Terminology

Abrash is small variations in color uniformity of handmade rugs. The dyes that are being applied to the rug are uneven. The uniformity to the rug can also be achieved by using wool from different dye lots (this effect may be done intentionally).

Binding is a band or strip sewn over the carpet edge to protect, strengthen or decorate the edge.

Aubusson are originally flat-weave rugs from the 15th century France; nowadays often made as a pile rug.

Axminster are machine-made rug or carpet with individually inserted pile tufts; this allows complex color patterns and designs, including Oriental.

Backing is the fabric or yarns serving as a foundation for the face fiber.

Flat-Woven Rugs have been made for thousands of years. The designs come from the dyed wefts. There are no knots and therefore no pile. They are generally less expensive and less durable than knotted rugs. Flat-woven rugs are lightweight, easy to handle and normally reversible.

Fringes are the visible continuation of the warp threads at both ends of the carpet. The fringes are formed by knotting the bundles of warp strings from both ends of the rug after the rug has been cut from the loom.

Gauge is the separation between two neighboring tufting needles in inches: the smaller the gauge, the denser the rug or carpet. Quality units need to have eighth of an inch gauge.

Hand-Knotted Rugs are one-of-kind handmade rugs in which the weaver has individually tied each knot
by hand.

Hand Tufted Rugs look and feel very much like hand-knotted rugs, because they use the same wool and dyes as the knotted rugs use. They are different in their construction method. The tufted rug is made with a tufting gun instead of tying each knot by hand. This method saves a lot of time and keeps the price of the rug much lower than a knotted rug.

Jute is the natural fiber that is often used for rug or carpet backing material.

Kilims are the pileless web of warps and wefts between the rug's pile and the knotted fringe. This is also the name for a rug without pile.

Knots are the strands of wool yarn which is looped around two adjacent warp threads and then cut to form the pile or nap of the rug (surface of carpet). There are two basic types of knots used in oriental rugs: Persian Senneh, which is a fine asymmetrical knot used in fine urban and complex tribal carpets. These rugs have a light and a dark side. Turkish Ghiordes have a symmetrical knot used in most tribal carpets, and it makes for a higher pile heavy wearing style of rug. Chinese carved carpets also feature
this knot.

Loop Pile is a carpet style which has a pile surface consisting of uncut loops. May be woven or tufted. Also called "round wire".

Plush Finish is a smooth textured carpet surface in which individual tufts are only minimally visible, and the overall visual effect is that of a single level of fiber ends. This finish is normally achieved only on cut-pile carpet produced from non-heat-set singles spun yarns by brushing and shearing. Sometimes called "velvet-plush."

Overcasting is a simple wrapping of dyed yarn along the entire length of both sides of the rug.

Warps are the main backbone of the rug or carpet. They consist of yarn strands that stretch from top to bottom. These strands or parallel strings are stretched on the loom, before weaving begins. When the rug is completed and cut from the loom, the ends of the warp make up the fringed. Usually weavers will prefer cotton warps because it’s easier to weave a straight rug on wraps that made of cotton other than wool.