The Washington times., 1924-09-20
HOW To BUY AND
CARE FOR
RUGS
Many Oriental and Colonial
Styles Popular Among
All Classes

to be found on the market today,
there Is chance for selection for
any color scheme and any income
from the beautiful oriental to the
colonial rag rug, to be had In the
original or the reproduction.
The genuine antique or any good
rug that Is over seventy-five years
old is a good investment.
AS a rule, these ara costly and
easily attracted to the silky sheen
of the new Orientals that are made
IN thousands in Oriental factories.
Some are excellent copies Of IA.
nous rugs made by rug makers of
the past, but the majority are inni.
tations in all senses of the word.
When these new rugs are well
made, they are as desirable as the
old ones, but unfortunately. the de.
mand for old rugs has stimulate
the production Of bad limitations.
These are neither durable nor do
they have the beauty of the origl-
talS.
Some dealers sell rugs that have
been recently woven as antiques.
The colors have been bleached, the
top surface rubbed with glyceline
to give the "sheeny" effect and the
whole thing II an imitation.
But those whose business Il Is to
produce these effects are really art.
lists at the game, and 1t is amusing
to find the many people who have
at some time accepted the word Of
some dealer about some rug that
they have bought.
Selecting Rugs.
How is the inexperienced buyer
to know the difference in a good
rug and a poor one? Careful study
Of texture and design will help
most.
It is Just az you know a piece Of
handmade embroidery from machine
made embroidery, or between old
lace and imitation lace.
The rug has the same feel"
when you know II, and although
design Is not as easily comprehended
careful study can acquaint you with
rug designs enough to avoid max.
ing mistakes that the sight of rugs
will remind you Of.
The American homemaker who
cannot afford Orientals will do we'll
to buy American reproductions that
ARE authentic and honest.
1t is the developed taste that can
appreciate the designs in authentic
reproductions and finds the spurious
Orientals inharmonious. Nothing is
so exquisite. as the genuine Oriental
in color, design and weave.
There are Orientals that depict
the history of q bygone and q liv.
ing people, and they rank second to
no other creation as q work Of art.
Each masterpiece has it's individ.
uality and there are no two alike.
but they can belong to q family and
resemble each other.
The silk rugs that were first
made In northern Persia, where silk
was produced in quantities, were
made for very rich people at that
time and most always for royalty.
It was customary for the one
having the rug made to furnish the
silk and expert weavers were en-
gagged for the making.
These rugs are the ones that are
reproduced by European concerns
and "doctored" to initiate aged
rugs of this family.
These are the rugs that the
dealer can "get OFF, on the new
rich easiest. They admire the silk
and the sheen.
The genuine rugs of this family
are very scarce and almost price
less.
To Clean Rugs.
y, Rugs should be cleaned as often
as once a week. 1t is a terrible
thing to shake them and worse to
hang them on q line and beat them.
as sometimes pictured in funny
cartoons. More are worn out this
way than by use. Have a piece of
rubber hose cut in strips and tie
them together with heavy cord.
Place the rug face downward on
freshly mown grass and whip It
with the rubber hose. A clean
floor will do.
Sweep the back with a clean
broom and then the face across
the nap each way and then with IL.
Finally, dampen a clean cloth
with water to which a little alcohol
has been added and wipe over the
entire rug with the nap).
This removes all dirt and keeps
II out of the texture. Beating fill
ters 1t through the texture and It
cannot be removed once this is
done,
When you close your home for
the season do not leave your fine
rugs on the floor, but roll them in
clean white paper then In tar pa,