Oriental carpets are all handmade, handcrafted masterpieces. The artisans who produce these rugs are very talented and very skilled, many of them learning the skill from the fathers and forefathers. Just as producing the rugs in the first place takes the hands of a skilled person, Oriental rug restoration in Manhattan is no different, it too is a highly complex process that can only be done by those who have grown up in the trade.
The procedures followed to restore an antique Oriental rug are very complex, only those with the skills can do it. Most likely, the carpet is very expensive and is considered an investment by the owner. The need for repair or restoration is usually spotted when the carpet is sent for professional cleaning, and it is the experts who work in cleaning the carpets who are also best suited to do Oriental rug restoration in Manhattan.
To recover the rug, it may take repair, reweaving or complete restoration. Any or all of these will be done using techniques which have been learned over many centuries. There is little that cannot be done, lost corners and ends can be restored; moth damage, water damage, damage to the warp and weft can all be accommodated by master craftsmen.
When setting out to begin Oriental rug restoration in Manhattan, the materials and the patterns and colors must all be carefully studied and taken into account. Minor repairs of such small things as a tear or a hole which needs to be re-woven are not difficult or overly expensive. The repairs and holes have to be made using identical materials; wool or silk, which was used in the original product. This is important; otherwise the original designs could not be duplicated and restored. These procedures all require careful handling and strict attention to detail. Prior to the commencement of any restorative work, a thorough analysis of the rug will be made and an estimate prepared for approval by the owner.
When reweaving is involved in the repair or restoration, the use of a master craftsman is required. As there are many different types of weave used in the making of Oriental rugs, no one person can master them all. This is one of the reasons that there are restoration groups that focus their attention onto rugs from specific regions, such as Persian. During the process, the technical aspect of the repair as well as the aesthetic aspects both has to be followed.
To do Oriental rug restoration in Manhattan, the weaver has to source the correct materials and all the proper techniques must be employed. A skill of the teams that repair Oriental rugs also demands the ability to dye materials to replicate the original colors, blending seamlessly into the surrounding carpet.