Materials
Why Wool Still Wins
Synthetics beat wool on price and on stain resistance. Wool keeps winning anyway, and the reasons are structural.
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More from the journal
Craft & History
The Ardabil Carpet, and What a Floor Can Be
One sixteenth-century carpet, roughly twenty-six million knots, and a useful reminder about what this trade once was.
Materials
Understanding Pile Without the Sales Patter
Cut, loop, twist and saxony explained in terms of what they actually do in a room.
Materials
Wool Versus Synthetic, Honestly
A comparison that does not pretend one answer suits every room.
Craft & History
How a Hand-Knotted Rug Is Actually Made
Warp, weft, knot, beat, repeat, several hundred thousand times.
Living With It
Underlay Is Not Optional
The cheapest place to save money on a carpet job, and the most expensive place to have saved it.
Materials
British Wool and Where It Actually Goes
Britain produces a great deal of wool. Very little of it ends up as clothing, and there is a good reason.
Living With It
Damp, Condensation and What It Does to a Floor
Most ruined floorcoverings in British houses were not worn out. They were dampened.
Living With It
Getting Rug Size and Proportion Right
The most common mistake in a furnished room is a rug that is too small, and it is not close.
Living With It
Cleaning a Wool Rug Without Wrecking It
Most permanent damage to wool floorcoverings is done during cleaning, not before it.