Persian Rug Repair

Persian Rugs > Persian Rug Services > Persian Rug Repair

Call us today for free advice or a no obligation quote on 0141 420 6989 or email info@little-persia.com.

At Little-Persia we repair and restore all kinds of rugs and carpets for customers and rug dealers alike. We regularly work on everything from securing fringes and bindings to large tears, holes and areas of moth damage. Our work is carried out on our premises in Glasgow by our Iranian ex-weavers. Our repair staff have a combined 50 years of experience, a resource few rug repair specialists can boast. Call now to book in your rug for restoration or repair, or email us images of the damage for a free quotation.

It is always best to have your rug repaired as early as possible. That way damage is prevented and the the repair is often easier, quicker and cheaper to carry out.

Common Types of Rug Repair:

Rug Fringe Repair

Rug Side Repairs (Selvages or Bindings)

Low Pile Repair

Repair Holes, Rips & Moth Damage

Have a look at our case study on an antique Mashad rug restoration where we helped to bring the rug back to life.

Below is an antique Kashan rug and Isfahan rug. We repaired and lengthened their fringes, expertly cleaning the rugs, restoring them to their former glory.

An antique Kashan rug professionally restored by our expert weavers.

This valuable antique Isfahan rug deserved to have its fringes lengthened rather than simply secured.

Rug Fringe Repair

If your rug fringes are damaged it is important to fix the problem as soon as possible. The phrase 'a stitch in time saves nine' could never be more true than with handmade rugs. The fringe is the foundation of the rug and being exposed it is often the first part to be damaged; if the damage spreads the pile can become loose and unravel, permanently damaging the affected area. We can halt further damage and straighten the fringe, which can be achieved in a number of ways depending on the rug and the condition, but it is best to deal with the issue as soon as possible. If the problem is dealt with immediately there will be no real damage to the rug and the cost of fixing it will be fairly small. The longer the problem is left the more damage is likely to occur. This damage can be halted but if it has spread to the pile (see below) the only way to fully restore the rug is to create more foundation, lengthen the fringes and potentially re-knot the lost pile; a time-consuming and considerably more expensive process. Uunless the rug is a particularly good quality or valuable piece it may be best to simply minimize the damage by having it secured as it is - we will of course advise the most sensible course of action.

This fringe has been allowed to unravel to the extent that there is damage to the pile of the rug.

There are various methods of fringe repair: The first and least expensive option is to secure the fringes if they have started to become loose, this can also be done if the fringe is longer at some parts than at others. The fringe can be secured and cut to an even length if messy or damaged. This can be done as is or, if there is small amounts of damage to small sections of the ends of the rug a few rows of knots can be removed from the rug in order to make the rug pile even and straight once more. If the rug has not already been effected this does not usually have any detriment to the pattern as there is almost always a few centimetres of plain coloured rool around the edge of a rug.

Here the fringe is secured and tidied and should prevent any further damage. This is advised for rugs where there is no or little damage or where the rug does not justify the amount of work required to add new warp strings.

Adding new fringes internally to the rug is a more involved and costly process but allows the fringe to be lengthened without removing knots from the rug. This can be carried our if there is no room to remove any knots without eating into the outside guard border and in doing so also has the potential to allow re-knotting of damaged areas. This can be achieved here at Little-Persia.

This method involves adding new fringe from within the foundation of the rug, skilled work but with amazing results. As always we will advise on what can be acheived and what we recommend based on damage and value of your rug.

Rug Sides or Rug Selvages Repair

The side of rug also known as the selvage or the binding is what holds the rug together at the sides. As the rug is woven from side-to-side (across the warp strings - the non-exposed fringe) there must be an end point. This is end point is bound by the weaver both holding the shape of the rug and preventing knots unravelling. The binding can often become loose which encourages the rug to be damaged. Again, it is best to deal with the problem as soon as possible as a small loosening of the selvage can easily be fixed but soon become a significant issue. The longer the problem is left the more damage is done and the more expensive it becomes to repair.

A rug which has been damaged by the selvages (sides) coming loose - the quicker it's dealt with the less damaging and expensive the repair. Image courtesy of www.RugChick.com.

Low Pile Restoration

If you have areas of low pile on your rug which has developed over time you may wish to restore it to its original condition. Low pile is less of an immediate danger than damaged fringes or sides but with extreme low pile the foundation becomes exposed and can lead to serious damage to the rug. Some people do not mind low pile as it shows age and character, it depends on the level of use and the extent which the rug is worn whether it is worth having it repaired, re-piled or re-dyed to cover areas of white foundation. Due to the nature of the repair an exact match in colour is not always possible but we have seen some almost perfect results over the years of repairing rugs for customers, rug dealers and ourselves.

Deciding on whether to get the rug repaired in this way depends on how much you are willing to spend and whether the rugs' value is high enough to justify its repair.

Almost any rug can be repaired, restored back to its original glory. Below is an old Heriz rug which had been finished at different levels at one end, probably caused by two weavers working at different rates. Although the rest of the rug was a beauty this really ruined it. We had the rug washed and then had the borders re-woven so that it was more uniform and the edges straight.

However not all rugs justify the work needed to bring them back to life. We recommend that most rugs if the sides or fringes start to fray be repaired as quickly as possible, this prevents further damage and is relatively inexpensive. However we always advise on a rug-by-rug basis for more structural and major repairs. Major projects of re-knotting large areas and reforming significant areas of foundationare rare but can often cost the same, if not more than a new rug of similar quality so is only normally advised for rugs of high sentimental or historic value.

Moth Damage, Rips and Holes in Rugs

Clients often worry that once a hole or tear has formed or, more commonly, moth damage, that their rug is ruined. We have known customers to throw out their rug after such damage (we would urge you to never throuw out a handmade rug! It may be beyond a state of viable repair but could still have use).

We can deal with moth damage, holes, tears here in Glasgow. This work is highly skilled but may not cost as much as you would think, particularly if the foundation is still in place in the case of moth damage or if the tear is straight with no material loss.

Often, if there is a lot of damage, a repair may not be feasible as it would cost a similar amount to repair as to replace, however almost any damage is fixable, that is the beauty of a handmade rug. If your rug is particularly damaged or you are thinking of throwing it out please don't. Donate it or hand it in, we can always recycle the wool for other repairs and may be able to offer a little cash for it depending on condition.

The first stage to the repair of moth damage is to kills the moths (and subsequent larvae and eggs) that are infesting the rug. The quicker this is done the better, we will do this if your rug is in for cleaning or repair but you may wish to stem the issue at home yourself. For this we offer specialised German moth products in the form of a moth spray which kills the moths, larvae and eggs and a moth trap which uses phermones to attract the adult male moths which are then trapped meaning they can no longer mate.

Repairing a rug with a rip and fairly large hole - first the foundation had to be built on to the existing warp and weft then the rug re-woven following existing patterns and using similar coloured wool. This repair took place here in our Glasgow gallery.

For extreme cases of damage to high quality and valuable rugs where more thorough work, such as when a rug needs re-knotted in large areas, we are able to use our contacts to send the rug back to Iran (or its place of origin) to be repaired. This is obviously a lengthy and relatively expensive process but the results are breath-taking.

We recently had a large Nain rug repaired in Iran, we will be using this as a case study to show the process that is gone through while carrying out a major repair, to view a step-by-step illustration of the work involved visit our major rug restoration page. The only viable option for high levels of structural or major repairs is to send the rug to Iran, labour and wool costs in the UK is prohibitive and the ability to source the correct colours is limited. This is only a realistic option for certain rugs and the work can take considerable lengths of time. The Nain rug had to have a large section re-knotted, the project taking around 9 months to complete.

Our biggest ever repair, the whole border of a large Nain was re-knotted in Iran.