| Since centuries, Turkish carpets have been the most | | | | generally sheep wool, cotton, goat hair, floss and pure |
| sought after household items in the world. With their | | | | silk. As far as the wool is concerned, it can be dead or |
| intricate designs, bright and beautiful colors, motifs and | | | | live wool, the dead wool is sheared off a dead sheep |
| patterns; each carpet is markedly different from the | | | | hence it lacks the general fluffiness and softness that |
| other at least in the case of the hand woven ones, the | | | | is lost because of the absence of the natural oils, on |
| designs are a work of art in itself. | | | | the other hand live wool is shaved off from living |
| The basic materials which are used in the Turkish | | | | sheep and is soft and fine. Cotton is basically used for |
| carpets are Wool on Wool, Wool on Cotton, and Silk | | | | wrap threads and wefts. High knotting density rugs will |
| on Silk etc. Wool on Wool is the least expensive | | | | mostly have the cotton wraps as tighter knots can be |
| variety of all Turkish carpets, these also have the | | | | tied for the cotton wraps than for wool. Silk rugs and |
| most authentic touch of the land they come from and | | | | carpets are the finest, as silk can be easily twisted and |
| often used the most traditional looking patterns as well, | | | | has a very high tensile strength |
| though they are not as intricate as the ones found on | | | | Dyes which are used in the Turkish carpets can be |
| the other types. Also, as wool is rather coarse in | | | | natural or synthetic, the natural ones are more |
| comparison to silk the knot count is lower in this case. | | | | expensive than the chemical dyes hence the cost of |
| Wool on Cotton has a higher knot count than wool on | | | | the carpet is also higher. Basic advantage of the |
| wool and also displays more intricate and elaborate | | | | naturally dyed carpets is that the colors don't get |
| designs. As cotton can be spun finely, the knot count is | | | | spoiled even if you wash the carpets. The natural |
| much higher in this case. The silk on silk variety of | | | | dyes do not bleed hence if you are buying a carpet |
| Turkish carpets are not only used on the floors but | | | | with white in it this can be a huge advantage. Another |
| also as wall or pillow tapestry, the carpets which are | | | | way to differentiate the Turkish carpets is that they |
| meant for the floors would have the knot count at 100 | | | | can be hand woven or machine woven. The |
| sq cm or 10 X 10 cm², these carpets are | | | | hand-woven ones last longer than the machine woven |
| generally stunningly beautiful and are a treasure for the | | | | ones because of the less amount of pressure exerted |
| house which they grace. | | | | on the wool while weaving, also since hours of manual |
| Moving on to the material used for the carpets, it's | | | | labor is involved in this, the cost is also higher. |