How to recognize a Turkish rug
Turkish rugs are woven with the symmetric, or Ghiordes, knot, which you can see on the back as two small bumps per knot instead of the single bump of a Persian rug. The wool is typically lustrous, loosely spun and long‑stapled, which gives Oushaks in particular their soft, almost velvety hand and their tendency to shed for the first year. Foundations are cotton in most 20th‑century rugs and wool in older village pieces.
The Oushak is by far the most common Turkish rug on Long Island. It arrived in quantity through the decorator trade in the 1990s and 2000s: large, loosely knotted, in soft apricot, terracotta, sage, ivory and gold, with oversized floral or medallion designs, and usually in room sizes of 9×12 and up. We see them in Manhasset, Old Westbury, Lloyd Harbor and East Hampton living rooms more than anywhere else. Hereke rugs are the opposite: very finely knotted, often silk, small, and closer to a Persian city rug in construction. Between the two sit Kayseri (often mercerized cotton "art silk"), Sivas, Konya and the many Anatolian village rugs with bold geometric designs and wool foundations.
The reason this matters: the soft, low‑twist wool that makes an Oushak feel wonderful also mats, felts and loses its sheen if it is washed hot, agitated hard or dried slowly on a floor. And the soft, low‑contrast dyes that decorators love are frequently unstable. A Turkish rug needs the gentlest full wash we do for a wool rug.
- Construction
- Hand‑knotted, symmetric (Turkish/Ghiordes) knot
- Pile
- Long‑staple, loosely spun wool; silk in Hereke; mercerized cotton in some Kayseri
- Foundation
- Cotton (20th c.), wool (village and antique)
- Dyes
- Soft pastels and earth tones, often unstable; tea‑washed finishes common
- Common on Long Island
- Oushak room sizes 9×12 to 12×18, Hereke small pieces, Anatolian runners
- Our method
- Dye test → gentle dusting → cold immersion wash, low agitation → clear rinse → centrifuge → flat dry, pile brushed one way
