Abrash in a rug

Abrash in a rug is a striation created by yarns that are dyed in multiple colors which are fairly close in tone.  Abrash shows a beautiful textural effect which can stand alone without any additional pattern in the design.  The abrash technique can be done in heavy, medium or light variations.

Here is a picture of a rug with heavy abrash that we recently created for Sweet Peas Design in Chicago.  Susan Brunstrum, the owner and head designer, at Sweet Peas had done another rug with us using 3 colors in a heavy abrash in the background of the rug with a cream-colored design in the pattern.  This time, her client wanted just the heavy abrash background and no pattern for a highly subtle, textural rug.  This project didn't leave much for me to do as a designer but I am thrilled with how the rug turned out.

Hand-knotted rug being stretched in the finishing stage

Hand-knotted rug being trimmed in the finishing stage

The Mystery Behind Lanolin in Wool as a Stain Blocker

You may hear from rug dealers that the lanolin in the wool in their rugs repels liquids...that it is a natural stain blocker.  Well, wool does have lanolin in its raw state.  In the case of our hand-knotted rugs which are made in Nepal, the wool is imported from Tibet and comes in 2 forms...cold-water washed and chemical-washed wool.  The lanolin content in chemical-washed wool is low compared to cold-water washed wool.

However, here's what happens in the wool dyeing process:

Step 1: Washing the wool...along with the lanolin, there are a lot of impurities in the wool like dirt, soil and even sheep feces (sorry...but it's a big issue!)  The wool needs to be bathed in hot water and detergent to remove these impurities and to allow the dye to absorb well into the fiber.  This process strips off a large percentage of the lanolin content in the wool.

Step 2:  Dyeing the wool...this process totally removes the lanolin content in the wool.  For the wool fibers to absorb the dyes, the water needs to be boiled consistently over 100 degrees.  Lanolin melts at temperatures ranging from 40 to 50 degrees and thus at this stage, the lanolin dissolves into the hot water.

LESSON 1:  Don't believe those rug dealers that tell you that their dyed wool rugs have lanolin that helps to repel stains.  This would only be possible if the lanolin was massaged BACK into the wool rug once the rug was finished and washed... think of it like putting conditioner on your hair after shampooing.

LESSON 2: WOOL IS STILL THE BEST FIBER IN OUR OPINION FOR RUGS.  IT IS EXTREMELY CLEANABLE, RESILIENT/BOUNCES BACK, LONG-LASTING, SOFT AND LUXURIOUS. WE JUST WANTED TO SHARE THE TRUTH ABOUT LANOLIN.

Note: If the wool rugs are UNDYED, then they may still have some lanolin in the wool.