WHERE ARE THEY MADE?

Line of the Spirit Flatweave rugs are woven in the Line of the Spirit studios in Northern Romania, in the Carpathian Mountains.  This is our own studio, and our master weavers have been specializing in our rugs exclusively for 15 years.

DO THEY USE ANY CHILD LABOR?

Line of the Spirit uses no child labor whatsoever. Romania is a European nation, and in fact has a 97% literacy rate.

Line of the Spirit rugs are woven by women, but other key positions such as our dyemaster, our wool handlers and buyers, and our LOS Romania company manager, are held by men. 

Our weavers are masters, most of whom have worked with LOS exclusively for 15 years. This is one reason our custom work comes out so well. Our artist/studio chief/and weavers all know our designs and our expectations, and they deliver consistently excellent rugs.

Part of Romanian mentality is to take great pride in their work, doing it consistently with high quality standards. This is very evident in our final product. There is no better flatweave rug available, anywhere. The workmanship of these weavers, coupled with our superior materials, combine to make a flatweave rug unlike any other available.

WHAT IS A  FLATWEAVE?

A flatweave carpet is a rug that is not knotted, that has no “nap” or “pile.” There are several types of flatweave stitches, and we use what is called a “plain weave”. A “plain weave” is a simple in and out, over and under stitch.  “Flatweave” rugs are also sometimes called “kilim.” However, Line of the Spirit rugs are no ordinary kilim.

The problem with most flatweave rugs, is that from beginning to end, they are made to be cheap. All things being equal, it is cheaper to weave a flatweave generally, because it uses less wool. There are many, many flatweaves available, but mostly they are poorly made of inferior materials.

Line of the Spirit offers a superb, dense, high quality flatweave. Our wool is so excellent, that these rugs are not only beautiful, but also durable and collectible. Over time, like any great art object, our rugs will improve with age. They will develop a patina and subtlety of color, attaining a polished look over the years.

WHAT ARE THE RUGS  MADE OF?

LOS rugs are woven of our own “special” blend of two indigenous types of local, hand-selected wool, on a cotton warp.

So, the weft of the rug, which creates the color and pattern, is wool. The warp of the rug, the vertical strings onto which the wool is woven, is cotton.

Cotton has very high tensile strength and is also rigid, compared to wool. This is one of the reasons our rugs are so dense and flat. We say, Line of the Spirit makes a flatweave that lies like a carpet.

WHAT ABOUT THE WOOL? 

WOOL is the most important ingredient of a carpet. Without great wool, you will never have a great rug. The same is true of jewelry—you need to start with a great stone. Or in furniture, you should start with great wood.

Most carpet manufacturers buy pre-scoured wool from New Zealand or other wool-producing countries. This wool is nice and “regular”, but soft. It is good for clothing, and for mass-producing, but it is not great for carpets. We call it “Wonder Bread Wool”. Just compare Wonder Bread to Whole Grain, and you get the idea.

Buying wool pre-sorted and cleaned is one of the “short-cuts” of the rug business. It is generally faster and cheaper to import wool than to buy it raw and process it by hand.

We select and process our own wool. We never scour our wool with chemicals or bleaches, which strips the wool of its natural lanolin. If you touch our rugs, you can feel the lanolin. If you smell our rugs, you can smell the wool. Since the lanolin in the wool is “nature’s scotch-guard”, keeping the wool pure and not stripping the lanolin are important for the overall integrity of the rug. It means the rug will be more durable, and more stain resistant. It will also wash up better when the time comes for a full-on wash, bouncing back to its original vitality.

Romania has some of the best wool in the world, due to the cold, wet conditions there. Line of the Spirit is the major buyer of wool in our region. We select our wool very carefully, from not one, but two breeds of indigenous sheep, Turkana, and Tsigai. Turkana sheep have a very long-staple fiber, as long as the hair on an Afghan hound. This wool is strong, and spins easily. But, if you only use Turkana, the spun wool is thin and hard. Tsigai wool is short-staple wool, soft and fat (it looks like the sheep we are accustomed to seeing in the US).

When we blend the wool of these two indigenous sheep, we get a strong, durable, soft, supple, fat fiber

We also select wool for color. We use white wool, brown wool, grey wool, and everything in between. Each of our “Core Colors” has it’s own special “recipe” of wool colors to achieve the final, dyed hue.

If you look at our rugs, you will see a great deal of dark fiber running through the color. More in red and other darker colors, less in ivory, buff, sage, and other lighter colors. We blend the shades of wool together, and the two breeds of wool together, during the carding process. This is part of our “secret recipe” that results, finally, in the richly-shaded wool that is then spun into yarn, and then dyed in our Core Color shades.

When you look at a Line of the Spirit rug, you will see that there is a lot of “movement” in the rug, as there is shift in color, and black blended in with the colors.

WHAT KIND OF DYES DO THEY USE?

Although, due to the movement and variety of our colors, it looks like we use vegetal dyes, we do not. We use Swiss chemical dyes by Clariant, which are very stable. Much ado is given to dyes, and this is important. However, the dye source does not determine the final color of the rug. The way a rug is dyed—how large are the dye lots? What kind of mordant is used? How are the dyed yarns rinsed? What kind of wool is used?—these kinds of questions will ultimately determine how the finished product looks.

We use hand-spun wool, and we dye in very small dye batches. Both of these together create a beautiful, desirable, “inconsistency” of color, which results, again, in the “movement” or “abrash” that you see in our rugs.

When wool is hand-spun, the resulting fiber is irregular. The fat parts of the fiber take the dye differently than the thin parts. This is one way we get abrash. The other is the very small dye batches. No two dye batches are the same. So, wool from different dye batches will have slightly different shades. When we are going to weave a rug, we select skeins of dyed wool that are close in color, but not exact. The result? Abrash.

HOW DO YOU CLEAN THESE RUGS?

A simple vacuuming once a week is adequate to care for the rug. If/when the rug becomes really soiled, simple soap and water hand-washing is recommended. Because of the high lanolin content of the wool, the rugs naturally repel stains and moisture. Also, they bounce back really well after being washed. So, it is unnecessary and not recommended to use anything like scotch-guard to protect the rug or spot cleaner to clean the rug.

A complete guide to caring for LOS rugs is available from our office. It also gives advice for “problems” or “accidents” like red wine and dog urine. Please contact us if you would like a copy.

DO YOU NEED A PAD?

A pad will stop the rug from slipping around and it will add some cushion underfoot. It is not necessary, but it’s nice to have. The “grid” or “waffle” kind of pad is nice, because it allows dirt and grit to shake down through the rug and through the pad to the floor surface. This can keep the rug cleaner in the long run.

ARE THESE NAVAJO RUGS?

No, these are Line of the Spirit! Except that they are flat woven, they do not resemble Navajo rugs. They are much denser and more durable, and easier to care for because our wool is great and resilient, and our dyes are stable.

Some of our designs, very obviously, come from Navajo rugs. A few are even fairly literal translations of Navajo rugs. But, all of the designs are tweaked and refined to our “look” and standards. Many of our rugs take their inspiration from tribal Oriental rugs from Turkey, the Caucuses, India, and even Africa. The more a person knows about rugs and their design heritage, the less a Line of the Spirit rug will be confused with a Navajo.

DID YOU KNOW that Navajo weavers used Oriental rugs to copy? Anglo traders gave Navajo weavers Oriental rugs to copy--some of the same rugs from which we at Line of the Spirit derive our inspiration.

The original Navajo weavings were simple and banded, woven of cotton, and woven to be wider than they were long. Why? Because they were woven to be used as wearing blankets, not as floor rugs.

Then, Navajo weavers added zig-zags to their weavings, which they learned from the Spanish, who also introduced sheep and wool to the New World and to the Navajo. The Spanish also brought horses to The New World.

Later, as early as 1897, but thriving especially in the 1920’s and beyond, the orientation, layout, and designs of Navajo weavings changed to appeal to the Anglo buyer. People like C.N. Cotton, Fred Harvey, Lorenzo Hubbel, and J.B. Moore were influential in bringing about this change, and the Navajo were quick and eager to adapt.

To learn more, and see a really great graphic that illustrates this development, look at page 72 of the book The Navajo Weaving Tradition, by Alice Kaufman and Christopher Selzer

OTHER FEATURES ABOUT Line of the Spirit  RUGS:

HAND FINISH

When the rugs come off the loom, they actually don’t look so great. There are lots of loose ends of wool and other impurities (hay, grass) on the woven surface. A fast, “shortcut” to quickly eliminate all of the “loose ends” is to hit the surface of the rug with a blow-torch, burning off the excess. This makes the rug stink, makes it hard, and doesn’t actually remove the impurities, it just burns them off the surface. This is a common technique for inferior, mass-produced rugs.

We hand-finish our rugs. A crew of finishers sits around the rug, which lies on a table. They use simple tools such as scissors to carefully excise the impurities. If there are loose wool ends, these ends are usually fed back into the body of the rug, which adds to structural integrity.

END FINISH

Have you ever heard, that if you look at a person’s shoes, you can learn a lot about the person? The same is true for the end-finish of a rug. This is an area that many producers consider an afterthought, and it is a great place to save time, cut corners, and thereby cut cost.

But, the end-finish is very important to the longevity of a rug. If you see old rugs, they are often frayed at the ends.

Line of the Spirit has it’s own, signature end-finish. We create a stable, cotton, “kilim” end on all of the rugs. This cotton kilim end is also antique-dyed, so that the cotton (originally white) does not stand out too much against the pattern of the dyed wool. Just another of the subtle details which result in our final, beautiful product.

When the rug is being woven, we start by creating the sturdy cotton kilim end at the bottom of the rug. Then, we weave the body of the rug, using our hand-selectd, hand-blended, hand-spun, hand-dyed wool wefts to create the pattern. We finish off the pattern at the top end of the rug the same as we began on the bottom end, by weaving a c. 1 centimeter wide cotton kilim end, which is dense and strong.

When the rug is cut off the loom, the cotton warps are loose, dangling down from the cotton kilim ends. Then, the finishing crew gets the rug and they feed the cotton warps  back up into the body of the rug, securing the foundation. Finally, a very small, grey, square lock-stitch is added to secure the cotton kilim end yet again.

This is an extremely attractive and stable end-finish that you can walk on and vacuum without worry.

FINAL WASH

We never use any chemicals in our final wash process, only simple soap and water. Using chemicals is one of the other “short cuts” of the rug business. If you’ve made a rug that has “brassy” or “harsh” color, you can hit the rug with a chemical wash to tone down the colors, making the rug look older than it really is, imparting a false “patina”. You can also add glycerin to make the rug look really shiny. Both of these techniques are not only bad for the environment, but they are also bad for the wool in the rug.

Our wash process is as simple as washing your dog or your own hair. We use the purest soap, and rinse, rinse, and rinse again with clean water. At the final phase, we add essential oils (our herbal specialty rinse) to the rinse water to give the rugs a special feel and fragrance.

If you smell our rugs, you will smell wool and our herbal rinse. If you smell other rugs, you may often smell the chemicals used. Sometimes, these other rugs will “off-gas” chemical smells for years!

We dry our rugs in the sun, naturally. We do not “block” our rugs or use any starch or “sizing” to make them straight (another trick of the rug business), because they came off the loom straight in the first place!

We simply wash them, then drape them over wooden supports so that the water can run off by itself. After a few days, they are dry, and we pack them and store them for shipping, which we do about once a month.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO WEAVE A RUG?

It takes about 274 hours, from start to finish, to create a 6x9, Walk in Beauty rug. This is 34 full working days.

So, just over a month of full-time work.

However, the weaving process itself is only about 170 hours, or 21.5 days, about 60% of the time needed. It can be shorter or longer, depending on the complexity of the design.

If we wanted to take short cuts, we could make the weaving process faster by not packing down the wool so much when we weave. We could have the wool wefts loosely cover the cotton warps, but not pack them down to make our dense weave. This would save time and save wool and therefore, too, money.

We could also take short cuts by: purchasing pre-scoured wool; eliminating the blending of the wool at the carding process; machine spinning our wool; dying in large dye lots; skimping on the end-finish; burning the surface of the rug instead of hand-cleaning; machine-washing and drying the rugs.

WHY ARE THEY SO EXPENSIVE?

We never skimp on quality of materials, workmanship, or service. Every aspect of our process is done in a consistent, excellent manner.

Additionally, one of the main struggles for our weavers/employees is that Romania has entered into the European Union. Wages are increasing dramatically in Romania on a regular basis, making salaries so high that most hand-work companies are closing down, as multi-national companies such as Mercedes Benz are moving in. These big corporations can pay more than privately-owned companies, and they are forcing small companies to shut down.

Line of the Spirit preserves traditional culture and traditional hand-work skills by providing good salaries, even at a time where the weaving tradition is going by the wayside. Our OLD WORLD WEAVING PROJECT seeks to not only preserve, but also expand weaving tradition in Romania and its neighbor, Moldova.

A big buzz-word in our world today is “sustainability.”  Romanians, who live simple lives, in compounds with their extended families, in homes they have owed for generations, live a naturally “sustainable” life. Often, they grow their own food.

We feel we contribute to this way of life, by providing a good, clean (non-polluting, non-toxic to the worker) living that our people take pride in.

When a client purchases a Line of the Spirit rug, they are not only buying the highest quality rug available, but they are also supporting traditional craft and lifestyle in Romania, and buying a product created using ethical standards all around.

A great rug will easily transcend its original cost and become a beloved and valuable treasure and heirloom. As with all great art, the value will exceed the cost.

BUSINESS OWNER

Interestingly, Line of the Spirit is one of the very, very few rug-producing businesses that is owned by a woman--an American Oriental Rug Specialist, Carolyn Hendel, who began her career washing and restoring antique rugs and who has spent nearly 20 years in the hand-made rug business. Before owning Line of the Spirit, Carolyn worked at both the retail and wholesale level, imported rugs from Tibet and Nepal, bought, sold, washed and restored antique rugs, and dealt in Navajo weavings. She is an official appraiser of rugs, accredited by the Oriental Rug Retailers Association.

Having begun her career by washing and restoring great antique carpets, she is a purist in terms of rug production, which shows in the rugs. That is why materials—especially wool—are very important, and why none of the “tricks” of cheaper rug producing are employed.

Carolyn’s goal is to create rugs of great integrity, all the way around, from materials, to workmanship, to delivery and service.

Line of the Spirit rugs stand up to the highest scrutiny. Not only do these rugs look nice on the surface; but, the closer you get, the more you deconstruct the rug and the process, the better the rug becomes.

Remember, an average rug stays average forever; whereas a great rug will grow in appeal and estimation over time.

Because Carolyn and Line of the Spirit have come to being out of a love and knowledge of the greatest antique rugs, we in turn seek to create rugs of the same integrity as these old classics.