Well, that may be a bit overblown! On the other hand, a good wool rug insulates your home and keeps you warmer in the winter, so you need to use less artificial heat in your home. They also absorb sound, which will help you to be more cozy and relaxed, right?

But the main point I'd like to make here is that quality, handknotted rugs are made entirely of materials found in nature, so they emit no toxic fumes or chemicals, unlike the rugs constructed with glues -- such as "hand" tufted rugs -- or using chemicals, such as in polypropylene rugs or machine-made rugs. 

All of our rugs are constructed of high-quality, untreated wool knotted onto a cotton warp (the threads put on the loom that become the fringe at each end, which is often bound under so it's not visible -- but it's there).

I've had customers who complain of "environmental allergies" who have dramatic reactions to chemicals in their environments. Most of us, however, are not really aware of such allergies. However, we are exposed to so many questionable chemical products every day, and we may have no idea how that really affects our health and long-term wellbeing.

An all-natural, hand knotted rug is more expensive (usually) than one of the cheaper types of rugs, but if we think of buying a wonderful rug as purchasing a piece of art that we'll love forever, that may help with the decision to buy a wool, hand knotted rug that really is good for your health!

After many years of hearing from customers who have hesitated to put down a handknotted rug in their kitchens or bathrooms -- and from my own personal experience -- I can report wholeheartedly that you will find that a handmade wool rug is the most practical, and beautiful, answer for kitchens and baths.

Practicality: Obviously, the kitchen floors of those of us who actually cook are the recipients of daily spills and droppings, as well as lots of traffic. A high-end wool rug is the most practical choice because of the density of the wool pile and also because of the quality of the wool. Sphaghetti sauce? Wine? Dogs? Take a rag or dishcloth with soapy water, bend down and clean it up. Voila! I have yet to encounter a spill that doesn't come right out with soapy water (which I follow up with clean water if it's a largish spill).

In bathrooms where there is shower water going on to the floor on a daily basis, a gorgeous wool rug is also a highly practical choice. Handmade rugs, like anything, should be allowed to dry in between wettings, so if you step out onto the rug from your shower or bath, we recommend using a bath mat over the rug, then hanging the bath mat up to dry.

More fun considerations: There's nothing that brings a room alive more than a wonderful rug on the floor. Think about it: a $39 rug from Home Depot, a thin hooked or tufted rug from Crate and Barrel...or a dense, beautiful and interesting rug that has the character and beauty of a wonderful handknotted rug? Even the more generic kitchen or bathroom can come alive with a great handknotted rug on the floor!

I've had people come in to my store just to tell me, "I can't believe it. That rug in my kitchen has been so great. The spills just sit on the surface and it's easy to clean up -- and I get to look at it sparkle in my kitchen every day!"

Creative Matters is a company based in Toronto, Canada, that is comprised of only women, all of whom have a background in textiles, the arts, or related fields. Together they have "created" (designed and produced) world-class Tibetan, very modern, very beautiful and very distinct rugs. These rugs go way beyond their superlative designs: most of them are a blend of Tibetan wool with Chinese silk that are combined in a complex and labor-intensive process that results in a rug that is refined and elegant but also very "organic" in its look and feel. The deceptively simple results are skillfully crafted and beautifully rendered works of art for your floor.

We are so pleased to be able to present these rugs to our customers. Not only does the owner of a Rug For All Reasons relate strongly to an all-woman company (being an independent woman herself!); it is our intention to carry the best rugs being produced, and Creative Matters certainly fills the bill there.

In addition, Creative Matters is a company of people who genuinely feel a sense of responsibility for promoting environmentally friendly production methods as well as concern for the wellbeing of the people who are involved in the hands-on process of making their rugs. Here is a quote from Creative Matters:

"We believe in the ethical treatment of the weavers and artisans who create our beautiful rugs overseas. It was these beliefs that lead us to support Label STEP and we are very proud to announce that we are Label STEPS’ first North American Partner."

LabelSTEP is an organization that’s committed to improving weavers' living conditions, working conditions and ensure fair wages. It also promotes environmentally friendly production methods. Label Step is systematically monitoring the production sites of its licensees and their suppliers, and takes measures to ensure fair conditions.

Label STEP operates at the local level in all major carpet-producing countries - Afghanistan, India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan and Turkey. A portion of the sale of every rug we have made in Nepal goes to support this organization.

For more about LabelSTEP, also see www.label-step.org

Our Tibetan rugs (see Tibetan & Gangchen Tibetan) are woven of lustrous, long-staple sheepswool from the Tibetan Plateau where the sheep are reared in the high-altitude Himalayas. With an average elevation of 14,800 feet, the Tibetan Plateau is sometimes called “the Roof of the World,” and is the world’s highest and largest plateau.  It comprises an area four times the size of France and covers most of Tibet, Qinghai Province in western China, and part of Ladahk.

The Tibetan Plateau is an ecological region of enormous significance both at the local level for Tibetan herders and farmers, and at the national and even global levels for biodiversity conservation. At the highest altitudes, conservation and management of water resources are particularly significant, as around 40 percent of the world’s population is found within the watersheds of the rivers originating on the Tibetan Plateau.

In addition, the Tibetan Plateau ecosystems influence on a large scale atmospheric patterns, such as the Asian monsoon and high-altitude jet streams. The area is also home to many unique habitats and to numerous endangered wildlife species.

Local inhabitants in the region, especially Tibetan herders and farmers (as well as several other ethnic groups), deserve increased attention for reasons of equity in development in the context of rapid globalization – and also because so little is known in the rest of the world about the people and cultures of the Tibetan Plateau region.

We became aware of an organization known as Machik through one of our rug importers, Chris Walter and Yayla Tribal Rugs, who has been a significant supporter through sales of his all natural-dye Tibetan rugs. Machik is a Washington, DC-based non-profit organization whose mission is to strengthen communities on the Tibetan plateau. Their work is organized at a grassroots level around six themes: Education, Conservation and Green Technology, Women's Initiatives, Economic Opportunities, Multimedia and Digital Technology, and Social Entrepreneurship.

DONATE
 -- You can help strengthen communities on the Tibetan plateau by making an online donation to Machik (www.machik.org). Or send a check payable to "Machik,” 1609 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 400,
Washington, DC 20009, USA



Machik.org

The art and craft of the tribal knotted pile carpet probably began among the pastoral nomads or herding people of central Asia who moved their sheep or goats between winter quarters and summer pasture. Their livelihoods were centered around their animals, and the items they made from their wool were absolutely essential to their lives: the walls of their tents, ropes, bags and containers of all sorts, rugs for the floor, clothing, and a variety of household items. The weaving of these things was also a medium for artistic expression and they lent so much color and beauty to the everyday lives of these nomadic people. 

The first tribal piled rugs or carpets may have imitated the texture and insulating properties of animal pelts. The oldest complete carpet was found in the frozen tomb of a nomadic chieftain at Pazyryk in southern Siberia. It has been dated to the 5th century B.C. and can be seen in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

Many of the nomadic people have settled down over the centuries, and the longer they've been settled, the more diluted by other influences the designs have become. This has also been because of the migrations of peoples due to political upheavals all over the world.

The term "tribal" used with rugs refers mainly to weavings made for personal use within a community. As nomadic peoples settled down, rug weaving became more of a cottage industry and rugs started to be produced as a means of livelihood. As the weavers have become subject to selling pressures, market demand has become such an influence that it has overridden communal tradition. 

These "tribal" pieces that we present here in our online store are really in the tribal style: the gabbehs, Balouch soumaks, Qashgai designs, all based on the weaving techniques and designs of the nomadic people of Iran but most probably made in village workshops and cottage weaving industries. With a few exceptions, some of the spontaneity of the antique Persian tribal pieces has surely been lost -- but those exceptions are out there still!

The supply of these rugs is very limited and what you see on this site from Iran you won't see again because of the embargo on Persian rugs.  We've chosen to feature these Balouch Soumak and Gabbeh-type rugs, even though they're unique and can't be duplicated in the much more profitable "programmed" rugs, because we feel they lend a special interest and beauty to our store.

Unlike cottage weavers, workshop weavers, or city weavers, the tribal weavers achieve expressive power in their rugs through the use of color, space and proportion. The best examples are very appealing and very creative as they are one-of-a-kind works of art.  Unlike the other more refined types of rugs, they are woven without a graph -- each piece is a creation of the weavers imagination. Many of the tribal rugs, such as the Gabbehs or Kashkuli rugs, are also woven on more primitive looms than the more refined types of carpets.  Often these looms were designed to be rolled up and unrolled when the nomadic herders arrived at new grazing grounds.

Some of these rugs, such as the older gabbehs, are reminiscent of animal pelts -- thick and shaggy. Some historians believe pelts were the inspiration for these primitive types of rugs.

The Rugs we show here are modeled after gabbeh designs, including the Balouch soumak rugs. (The rugs previously known as Balouch soumaks are much more muted.) These are interpretations of gabbeh designs done with vegetal dyes in knotted pile combined with a fine soumak weave. When they're done well, these modern-day versions of the gabbehs and Balouch soumaks have great appeal to western rug buyers because of their spontaneity and charm as well as value as pieces of wonderful art.

***A caveat from A Rug For All Reasons: The photographs of these rugs don't represent these rugs as well as they could. While we aren't happy to have photographs that don't show a rug to its best advantage, our devotion to these rugs surpasses those considerations. We feel that you'll understand how special they are, even with the limitations of the photos. 

When the old Gabbehs became rare, Gholamreza Zollanvari started to work together with the Gashgai Nomads to produce new ones. By this time, the natural dyes had disappeared along with the use of handspun wool. Zollanvari started producing the Gabbeh with handspun wool, vegetable dyes and in european sizes. That is why, still today, Gholamreza is called “the father of the modern Gabbeh.” They have found tremendous popularity in Europe and the Americas. Unfortunately, because of the embargo on Persian rugs in the United States, these are the last of this type of tribal rug from Iran that we may see for sale here -- ever.

View our Persian Tribal collection

The following books give you a good overview of the history of the patterns, the carpets and the nomads:

• The Nomadic Peoples of Iran, Author: Richard Tapper, Jon Thompson

• Lion Rugs from Fars and Other Poems, by Virginia E. Smith and Dan River 

• Nomads of Luristan: History, Material Culture, and Pastoralism in Western Iran (The Carlsberg Foundation's Nomad Research Project)

• Gabbehs. Stammesteppiche der Bergnomaden am Zagros. (Text in englisch und deutsch) von Hamid Sadighi, Karin Hawkes, und Robin Hawkes von Wasmuth

• 99 Teppiche - The Cremer Collection: Gabbeh, Baluchi and Tibetan Rugs

• Tribal and Village Rugs. The Definitve Guide to Design, Pattern and Motif by Peter Stone