When people who are decorating their homes or talking about flooring choices, they often discuss carpets and rugs, and sometimes they use these words interchangeably. There is a difference between a carpet and rug, though, and we will go over the history of each and how they are defined today.
What Are Rugs?
The world’s oldest rug is the Pazyryk rug. Woven of wool in the Turkish knot technique, it’s approximately 2400 years old. Rugs have been a part of human history and decorating a long, long time. The origin of the word “rug,” however, is Scandanavian. The Old Norse word “rogg” meant “shaggy tuft.” It made its way into English in the 16th century, evolving from being used to mean a coverlet or wrap in the 1590s to a mat for the floor by 1808.
Rugs as they are known now as pieces of woven cloth used as floor coverings are defined as being smaller than carpets, no longer than 6 and a half feet long. If the area of the floor covering is 40 square feet or less, it’s considered to be a rug. Rugs also have bound edges and can easily rolled, picked up, and moved from place to place to be cleaned or placed elsewhere. In home decor, rugs are often grouped with pieces of furniture like beds or couches.
What Is a Carpet?
Carpets are also pieces of fabric used as floor coverings. The word “carpet” comes from the Old French “carpite” meaning a “heavy decorated cloth” and probably before that from the Latin “carpere” meaning “to pluck” because carpets were made of plucked fabric. It entered the English language in the 13th century meaning a coarse cloth, but by the mid-14th century the meaning had evolved to indicate a tablecloth or bedspread. A century later a carpet began to mean a floor covering as it does today.
Carpets are larger than rugs, usually being defined as stretching the length of entire rooms or being fixed in place. In some places, carpets are used as wall hangings. In medieval castles tapestries were often hung on walls as decorations and to keep large spaces warmer. Carpets, because of their size or because they are permanently fastened to the floor as with wall-to-wall carpet, are not easy to move or clean. Handmade carpets are also generally thicker than rugs.
Both carpets and rugs come in many styles and patterns and are made from a variety of materials, either natural or synthetic. They range in price from extremely affordable (carpet remnants!) to very pricey. Hand woven, one-of-a-kind carpets like Persian or Aubusson carpets are considered to be works of art.
What Is the Difference between Carpets and Rugs?
To sum up:
Rugs are smaller than carpets.
Carpets are more permanent fixtures than rugs.
Bond Products has everything you need to keep your rugs or carpets maintained and repaired. If you want to bind the rug you made yourself from remnants, we have the products for that. If you want to offer carpet binding as a service to your customers, we have the machines you need. For the staples, staple guns, mallets, mallet caps, L-cleats, or finish nails you need to install carpet, shop our Pro Drive HD™ line of supplies.
Call Bond for all of your rug or carpet related issues large or small. We are here to help!
