Unlike their Persian
counterparts, Indian rugs have not made it into mainstream
carpet business yet. Numdha rugs come from Kashmir
in India. These rugs are made of felt, with hand embroidery
in bold colors. Many of the Numdha carpets sell through the
Trade Aid stores in New Zealand. The organization makes sure
that the weavers earn fair price for their sheer work and
creativity. The rugs are weaved by women belonging to Zanana
Dastkari Production Markaz.
The Process:
The making of Numdha carpets is a lengthy process, consisting
of two quality control checks. Here, you will get an idea
of what it takes for making a Numdha rug. Numdha rugs use
sheep wool from Rajasthan mixed with fine wool from Kashmir.
A process of binding wool fibers with water and soap is
used to make them. This process is called felting.
First, the workers make the felt, which is the backbone
of Numdha carpets. Here, the workers shear the wool from
the sheep, after which it goes through washing and processing
before the weavers lay it onto a mat.
They place the wool in short lengths, depending upon the
wool staple. Every piece must face in the same direction
for best results. The workers then beat and compress the
wool. Next, they sprinkle soap and water over the wool.
For stronger rugs, there may be another layer of wool placed
in a perpendicular direction to the first layer. More soap
and water are added to aid in the process of compression.
Then, the workers roll the mat along with the wool. Rolling
the wool is an important part of the process. This is where
the wool
converts into felt. The workers roll the wool repeatedly.
Since it is friction and heat that aids in the conversion,
workers must roll it many times to provide the required
friction.
After a single rolling session, the mat is unrolled and
workers rub the wool. This aids in the conversion. Then,
the final rolling of the felt takes place. Workers aggressively
roll the felt without the mat to provide maximum heat and
friction. Finally, when the workers achieve the required
quality, they hang the felt for drying. After drying, the
government needs to certify the quality of the felt. This
is to maintain the standards of the Numdha carpets. After
certification, the actual designing work begins.
Workers apply designs onto the felt. These are handmade
designs transposed by the workers onto the felt. This helps
a lot in the embroidery. Once the designs have been applied,
the work of the women begins. Women spend countless hours
embroidering the felt. The colors used are bold and vibrant.
Themes may vary from science, animals to floral designs.
Numdha rugs are not restricted in terms of the colors and
designs. This aspect makes them universally appealing. The
variety offered in Numdha rugs is tremendous and extensive.
They look particularly good in children’s rooms, because
of their color palettes. A Numdha carpet can instantly add
color and vibrancy to any room that you place..
Oriental Carpet Care takes pride
in our hand washing all Oriental
carpets to make sure that these beautiful carpets are
presearved by cleaning these rugs the right way, hand washing
to bring the carpet to its original condition.
