JW Rugs is a true art, a creative passion, weaving modernity and style together with ancient Tibetan styles.
JW Rugs’ origins reach back over 35 years. From humble beginnings as a small, family-owned carpet shop in the living heritage city of Kathmandu, our business now produces fine handmade Tibetan carpets for customers all over the world.
All rugs are still handcrafted in the traditional manner, using the finest hand-spun Tibetan high-mountain sheep wool, by experienced and dedicated craftsman, just as it used to be centuries ago.
Hand Carding
The first step in the creation of any JW Rug is called Carding. Like all techniques used in the creation of our rugs, this one is performed entirely by hand. A handful of wool is placed between two metal-toothed paddles and gently combed until the fibres are roughly aligned. Whilst a machine could comb the wool and align its fibres in the blink of an eye, it would break the fibres and make the resulting yarn too uniform. By comparison, hand carding respects these precious fibres, and the resulting yarn is very long and distinctively raw. Hand carding is a step most manufacturers avoid because it requires lots of organisation and human effort as well as substantial added expense. At JW Rugs we believe that yarn quality is too important to compromise. Starting as we mean to go on affords us the ability to produce superior results in our rug creation process.
Hand Spinning
Our highly skilled and experienced craftsmen and women sit at simple, manually powered wooden wheels carefully spinning wool with practiced hands, a steady foot and a keen eye. The balance between wheel and hand is a delicate process that yields a rich, organic texture yarn.
Hand Dyeing
In keeping with the Tibetan tradition the skeins of raw yarn are dyed in small lots by hand which is known as pot dyeing. The pigments we use are sourced from Switzerland, which provide colour consistency and access to an expansive range of colours that is continuously evolving. Using traditional methods, the variation of absorption in the hand spun yarn creates an effect called Abrash.
Hand Weaving
All JW Rugs are woven by hand, knot by knot. Each knot results in a single point of colour in the pile of the finished rug. A standard 9’ x 12’ rug comprises between 525,000 and 1.5 million of these individually hand-tied knots. When a row of knots is completed, it is hammered down to the prior row with a Thowa mallet. The row is cut with a small knife called a Churi, freeing the rod and exposing the pile. After locking the row with a weft thread, it is secured with a metal Panja comb.
Shearing & Finishing
Once the weaving is complete and removed from the loom the rug is levelled with large steel shears. About 18” in length, these traditional Tibetan scissors, known as Jam-tse are a tool that requires lots of patience to master. The finer detail in the rug is trimmed with a smaller version of these scissors which are extremely sharp. After the surface pile is cut, long pointed scissors are used to lightly cut between the different colours, enhancing design clarity.
Rug Washing
After the weaving process is complete, each JW Rug is gently cleaned, softened, and aged where appropriate, enhancing its patina and colour. A resin is also applied, augmenting the wool’s natural resistance to stains, whilst sealing colours. The use of modern technology within our washing process accentuates a rug’s hand-made charm, and lush feel. All JW Rugs are finished with traditional Tibetan washing by skilled technicians with conscientious efforts towards the environment.