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The Untold Story of Your Brand New Wool Rug

It’s a fact: before you even place your brand new rug down for the first time, it’s already been through an incredible journey. Your wool rug will likely have begun its life in the green fields of the countryside, but there are many more steps it takes before it reaches you. Modern wool rug production is a very streamlined process, so it may just surprise you. Let’s follow along every step of the way…

Step 1: The sheep and fleece

Did you know that, out of more than 900 breeds of sheep, there are only a handful which are used for rug wool production? Sheep used for rug wool are raised using a special diet and have all living conditions optimised for quality wool production. Even factors such as the timing of when in the year the sheep’s wool is sheared all have an impact of the quality of the final product. Wool producers will wait until the fleece is long enough, then will shear the wool safely from specific areas of the sheep. For example, the longest wool can be found around a sheep’s shoulder area. Once the wool is sheared, it is combed, spun, then formed into yarn and (if required) dyed too.

Step 2: The weaving process

We’ve covered the weaving process a few times in Rugs Direct blog posts, but the essentials bear repeating. Using either a manual or mechanized loom (more commonly the latter), the weaver will create a series of horizontal and vertical yarns (the warp and weft) to create the actual material of the rug itself. These can be hand-knotted for that special individual touch, or finish using automated processes that do things a little faster. Once the rug has been finished on the loom, the journey isn’t quite over yet…

Step 4: The final touches

The final step for a rug before it gets delivered to the store to be sold is all those small finishing touches. For example, the rug’s surface will be sheared (not for the first time!) just to remove any excess wool from the surface. In addition, some rugs will have a chemical wash for sanitary reasons, then any special sculpting or extra details can be added to the rug before it’s dispatched. Finally, the rug will be inspected as necessary and sent off to shops just like us at Rug Direct. What a journey!

So there you have it: the incredible journey of your new wool rug. If you’re yet to settle on the right one for your home, why not check out our full range of wool rugs now? And if you have any questions about wool rugs, call our team today on 0845 838 8638.