Frayed
Published On: May 2, 2023

So, the frayed spot on the edge of that rug? Yeah, I’m going to show you how I fixed it! But first, a bit about what happened and why I’m ok just fixing it myself rather than going to a pro.

So, this rug was not originally these colors! It was originally much darker and mostly red and navy. Somewhere along the way a rug dealer shaved the pile and bleached it.

Now, wool rugs are sturdy. They can take a lot of abuse. But bleaching weakens the fibers. And weakened fibers + friendly robot vacuum + helpful kittens means you get little blowouts like this.

And here’s the thing…I’m ok with it! I bought this rug *knowing* it had been shaved and bleached and *knowing* that meant it was going to reach the end of its life much sooner than an unaltered rug would.

But I wanted a big, light-colored rug with no red in it. Those are hard to find and expensive. And rug sellers know that! So a lot of them take big, low quality rugs in unpopular colors and bleach the hell out of them.

Which again, is totally fine! The results can be lovely!

It means I have a rug I like while I look for The One True Rug (which may or may not ever materialize). And, because I know what the rug went through to look like this, I have reasonable expectations for how it will hold up over time.

What’s less fine is places that sell rugs like this as ‘antique’ and pretend it’s natural wear and tear or fading. Just say ‘we treated this rug so it would have more popular colors, which does shorten its life, but also means you can find a rug in the size/colors/price you want.’

So if you’re looking at a rug and wondering if it’s been bleached…ask! A reputable dealer will be happy to discuss it with you.

Now, with that out of the way, all I did to repair it was find a wool yarn in the stash that matched the color of the edge pretty well and whip stitch along the edge. It blends in almost perfectly and only took a few minutes. While I was down there, I went ahead and stitched along the whole edge of the rug, just to make future blow outs less likely.

I may eventually have to do it again, but so far, it’s holding steady. And who knows, maybe the One True Rug will reveal itself soon!

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