What are the differences between hand made oriental rugs as opposed to modern machine made rugs. Well, the first major difference is value. And when I say value, I mean how valuable a rug is. Now there are several factors to keep in mind when determining the value of a rug, the depths of which we will not dive into here. Although, one of the main factors is naturally how it is made.

Of course, modern machine made rugs are almost never as valuable as an antique anything. Although, new rugs can appreciate greatly if they are owned, signed or designed by someone famous. Some of the modern artists like Andy Warhol, have had rug lines produced using some of their more famous works.

The main difference between these two types of rugs is the actual manner of construction. Machine made rugs consiste of plastic derrived fibers being glued onto a strong plastic base. Which makes them initially very durable, but over time the adhesive degrades and the fibers detach easily from the base.

Now I am not by any means saying that you should not buy new rugs because of this. I personally own several machine made rugs. For rooms with modern designs or active areas with high traffic or children, machine made rugs with contemporary designs are excellent.

On the other hand, there is a common misconception that hand made Oriental rugs are delicate and not durable. Their ornate designs and soft feel often decieve many. This art form is the cumulation of several thousand years of trial and error. It is a skill which has been perfected.

The hand weaver creates several dozen knots per square inch of strong wool fibers. Intricate weaves which are too complicated for me to elaborate on in this article. A true marriage of form and function by creating symmetrical designs pleasing to the eye while maintaining durability and usefullness.

So, we can see that while both types of rugs have major differences, they have made their seperate places within our individual homes and culture in general.