REPAIR

A rug is a functional piece of art and its years of service will begin to show signs of wear and tear. There is also the risk of damage from accidents such as fire and flood, and from living creatures, such as moths and our beloved pets.

Whether it's securing a fraying edge or re-weaving a large area, our team of skilled artisans will always recommend the best repair solution for your rugs.

A rug repair is only as good as the materials used. Thames carpets handspin and dye our own yarn to match the original quality and colour of your rug. This time honoured process accompanied by traditional hand weaving techniques ensures our repairs are inconspicuous and prolong the life of your rugs.

Over time the seal on the ends and sides of a rug can become loose or break. If left untreated the knots will start to come out and will continue to do so until a new seal is attached. If caught early we simply need to attach a new seal. If the rug has started to lose its knots the repair becomes more complex and costly, this is where the straightening part comes in. Depending on what is the most suitable option we will either reduce, re-weave or use a combination of the two to straighten the edge before attaching a new seal.

One of the main causes of damage to the foundation is when poor quality materials have been used in the manufacturing process. Another cause is mistreatment - such as placing the rug in a damp location or lack of professional cleaning. The way to remedy this is to replace the damaged foundation with a suitable and durable material. This is very skilled work as the repairer must identify and remove all areas of rot, if even the smallest amount is left it will grow and spread.

The pile of a rug can become damaged while the foundation remains intact. The most common cause is moth infestation. If the foundation is made of cotton the moths will only eat the wool pile as it contains keratin, a fibrous protein that the larvae of carpet moths can digest. Another cause is when iron has been used as a mordant for brown or black dye. This is corrosive to wool and overtime the wool will start to disintegrate. To remedy this, we remove the damaged pile and repile the design using the same traditional weaving technique as the original.

Many things can create holes in your rug. Animals such as mice could chew or scratch through the rug. Holes can also develop from mistreatment such as cigarette burns or leaving it to rot. If the foundation is wool it can be eaten by moths.

The worst scenario is when an inexperienced repairer has glued the damage instead of sewing or weaving it, this greatly increases the size and difficulty of the repair. Re-weaving is the only safe and effective way to repair a hole

Some tightly woven rugs and most fine rugs are prone to developing curved sides. This can cause severe damage as it causes the sides to wear unevenly. It also makes the rug appear out of shape. To remedy this we hand sew a suitable webbing to both sides of the rug.