Edges, ends and fringes
A carpet nearly always fails at its borders first. The side cords are bound again and the end finish is secured, so the knots behind it stop coming undone row after row.
Carpet and textile restoration
Hand-made carpets repaired thread by thread
Bektosh Ergashov works alone on worn and damaged hand-knotted carpets, flat-woven kilims, embroidered panels and household textiles. A piece is examined and written up first — what is damaged, what can be put right, what is better left as it is — and nothing is washed, cut or re-woven until that report has been read and agreed.
What comes in for repair
Six kinds of damage account for most of the work. One piece usually needs two or three of them, and the condition report says which, in what order, and at what price.
Holes and worn patches
Where the pile has gone and the foundation shows through, the warp and weft are rebuilt first and the pile is knotted back in by hand, following the pattern that runs through the area on either side.
Earlier repairs that failed
Glued backings, machine stitching and patches cut from another carpet pull the piece out of shape as it is walked on. They are taken out and the area is woven again on its own foundation.
Matching the colour
New yarn is chosen against the carpet as it is today, not as it once was. A repair dyed to the original tone sits brighter than everything around it and reads as a patch from across the room.
Washing by hand
Dust ground into the base of the pile wears a carpet from underneath. Washing is done flat, by hand, with the water running clear before the piece is dried — and only when the dyes have been tested first and hold.
Lying flat and storage
A carpet that will not lie flat is usually pulling at one corner rather than warped all through. It is damped, stretched square and dried under weight, and you are told how to roll and store it so it stays that way.
How a piece is handled
The same five steps for a small prayer rug and for a room-sized carpet. Nothing moves to the next step until the one before it has been agreed in writing.
-
Photographs and a description
You send photographs of the whole piece, close-ups of the damage and a photograph of the back, and say where it lies and how it is used. That is enough to know whether a repair is worth starting.
-
A written condition report
You receive, in writing, what is damaged, what would be repaired, what would be left alone, how long the work would take and what it would cost. There is no charge for the report and no obligation after it.
-
Dye test before any water
Each colour is tested on a hidden area before the piece is washed. If a dye runs, the washing stops there and you are told what can be done instead.
-
Work at the loom
Repairs are carried out in the order agreed. If something is found under a patch that changes the price, work stops and you are asked before it goes on.
-
Back to you with a note
The piece comes back with a short written note: which areas were re-woven, which yarn was used, what was deliberately left untouched, and how to clean and turn it so the same wear does not come straight back.
What is kept and what is renewed
Restoration is mostly a series of decisions about how little to change. These are the ones that come up on nearly every piece that arrives.
- Old wool that still holds
- Kept, even where it is thin and faded. Age in a surface is not damage, and a pile taken down to match a repair cannot be put back.
- Honest older repairs
- A sound repair done years ago by someone else stays where it is. Only one that is tearing the weave around it is opened up again.
- The foundation
- Broken warp threads are joined into the original rather than replaced across the whole width, so the carpet keeps the tension it was woven with.
- Fringes
- Secured and tidied where there is enough length left. A new fringe sewn onto a carpet that never had one is not a repair, and it is not offered here.
- Backing and lining
- Removed when it has been glued on, since glue is what makes the next tear. A sewn lining on a hanging panel is kept and re-stitched.
- Colour and finish
- Matched to the piece as it looks now. Nothing is dyed, bleached or painted to even out an area that simply has years on it.
Asked before the first report
If your question is not here, put it on the request page and it will be answered in writing.
Is a carpet ever too far gone to repair?
Sometimes, and it is better to hear so early. When the weaving the repair would need runs past what the piece is worth to anyone other than you, the report says that plainly and the decision stays yours.
Will the repair be invisible?
From standing height, usually. Close up and under a strong light a re-woven area can still be found, because the new wool has none of the wear the rest of the carpet has. The note that comes back says where each repair is.
Can one corner be dealt with on its own?
Yes. A single frayed end or one worn corner is a complete job. There is no minimum and no expectation that the rest of the piece is touched.
Does a machine-made rug get the same work?
It can be bound, flattened and washed, but a machine-made pile cannot be knotted back in by hand. The report says when that is the case, before anything is started.
Have a piece that needs looking at?
Send photographs of the front, the back and the damage, with a line about where the piece lies. A written condition report comes back, and no work starts until you have accepted it.