Recycled Kilim Rugs

High quality hand made kilim rugs made from recycled textiles available at http://www.UniqueRugs.co.uk

Green Rugs & Green Interiors

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Unique Rugs Video Clip

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Kilim Rugs from Egypt

Kilim rugs from Egypt made with 100% Egyptian wool based on both traditional Egyptian rug designs and Persian rug designs.

Large Shyrdak Felt Rug

Large Shyrdak Felt Rug

Length: 126″ (319cm)

Width: 80.5″ (205cm)

Origin: Kyrgyzstan

Age: New

Shape: Rectangular

Colours: Green, Brown, Sand, Burghandy/Red, Beige, Black and Blue

Dye: Natural dyes

Material: 100% Felted wool

Large handmade felt rug crafted by the nomadic artisans of the Tien Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan with sustainable materials using an enviromentall friendly process. This felt rug is made by sewing contrastings patterns of felt together and dyed with natural plant dyes these stunning rugs have been traditionally used to decorate yurts for thousands of years.Suitable to be used as rugs or wall hangings.

Handcrafted patchwork kilim rug by Ethnicon

Length: 202 cm

Width: 156 cm

Origin: Anatolia

Age: New

Shape: Rectangular

Colour: Brown/Beige

Dye: Natural

Material: 100% wool

Detail:

Handmade by Ethnicon in Turkey

From every corner of Anatolia comes a unique piece of kilim, with colours harnessing hundreds of years of stories and memories to make a unique Ethnicon kilim. Ethnicon stands for the ideal blend of ethnic pieces with contemporary design styles. Bold traditional kilims have been recycled and redesigned to fit perfectly with today’s minimalist and modern design concepts. The old and the new are combined to become artworks for our times.

The kilims of Anatolia are renowned for their simple craftsmanship and lengthy traditions. As they were worn through daily use, they accumulated both value and significance. These are retained in an Ethnicon kilim. They continue to mark the cycle of life, but also reflect change in design. Revitalised and reworked. In your home they will begin a new tale that will be written for generations to come.

Each unique, hand-woven, naturally produced piece of kilim, with all the diverse stories and unique experience it holds, is collected and matched to produce a wholly new work. Special attention is paid to incorporating details and irregularities of the original pieces, such as beads, tassels and blemishes which bring their own flavours to the mix.

Shyrdak felt rugs

Felt is generally accepted to be the oldest known manmade material predating weaving with origins in the Neolithic period. Historically the laborious process of pressing water, wool and soap together to make felt has been practised between Mongolia and the Balkans. In Kyrgyzstan felting has been traditionally the domain of nomadic women felt makers, artisans who began making felt items to protect themselves from the harsh environment of the central Asian steppes.

Although the nomads of Kyrgyzstan are now largely settled; felt rugs continue to be made for the home, tourists and a small, yet dedicated, export market. The making of a Shyrdak felt rug is still done by traditional methods. Each rug takes the wool from approximately four sheep; the wool is then cleaned and dyed using natural dyes. The maker chooses vividly contrasting colours such as red and green or brown and orange; different colours represent different aspect of the surrounding environment.  For example, red and blue together represents the Tien Shan Mountains and Lake Issyk kul. A pattern is then marked onto a thick naturally coloured backing layer in chalk and a contrasting pattern is laid out incorporating the symbolic motifs of the Kyrgyz people. The felt rug is the soaked with soapy water and rolled into a tight bundle that is then kneaded.  This process is repeated until the felt is firm and the pattern set. Once the felt rug is dried the pattern is stitched to strengthen the edges and provide another contrasting colour. The final result is a stunning, stylised positive/negative example.

The nature of the traditional way in which the shyrdak felt rugs are made is also very appealing from an environmentally conscious point of view, these felt rugs are  made using all natural products, sheep’s wool and natural dyes, an environmentally friendly process that has been practised for hundreds of years. The resulting felt rug is also an eco friendly rug in every sense of the word.

A Shyrdak felt rug will last approximately 30 years provided proper use. Generally, cleaning is needs are minimal: The high lanolin content of the wool acts as a natural stain repellent against spills, as most liquids and non-severe spills may easily be dabbed up. The best way to care for a Shyrdak rug is to hang it outside in the sun and use a traditional rug beater or broom handle to beat out the dust, alternatively you can gently use the attachment on a vacuum cleaner to suck off the surface dust, although the main intake of the vacuum cleaner should be avoided as the revolving beater can damage the stitching.

Eco Friendly Rugs

The trend towards environmentally conscious shopping continues as more and more people included environmental concerns as part of the selection process when shopping. Shopping for environmentally friendly rugs has many advantages apart from just being better for the world as a whole it is also better for you. Most eco friendly rugs and textiles are free of toxins and chemicals that you would find in a rug made of manmade fibres. Modern houses can be a nightmare of toxic chemicals in paint, varnishes, textiles and furniture. Filling your house with less toxic furnishings and ecologically friendly paints is ultimately better for your health.

Identifying eco friendly rugs is comparatively easy by firstly sticking to a list of things to avoid. Fibres that are manmade or products of the petrochemical industry are absolutely to be avoided such as nylon, polypropylene, polyester and acrylic which is often marketed as being environmentally friendly because it breaks down quickly in the environment but it is also toxic. The best rule of thumb is to stick to naturally occurring plant and animal fibres such as wool, cotton, hemp, bamboo, sea grass, jute, sisal, cashmere, mohair and silk obviously this list is not exhaustive.

Whilst buying a ecologically friendly rug may in some cases be more expensive there are budget eco rugs out there, and investing in a more expensive natural rugs may work out cheaper in the long run as most natural fibre made rugs are fairly sturdy and count there usage in decades rather than years. So choosing a rug you love and paying a bit more for it, is probably easily justifiable as a long term consideration particularly when you consider the environmental and health benefits.

What is a kilim rug?

Kilim rugs are flat weave textiles not dissimilar to tapestries. Historically they have been made in the regions between the Balkans and India, and parts of North Africa. The word “kilim” is often misused and specifically refers to a type of weaving whereby the warp and weft are tightly woven to produce a flat woven textile with no pile. Within the kilim family there are different types of kilims such as cicim, Zili and sumac different names usually refer to either the usage or production style/materials.
Most kilim will also have a geographic identity for example a sivrihisar kilim traditionally would have been made in sivrihisar this would be reflected in the motifs woven into the kilim and in fact kilim are identified by the region they come from. All kilim carry motifs and signatures that reflect different aspects of the tribal area they come from. Sadly in recent years many regions no longer make the traditional handcrafts that have been handed down over uncountable centuries so now you have a situation where a traditional sivrihisar kilim has been made in Konya or one of the other textile communities in Turkey.
Traditionally kilims have been made purely for local use in rural and nomadic areas of Turkey, it is only in recent years that these textiles been sought after by the export market and taken on an intrinsic value, as before that the export market was entirely dominated by pile carpets. This re emergence of interest in traditional kilims has helped to save what was a diminishing handcraft and give it back the value it deserves.
The exact history of kilim production is hard to trace as textiles only last so long, although the oldest discovered fragments of kilim rugs date back to 7000BC, discovered in an excavation at an abandoned village just outside of Konya in Turkey. These antique kilims are made using the same techniques that are used now. This 9000 year old tradition has historically been keep alive by the women of Anatolia who have handed down weaving techniques and motifs through the ages that still survive today.

Ethnicon Patchwork kilim Rugs TV Spot

Ethnicon Patchwork Kilim Rugs