Hand-made vs machine-made carpets: Who’s the winner and why?

Nothing makes a house feel like a home than well-placed Godfrey Hirst carpets. It is one of the simplest things you can do to revamp your interior. However, choosing the best carpet for decorating the interior is always challenging, especially when you have myriads of options to choose from.

For a normal person, it’s often difficult to tell the difference between handmade and machine-made carpets. This is true especially if you don’t have much experience with different types of carpet flooring. Luckily, after reading this blog post, you will be able to distinguish between handmade and machine-made carpets. We will tell you about the basic differences, so you can make an informed buying decision when shopping for carpet flooring in Melbourne. Let’s get it started!

Fringes

Fringes are the first and probably the most important thing that separates handmade and machine-made carpets. If fringes are added afterward, then it is a machine-made carpet. The fringes are then sewn and attached as a finishing touch. Whereas, hand-knotted carpets have fringes that act as an extension of the carpet foundation.

Edge finishing

The edge finishing of a carpet can also tell you the difference between machine-made and handmade carpets. If there is any binding or surging, then you have a machine-made carpet. On the other hand, if there are no stitches visible to you, then it’s a handmade carpet.

Backside

Another way to tell the difference between handmade and machine-made carpets is by looking at the back of the carpet. For handmade carpets, the weaving and the knots are slightly uneven and not perfectly uniform. Whereas, machine-made carpets are uniform and even. The more details you notice in the design when looking from the back, this means every detail is done via hands and took a longer period to complete.

Production

When it comes to determining the difference between handmade and machine-made carpets, do one thing: Find out how they are produced. For instance, handmade options require a significant amount of time to complete, taking anywhere from one month to multiple years. The result of this long process is a unique work that showcases art and human talent. By contrast, machine-made carpets are produced with machines in mere minutes.

Pattern

The patterns your carpet has is another important point of difference. Machine-made carpets have usually patterns that are mirrored by software. Whereas handmade carpets wouldn’t do this with 100% accuracy. They only have small details of the pattern when the pile is trimmed. These details give the handmade carpet an individual character that makes it unique. Here, symmetry is a key feature to look out for. You can tell from an uneven edge or carpet shape that it’s a handmade carpet.

Price

Machine-made and handmade carpets have a huge price difference. Based on the fibres and manufacturing process used, their prices differ. For instance, a machine-made carpet is cheaper than handmade options. This is simply because handmade carpets take long time to complete. They are a piece of art that ispopular among collectors.

Materials

In addition to the traditional handwork and human talent, handmade carpets consist of high-quality materials that contribute to their superiority over their machine-made counterpart. These usually include wool, cotton, silk, jute and other natural materials. They have a very long lifespan and are mostly natural, renewable and biodegradable. On the other hand, machine-made carpets use bleached wool and synthetic fibres, such as polypropylene, nylon, polyester, etc. They are not as durable as handmade and may last twenty years or less. Additionally, they are not biodegradable.

Summing up

We are pretty sure that after reading all these differences, you would be able to differentiate between handmade and machine-made carpets. Feel free to come by our showroom if you are looking for Feltex Carpets in Melbourne. We will be happy to show you our collection of handmade and machine-made carpets in person.