Antique Rug Dyes

In the old rug workshops during the Persian Empire, professional weavers decided on design styles based on the demands of the market, and the color choices available. Certain plants were needed to produce the dyes, and what designs a weaver could make depended on which kind of vegetables grew in their area or that they could afford to buy.
          
 It wasn't until the mid-nineteenth century that chemical dying agents were widely available.  Although they are much cheaper and sometimes, at first glance, more vibrant, chemical dyes lack something that the older, natural dyes had. Natural dyes, especially indigo ones, preserve the wool and age just wonderfully. They can create glorious blends of color, and a gorgeous variation in tone. Because hand-spun wool has that little extra heterogeneity in it, it absorbs dye colors at slightly differential rates, resulting in a less even color-tone and more richness in the pattern.
           
The variability in color is referred to as "abrash", and it adds a hominess and authenticity to any Persian rug or tribal rug. In fact, this old-timey quality is now being recaptures in a re-naturalization movement that brings industrial weaving back to its roots with hand-spinning and hand-dying of materials. A method that could only be found in antique rugs of centuries past is now being produced again.