I have only one anecdote to offer regarding carpets and it is a tenuous connection but stands the telling of it I hope. I remember as a very young child in the early 1970s doing floor exercises with my mother in her bedroom on her new fitted carpet. As we lay there a mouse decided to make a dash across the bedroom floor. We both lept up and my mother grabbed me at the back of my outfit, pulling me behind her so she could escape all the quicker. I don't know what shocked me more, the mouse or discovering the limit of my mother's love. One blood-curdling scream later and the mouse died of shock mid-stride.
And now to carpets. American visitors to the United Kingdom bemoan the lack of mixing taps and the presence of carpeting in the smallest room in the house. Thankfully they weren’t visiting in the middle ages, when according to Erasmus, "The floors are, in general, laid with white clay, and are covered with rushes, occasionally renewed, but so imperfectly that the bottom layer is left undisturbed, sometimes for twenty years, harbouring expectoration, vomiting, the leakage of dogs and men, ale droppings, scraps of fish, and other abominations not fit to be mentioned.”
Rushes, in the form of matting, continued in use until the early 17th century. Carpets were known in England and Ireland at this period but were largely used as table coverings, as depicted in Holbein’s “The Ambassadors” painted in 1533 (shown above), with its strange anamorphic skull in the foreground. It was not until the eighteenth century that carpets began to be used on floors. They’ve received much punishment since and are a challenge to maintain. Most of us are familiar with the various forms of deterioration found in carpets: threadbare patches, flattened and loose pile, uneven fading, worn ridges, broken side-cords, fraying fringes and holes left by insect attack. From the largest, most flamboyant Aubusson, to the smallest, most sedate tribal prayer-mat, fine antique carpets and rugs present their owners with a perennial dilemma; to continue to use and enjoy them while accepting their slow deterioration, or to store and replace with a modern, sacrificial piece. One must be well informed as to the relative importance of an individual carpet, to decide that it is no longer primarily a functional object to be walked on without too much concern. The question is, has it attained the status of an ‘artefact’, no longer fit for feet? By properly displaying and maintaining an antique carpet, it should be possible to avoid the unsatisfactory solution of removing it to permanent storage or the more likely scenario of it’s decline into threadbare tattiness.
And now to carpets. American visitors to the United Kingdom bemoan the lack of mixing taps and the presence of carpeting in the smallest room in the house. Thankfully they weren’t visiting in the middle ages, when according to Erasmus, "The floors are, in general, laid with white clay, and are covered with rushes, occasionally renewed, but so imperfectly that the bottom layer is left undisturbed, sometimes for twenty years, harbouring expectoration, vomiting, the leakage of dogs and men, ale droppings, scraps of fish, and other abominations not fit to be mentioned.”
Rushes, in the form of matting, continued in use until the early 17th century. Carpets were known in England and Ireland at this period but were largely used as table coverings, as depicted in Holbein’s “The Ambassadors” painted in 1533 (shown above), with its strange anamorphic skull in the foreground. It was not until the eighteenth century that carpets began to be used on floors. They’ve received much punishment since and are a challenge to maintain. Most of us are familiar with the various forms of deterioration found in carpets: threadbare patches, flattened and loose pile, uneven fading, worn ridges, broken side-cords, fraying fringes and holes left by insect attack. From the largest, most flamboyant Aubusson, to the smallest, most sedate tribal prayer-mat, fine antique carpets and rugs present their owners with a perennial dilemma; to continue to use and enjoy them while accepting their slow deterioration, or to store and replace with a modern, sacrificial piece. One must be well informed as to the relative importance of an individual carpet, to decide that it is no longer primarily a functional object to be walked on without too much concern. The question is, has it attained the status of an ‘artefact’, no longer fit for feet? By properly displaying and maintaining an antique carpet, it should be possible to avoid the unsatisfactory solution of removing it to permanent storage or the more likely scenario of it’s decline into threadbare tattiness.
Firstly, look at where you have placed your rugs. If they are in doorways, halls, on staircases and landings or beneath the dining-room table in particular, they will receive heavy wear. Silk and flatweave carpets (e.g. kilims) will rapidly deteriorate in these positions. Try to move such pieces into areas that receive less foot traffic such as bedrooms. Turn carpets so that wear is distributed evenly and furniture does not mark it. If you have a large collection of rugs, then move them to different positions in the house so that they are afforded some relief from the gruelling duty of being the hall carpet. It is through the front door that most grit, gravel and dust is introduced. This settles in the fibres of the carpet and acts as an abrasive slowly weakening the structure of the carpet. Install a wide metal grid at your front steps that will remove grit from visitors’ shoes. For owners of historic houses that have large visitor numbers, it is advisable to have at least two metres of natural fibre matting to trap dirt at the main entrance. This should be vacuumed on a daily basis when the house is open to the public.
Of primary importance in maintaining any carpet is the use of an appropriate underlay as it cushions the carpet against wear. This should be made of a natural hair felt. Pester your local carpet shop into finding a source of this for you. They will offer the alternative rubber-based underlay. However, avoid this as it eventually deteriorates and may stick to both the carpet and the floor over which it is placed. The dimpled surface of rubber underlay has been known to permanently mark wooden floors. The underlay should be cut so that it is slightly larger than the carpet in order to protect the side-cords and fringe.
If the carpet sits on a stone floor, then place a layer of carpet paper under the underlay to protect from rising damp. To prevent a rug creeping over an underlying fitted carpet, either stitch a piece of canvas onto the carpet or use polyester wadding under the rug. Don’t use nails or staples to secure carpets. For very important carpets in rooms open to the public, use a 1.5m strip of good quality neutrally-coloured wool carpet underlaid with polyester wadding as a drugget along visitor routes. The drugget can be fixed with slim wooden batons to a wooden floor. One can also roll the side of a carpet along which people would normally walk onto a length of plastic piping of at least 10cm diameter, pile side out. Make sure the pipe is long enough to support the full length of the rolled carpet and cover it with a barrier layer of acid-free tissue paper. Use roped stanchions to keep the public at least two feet away from the rolled edge of the carpet. Also, ban the stiletto heel from your antique carpets. They can exert incredible pressure on all surfaces, pock-marking wooden floors and easily ripping a fragile carpet. Owners of historic houses open to the public should request visitors not to wear shoes with high narrow heels. Such a request printed on advertising literature will help reduce the problem.
Light will fade the dyes in a carpet. If you value them, it is worth installing sun-curtains or blinds to reduce direct sunlight. If you have shutters use them. In rooms that are rarely entered they can be kept closed most of the time. The ultra-violet (UV) element of sunshine is the most damaging. Just as it will age your skin, it will also age your works of art. It is possible to almost entirely eliminate UV by applying an invisible UV-absorbing polyester film to the inside of window glass. Contractors who specialize in the application of various types of window film should be able to advise on its installation. This is a measure that I would strongly recommend for historic houses with important collections. Local authority grants may be available to fund such work.
Carpets should be vacuumed only when necessary and not as a matter of habit. Use a cylinder vacuum cleaner with a smooth nozzle (i.e. without brushes attached) on its lowest power setting. Vacuum only in the direction of the pile. You can tell the pile direction by running your hand up and down the carpet. The direction which feels smoother is the pile direction. Kilims and other flatweave textiles should be vacuumed horizontally. Never vacuum the fringe or side-cords. These can be brushed clean with a soft banister brush. For more efficient cleaning, turn the carpet upside down and lightly pat the back. You’ll be surprised how much dirt this releases. Be careful not to tear fragile carpets when turning them over. It is best to roll them onto a tube and then unfurl them in the opposite direction to turn them upside down. For very fragile carpets and tapestries, construct a metre square wooden frame and attach fine polyester or nylon netting to it. This can be placed over the carpet when vacuuming to prevent the loss of any loose or fragile fibres.
Do not be tempted to use off-the-shelf carpet cleaners. These are acceptable for use on the average fitted carpet but cannot be recommended for antique carpets. If you wish to have your carpet cleaned then it is advisable to seek the services of a qualified textile conservator. A good textile conservator should have the facilities to wet-clean a carpet. If you have spilled something liquid on your carpet place a clean white cotton tea towel on the stain and press down on it to soak up as much of the spill as possible. Do not dry with a hair-dryer or any source of warm air as this can cause the fibres to shrink and distort. Instead, open the windows or put a fan in the room until the carpet has dried out. For tea, coffee or wine stains, dry as above with a tea towel and then dampen with a little soda water and continue to mop up. Avoid salt as this can fix a stain into the carpet.
If the ends and edges of a carpet are fraying, it is possible to carry out simple remedial repairs. Never remove damaged side-cords or trim fraying ends as these elements hold the carpet together and prevent the pile from falling out. For the repair of holes, splits and threadbare patches consult a textile conservator. Don’t put tape or glue onto splits. Cutting a damaged carpet up into smaller pieces is both unnecessary and unethical. It is worth remembering that a poorly executed repair can damage a carpet and significantly reduce its resale value.
Use wooden caster cups under furniture legs. These can be painted to match the colour of the carpet to reduce visual disturbance. In late spring and early summer moths and beetles will try to gain entry through open windows. Either keep them shut or install fine netting on the inside to keep these pests out. If you do find an infestation, isolate the carpet by rolling it on a tube and sealing it in clear polythene. A textile conservator will be able to freeze it for you to kill the infestation at minimal cost.
The oldest existing carpet in the world, the Pazyryk rug now housed in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, dates to the fifth century BC. It was discovered in the frozen tomb of a Scythian prince in Siberia in the 1940s. While following the above advice in caring for your antique carpets cannot promise such exceptional longevity, you should certainly be able to enjoy them on a daily basis and pass them on to future generations.
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