Materials

Wool is still the most important yarn in the production of rugs and is used in almost every range. One differentiates between new wool that is exstracted from living sheep and of a higher quality, and tanner´s wool that is exstracted from dead sheep and is of lower quality. Even where an animal lived, tells something about the quality of wool. Highlands wool extracted from animals that live in the mountains is, for example, particularly resistant and of high quality.
The advantage of lowland wool is the good proportion of softness and the economic and fair cattle breeding. It so comes that the major part of lowland wool is from New Zealand where the animals graze on green plains and hills in a unique climate of an island.

Wool rugs are of timeless vogue because of their positive attributes. Not only because they create a warm and comfortable atmosphere, they are also tough and flame-retardant. Thanks to the natural grease of sheep wool, rugs made of this material are insensitive to dirt and water and work antistatically, so that they do not tighten dust as some artificial fibers do.
Since wool fibres can be stretched up to 30 per cent of their fiber length and are able to contract again, rugs made of wool are also insensitive to pressure marks. Their characteristic to store air in the gaps, has the positive effect of sound insultation,heat insulating and the regulation of the indoor climate. Wool is not only a classic among the materials used for rugs which has always been used by people for the production, it is also regenerating raw material that also enjoys a great demand among environmentally conscious consumers. Therefore, it is not surprising that you can find wool in nearly every living quarter.
Whoever buys a rug, should consider: wool is and remains a natural product and therefore retains certain characteristics. For instance, wool has the positive feature to adjust the indoor climate, but at the same time it is not suitable for damp areas as baths, since constant humidity causes decomposing of the material. In addition, wool must be protected against moth damage.

Fresh air, lush green pastures and a mild climate - New Zealand is the perfect habitat for sheep. This is also noticeable in the wool of the animals: the so-called New Zealand wool comes exclusively from New Zealand sheep, which have particularly soft, robust and long fibres. To obtain the precious material, the sheep are shorn once a year. The wool is then sorted and cleaned. Then the fibres are combed and spun into yarn. The result is a velvety fine, slightly shiny wool yarn that is of particularly high quality.

Thanks to its beautiful appearance and pleasantly soft feel, New Zealand wool is a good basis for luxurious rugs. Like conventional wool, it is insensitive to dirt, antistatic and ensures a pleasant indoor climate with its natural fats. At the same time, its fine structure is lighter and fluffier than that of other types of wool, which is why rugs made of New Zealand wool are particularly comfortable for your feet. And its unusual colour also makes the material unique: its white fibres are perfectly suited for natural undyed rugs. At the same time, it can be dyed very evenly and intensively and is therefore often used for extravagant designs in strong and radiant shades.

The silk rug belongs to the luxury class of rugs and that is absolutely justified. However, the production of silk is very complex and highly complicated and therefore very expensive. About 3000 silk cocoons are needed to get 250 gram of raw silk. The natural product silk is one of the strongest and toughest materials brought out by nature. It is the ideal material for rugs because of its soft and tough structure. Because of fine structure of silk, the knotting density is particularly high for silk rugs. In comparison, wool rugs do not require a high knotting density to cover the gaps between the knots. The motifs and designs of silk rugs appear more precise and more noble. Also the precious glow of the silk rug is special, in this regard you call it silk gloss. The texture lets the sides appear darker on the inside than on the outside. Because of this texture, silk rugs do have another appearance depending on the exposure to light. While you have to use different yarns for synthetic rugs to achieve this effect, silk has this appearance naturally. Especiallyoriental rugsof high quality, that are designed with extensive patterns, are often woven from pure silk.

Silk rugs are smooth, soft and fine with a very high knot density, made with great effort and accuracy, they are not a mass product, but often unique and vertus, making them worth paying a high price. Besides that, silk benefits from being the most precious and finest of all the natural fibres. But there is something to keep in mind: silk rugs do not bear humidity and are tender to water. Those who treat silk rugs according to their value, will rejoice it for a long time.

In this case individuality can hardly be exceeded, because if you decide to purchase a cowhide rug, you will get an unique piece of nature! No skin and no coat exists a second time. This is a beautiful product of nature, that has been used by mankind for over 5000 years, and it does not only set accents, it also creates also a luxurious atmosphere. Furthermore, it also corresponds to the spirit of time in terms of sustainability. Although it is one of the toughest materials and more persistent than leather, it remains a natural product nevertheless and is degradable compared to synthetic fibers. Whether it has a black-and-white, brown or natural finish, or even has creative patterns and graphic designs, discover the variety of individual rug designs! Still an insiders´tip that has a great effect on every style of interior design!

Rugs made of cotton are classics in the production of rugs with natural fibres, as cotton is the second most important yarn besides wool. In addition to its quality of creating a langurous and pleasent atmospheric environment, it is also thermo-regulating thanks to its ability to absorb humidity like new wool. But other than new wool, cotton is not suitable for permanently humid rooms, like bathrooms.
Cotton is a renewable natural product that is persistent, solid and guaranteed tensile strength, even suitable for people with an allergy to animal hair. Cotton is and always remains a timeless classic, no matter if it is used for traditional oriental rugs or modern rugs for kids in various colours.

Many people do not know that hemp is not only a cultivated plant since pre-Christian times, but also a popular material used for textiles.
For instance, ropes for shipping of sailing boats and also for mountaineering were traditionally made of hemp for a long time. The reason was its feature of resistance. Using hemp for the production of rugs is not a new trend and since natural fibres are getting more and more popular, also hemp is becoming more up-to-date again. Since hemp rugs are more robust than wool rugs, they are also more durable and therefore ideal for extensively used living areas.

Products made of natural fibres like jute rugs and sisal rugs enjoy great popularity.
While jute is made of the high caulis of the corchorus plant that can grow up to 4 metres, sisal is made the carnose leafs of the sisal agave and is used only since the beginning of the 19th century.

Since sisal and jute rugs are natural products, they influence the current spirit of time of sustainability thanks to their environmental balance. Just like cowhide rugs and leather rugs, they biodegradable after extensive and long use. Besides that, they do not dust due to their antistatic properties, are easy to clean and usually immune to moth damage.

You can find designer rugs made of sisal or jute in the product lines of Arte Espina, benuta or Schöner Wohnen. As their material, the colours are also mainly natural like beige and brown, but depending on the type of designer rug, they can be differently and more eccentric.