At the Kuotes and at KKH, we love the stories behind the design. We hope that our readers love our product, but more importantly, we want to share the amazing journeys that are behind each of the pieces we select for the site. Every piece you see on our site we chose for a reason. This week, we're featuring our exclusive rugs. Rugs? We hear the dubious tone in your voice, but the process that goes into the rugs we select is an unbelievable story resulting from the hands of several incredibly talented people from around the world. Our rugs start in Nepal, a snowy peaked, Himalayan destination with thousands of years of history in making rugs. The first incredibly talented person we want to introduce you to? This guy:
Our KKH exclusive rugs feature the wool from the highest plateaus in Tibet. The professionally-and-ethically-sheared, long staple Jang Bell wool (say that ten times fast), is essential to producing such a high-quality, hand-knotted rug.
The wool is brought in and washed in natural mountain water to properly maintain its lanolin. What is lanolin? It's the fatty substance on wool that keeps it so pleasant to the touch. Fun Fact: Lanolin is also used as a pharmaceutical for dry and irritated skin and can be found in many lotions and cosmetics.
After the wool is washed, it is hand-carded and hand-spun to straighten the fibers in preparation to be dyed.
Here, a Nepalese artisan dyes yarn using Swiss metallic dyes.
Our KKH exclusive rugs use the highest quality Swiss metallic dyes. All of the dyes used for our rugs are AZO free.
After dyeing the skeins of yarn, they are left to dry naturally in the sun. Once it has dried, the wool is rolled into balls and sent to be weaved.
Every pattern for each of the rugs we select are individually designed and handprinted on a graph called a Nucktcha:
Our rugs are woven on a traditional vertical loom. The handprinted nucktcha is used as a guide for artisanal weavers to follow.
After the rug is finished and removed from the loom, it is washed in a cold soap and water mix. We do not use any chemicals on our rugs. The rugs are then left to dry out naturally in the sun, which gives the rugs a final subtle sheen.
Each rug is then inspected by our manufacturers for quality control before they are packed and air freighted to your home. Need help deciding on what kind of rug is best for you? Read our rug guide for everything you need to know.
Have questions or comments? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below!
