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Carpets And Rugs

A typical weave of this type is the Karavan rug, a cross-section of which is shown in Figure 53. It would take an expert to be able to tell that this rug is not hand-made, as the pattern comes through perfectly on the back and the tufts are looped in such a way as to resemble very closely a and tied knot. (See Figure 52, Plate II.)

Quality

The quality of Axminster like all other machinemade carpets depends largely upon the amount of wool used in proportion to the other materials. It is an economical type of carpet because all the wool used appears in the face of the carpet, and wherever a pattern is made in large quantities the cost of manufacture is very reasonable. Therefore, the usual Axminster is a reasonably inexpensive carpet. Like all other carpets of the tufted variety, its quality may be judged with fair accuracy by the number of tufts per square inch and the length of the tufts.

The rows are easily counted from the back of the carpet, but the tufts in a row are best counted by opening the carpet from the front and inserting a piece of cardboard 1 inch long as shown in Figure 78.

Best quality Axminsters have from 63 to 77 tufts per square inch. The fineness of the surface depends upon the quality of wool used. Cheap Axminsters are made of woolen yarn manufactured from noils, or combings, of wool. The best, quality Axminsters are made of high-grade long staple woolen and worsted yarns.

A typical characteristic of Axminster rugs results from the use of jute in the weft which makes the carpet very stiff crossways and very flexible lengthways. Therefore, Axminster should always be rolled and never folded. Best grade Axminsters use linen chain warp instead of cotton.