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Wool
Needless to
say, sheep wool is one of the basic elements in the carpet
industry; it is usually used to weave the pile of a carpet.
Many years ago some of the Hamedan and Baluch rugs were
woven with camel wool.
Iranian
sheep have thick wool and more than 60-70% of the wool is
the hetro type species. Due to this fact, it is a very
suitable material for carpets as the warp is thick, coarse
and strong. The quality of wool obtained from sheep raised
in mild and mountainous areas is much better than that from
sheep that are pastured in humid and tow-lying grazing land.
Moreover, the quality of wool sheared from sheep in the
spring is always better than that sheared in the autumn.
Sheep’s
wool contains many external substances and these should be
carefully separated before spinning. These substances
consist of the fat in the wool (lanolin), the sweat and the
urine. The dried wool also contains potassium and sodium
salts, water and ointments applied to the body of the animal
to heal its wounds. To remove these substances, it is
necessary to completely wash the wool.. Then the water is
thoroughly wrung out and the wool is spread on a clean area
to dry. This operation can be carried out manually or at
wool-washing factories that are equipped with mechanical
apparatus. After the drying process, the spun and skinned
wool is dyed in the preferred colours at the special dyeing
factories. The spinning can be accomplished either by hand
or by machinery.
In the
latter case, the large quantity of wool is uniformly spun
and twisted. Hand-spun wool is mostly used in the villages
and in the quarters of the tribal carpet weavers
Down
(Kork)
The term
refers to the soft wool that grows close to the skin of
sheep, goats and camels.
A comb is
used to extract this fine wool which clings to the teeth of
the comb. It is one of the principal elements from which
fine and fairly expensive rugs are made.
Cotton
Cotton
fibre has an important role in the carpet weaving industry
and it has seen increased use for weaving the warp and weft
of the carpet.
Moths are
not attracted to cotton, if the warp and weft of carpets are
made of cotton; they only damage the pile without causing
any holes.
It is much
easier to create a new layer of pile on the lattice of the
warp and weft that has been left intact. Cotton fibre is not
good for making the pile of a rug; instead due to its
strength and inflexibility it is suitable for making the
warp and weft.
Silk
Produced by
the larva of a species of moth commonly called the silkworm,
silk has been successfully cultivated in Iran. The finest
silk for rug making traditionally comes from an area around
the Caspian Sea. This region produces a type referred to as
Rasht Silk, which is regarded as the best in the world.
Because of
the high price of the raw material, the production of silk
rugs has sharply decreased. Silk fibres can also be used to
make the warp, weft and the pile of a carpet. When compared
with wool fibres of equal diameter, they are much stronger.
Generally speaking, of the 100% weight of the carpet nearly
16-20% is the warp, another 10-18% the weft and the balance,
50-70% is the weight of the pile of the carpet.
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