DYES USED

In the mid-nineteenth century, as the demand for handmade rugs increased in the West, their production increased in the East. The need for easy-to-use and less expensive dyes with wider range of colors caused the development of synthetic chrome dyes in Europe and especially in Germany. Synthetic dyes were soon imported to Persia (Iran), Anatolia (Turkey) & Kashmir.

Chrome dyes are colorfast (any dye that retains its intensity despite exposure to light and water), and are produced in an infinite variety of attractive colors and shades.

Today, mostly Chrome dyes are used for coloring weaving yarns. Natural dyes are used in places where they are easily obtainable. Sometimes the two are combined together in the same rug, and the weavers use the best type of dye available to them. In some cases they can find good quality dyes in nature, and in other cases they get better results from the synthetic dyes.

We could be confident that today whether we buy a rug made from natural or synthetic dyes, it will only improve with time. Even rugs made with aniline dyes in the late 19th century are valuable today because of their age.