oriental Rug at 508-753-4667 or use our contact form! We offer the highest quality oriental rugs, unbeatable prices and our oriental rug services are by far the best available on the market.