For most homeowners, a rug is a rug, and as long as it get the job done of looking both stylish and keeping the feet warm, then that’s good enough. For those who are interested in handmade authentic oriental rugs, we want to make sure you’re able to distinguish between dupes and the real thing so that you are getting the most for your money.

If you purchase an oriental rug from Persia Oriental Rug Gallery, you can rest assured that every oriental rug is as advertised: authentic. However, if you are planning on purchasing elsewhere, then there are a few signs you need to be on the lookout for.

Tips to Identifying Authentic Persian Rugs

• Check the back of the rug. Flip the rug upside-down and check the back. Persian oriental rugs will have visible foundation threads that are most likely blue, white or red. These weft threads are sewn horizontally with the rug fringes and are interfered with the wool knots. When the rug is handmade, these lines may not be perfectly horizontal (we’re only human, after all) and may times the colored knots will be uneven in thickness.
• Check the front of the rug. The design tells all when it comes to finding an authentic oriental rug. When looking closely at the design, the pattern will most likely be uneven in authentic Persian rugs. The design will also never be the same shape or size from one end of the rug to another. Keep in mind that some intricate machines can also create uneven design patterns to dupe the buyer, so resort to checking the back of the rug if you are suspicious.
• Check the color. A bright, vibrate color will most likely indicate an unauthentic rug. If the colors seem consistently bright throughout the entire piece, then this is also likely machine-made. To spot an authentic oriental rug, there will be color variations as the maker used different colored wool or wool thicknesses. The background colors in authentic rugs may have abrashes — which is difficult to do with machine-made rugs.
• Check the pile. All handmade authentic Persian oriental rugs will be made using wool pile. Machine-made rugs will be made either from polyester or nylon pile or a combination of the two in order to drive operating costs and consumer costs down to reasonable prices. On the back of the rug there may also be some white thread weaves indicating this was hand made, while machine-made rugs don’t have these threads at all.
• Consider the cost. After you have assessed the rug for the above attributes, the last thing you may want to consider is the cost. Authentic, antique Persian oriental rugs will cost thousands of dollars, while machine-made oriental rugs will only cost in the hundreds. The cost difference is due to the time spent creating the rug. Labor is expensive, and oriental rugs can take months to even years to complete depending on size and pattern/design difficulty.

If you’re unsure whether a Persian oriental rug is authentic or not, we highly recommend contact our oriental rug experts. We will help you determine if your newly purchased rug is what it was marketed as. Interested in buying an authentic oriental rug? Shop our selection online or visit us in store at 370 Boston Turnpike in Shrewsbury.