Carpet has been around for a very long time. We don’t often think about the history of popular home furnishings, but carpet has a much more interesting past than you might expect. Let’s take a look at the history of this popular floor covering.
The First Ever Carpet
It’s thought that the first ever rug was made in the 5th century BC. This is known as the Pazyryk rug. It was found in a prince’s tomb in Siberia, where elaborate rugs and carpets are still made today. The only reason the rug survived so long was that the tomb was robbed and left open. This caused the carpet to freeze, therefore preserving it for 25 centuries. The carpet has images of horses and warrior riders on.
Oriental Rugs & Importation
Back in the 16th century, Britain imported carpets and rugs from Turkey and Persia. This is still done to this day, with Middle Eastern countries still being favoured for their beautiful and traditional handwoven rugs. Since then, the UK developed its own means for producing carpets on its own soil.
UK Carpet Manufacture
In the 19th century, steam-powered looms made carpet production much more efficient. This made the UK one of the world’s leading manufacturers with some of the finest designs. Before the invention of steam-powered machines, production was much more difficult and required a lot of hand work.
At this time, carpets were a very middle-class accessory. They were used to portray wealth and were a sign of status. Elaborate designs were popular, with flowers and ornate patterns being popular choices.
Carpet Manufacture Today
Nowadays, most carpets are made from woven or tufted fibres that are looped. This is pushed into a carpet backing and secured into place. A machine carries out this process and can work very quickly. Sometimes these loops are cut by being pulled over a sharp knife. This releases the loop and creates a cut pile, or tufted carpet. Quality control is carried out by hand, with any sparse areas filled and excess piles trimmed.
If You’re Looking For New Flooring, Choose Floorium
You may have arrived on this blog because you’re interested in getting a new carpet. If that’s the case, you’re in the right place! Floorium provide a huge range of high quality flooring products. Get in touch with us today to discover your options.