Fringe and edges
Fringe, selvedge and edge repair.
The edges of a rug are where it fails first. The ends are walked on, caught by vacuum cleaners and pulled by furniture; the sides take the strain every time the rug is moved. Caught early, edge repair is modest work that protects the whole rug. Left alone, a loose end becomes a lost row of knots, and then a lost border.
Why the edges go first.
Why edges fail
On a hand-knotted rug, the fringe is not decoration. It is the ends of the warps, the threads that run the length of the rug and hold every knot in place. Once the fringe wears away and the protective weft at each end starts to go, knots begin to slip out, a row at a time.
The long sides are finished with a selvedge, a cord of wool or cotton wrapped around the outermost warps. It takes the wear of feet, vacuums and moving, and when it breaks the side of the rug begins to unravel inward.
Old repairs are often part of the problem. Edges overcast too tightly in the past pull the rug out of shape and make it curl, and glued or taped ends trap dirt and stiffen the weave. Part of our work is undoing earlier repairs carefully before doing them properly, and the sooner an edge is dealt with, the less of the original rug has to be rebuilt.
Worn or missing fringe
The ends of the warps themselves.
Loose knots at the ends
Rows starting to slip out.
Broken selvedge
Sides beginning to unravel.
Curling edges
Often from old, tight repairs.
Securing versus replacing fringe.
Fringe
Where the original fringe is still there, even if short, we secure it. The ends are stabilized with a hand-sewn overcast or a rebuilt kilim end so that no more knots can slip, and the fringe is left as it is. This keeps the rug's original warps, which matters on antique pieces.
Where the fringe has worn away entirely and knots are being lost, the ends are rebuilt. New warp is woven into the body of the rug, the lost rows are reknotted in matched wool, and new fringe is formed from the new warp. Sewn-on machine fringe, the quick fix many shops offer, is not a repair: it puts weight on the weakest part of the rug and pulls it apart. We remove it where we find it.
Selvedge and overcasting.
Sides
A broken selvedge is rebuilt by wrapping new wool around the outer warps, matched in color and thickness to the original, and tied back into sound weave on either side. Where the outermost warps themselves have gone, they are replaced first so the new selvedge has something to hold.
For rugs cut from broadloom or resized for a room, the edges are finished differently: by binding with cotton, linen or leather tape, or by serging, a close overcast stitch in wool yarn that wraps the raw edge. We finish these by hand where the rug deserves it; see our wall-to-wall carpet page for cut-to-size rugs.
What to send us.
What to send us
Send a photograph of the whole rug, close-ups of each end and each side, and one of the back of any damaged area. Tell us the approximate size and whether the edges have been repaired before; old repairs can hide damage underneath. For rugs that are washed at the same time, see hand washing.
Timelines and pricing.
Timelines and pricing
Our pricing page explains what moves a figure. Workshop rug cleaning takes about two weeks on average; every rug is different, and any repairs needed will extend that time. Pickup and delivery are free.
Frequently asked.
Questions
- Should worn fringe be replaced?
- Only when knots are being lost. If the original fringe is short but holding, securing the ends is the better repair and keeps the rug's original structure.
- Why not just sew on new fringe?
- Sewn-on fringe hangs its weight on the weakest part of the rug and pulls it apart over time. We rebuild ends from new warp instead.
- Can you bind a rug I have cut to size?
- Yes. Cut rugs are bound with cotton, linen or leather tape, or serged in wool, to suit the rug and the room.
Related reading
Antique rug restoration steps, from intake to return
What actually happens between the day a rug leaves your floor and the day it comes back: seven stages, in the order a conservator works them.
Searching for rug repair near me? What to ask before you hand it over
Not every shop that says rug repair does the work in house. Six questions that separate a conservator's studio from a drop-off counter.
Inquiry
Send photographs of the edges.
Include each end and each side. We reply with an assessment and a written estimate.