The most expensive rug ever sold is the Sotheby’s ’17th Century Antique Persian Carpet’ which sold in New York for $33 million, becoming the most expensive rug ever sold. It was expected to only bring in approximately $10 million. So, are you walking on a Gold Mine?
In my 3-decade career cleaning all kinds of area rugs, I’m often asked; “how much is it worth”. Sometimes the answer is as simple as asking the customer “how much it is worth to them”. Other times I prefer not to even speculate. But there is something I can do and it probably raises more questions. The one thing a reputable rug cleaner can do is give your treasured area rugs a good pre-cleaning inspection. Again, you are probably asking yourself “what good does a pre-inspection cleaning do for me?”. My answer is more than you can imagine.
Besides assessing the overall physical condition of a rug, one thing we can achieve during a simple inspection, is to identify the type of face fiber used in the floor covering’s construction. It’s a good starting point when trying to understand the quality and cost of a rug because not all rugs are made from wool. Some rugs are made from face fibers like rayon, viscose, olefin, silk, nylon or maybe even a blend like viscose and cotton. Each fiber has its own unique characteristics and an inspection allows me as a professional to make suggestions and recommendations about sun bleaching, foot traffic, rotation, cleaning and other helpful tips to help you extend the life of your prized carpets. These are all things that will affect “how much is my rug worth”. One thing I always highly suggest is careful and regular vacuuming for dry soil removal.
In addition, during a look over, we can tell if the rug is considered handmade. This can greatly enhance the value of a rug. To do this we study the tassels and the warp yarns. Understanding the warp will also help us understand condition issues such as dry rot or how your rug should be maintained. Warp yarns normally run the length of the rug while weft yarns are woven over and around the warp. Usually, a good indicator of handmade is when the tassel is a continuation of the warp yarns. Sometime rugs have tassels or fringes sewn on after manufacture. Some common warp yarns can be made from cotton or jute. Condition issues with fringes can help us set cleaning expectations along with giving you more insight into the value.
So, are you walking on a Gold Mine? Whether you’re walking on a $35 rug from the discount store that means something only to you, or walking on a $10k Turkish rug, consulting a professional rug cleaner for some periodic maintenance tips is something I highly recommend. When trying to determine value, knowing the provenance, having any documentation, maintaining original labels and receipts, or just knowing a good story that goes along with the rug, can all have a place in feeling out “what’s my rug worth”.