Handmade Camel Grass Rug
The Dune Grass rug is a camel grass rug, handmade in India from wool and bamboo silk and measuring 306 x 244 cm. That gives you 7.5 square metres of floor, a good size for a lounge or a six seat dining table.
The design up close
A camel ground carries a design in paler natural tones. From above, the rug is a soft, even sand with paler, almost silvery patches where the light lies on the pile. The pattern is very faint from this angle, with only a few narrow stripes of fine texture showing.
Crouch down to floor level and the design appears in caramel tan on the sand ground. Small checks of tiny dots sit beside chevron bands like rows of fine arrows, straight broken lines in short dashes, and loose diamond shapes made from scattered dots. Wide plain stretches of pile separate the patterned stripes.
The pile has a sheen that shifts with the light. In a bright room the pale areas turn almost pearl, and the tan dots read clearly. A white fringe finishes both ends, and the back is a pale sand weave.
Indian weaving and this rug
India has a long hand-knotted rug tradition, with weaving centres including Agra and the Bhadohi and Mirzapur area of Uttar Pradesh. Indian workshops weave many modern and abstract designs, often to order, in a wide range of colours and sizes. Wool is the most common pile, and some rugs mix wool with bamboo silk, as this one does.
How this camel grass rug is made
This camel grass rug is handmade in India from wool and bamboo silk. The wool shows as the matte, slightly soft areas. The shinier fibre is bamboo silk, a viscose (rayon) fibre made from bamboo cellulose with a silk-like sheen. It lights up the pale patches as you move around the room.
Bamboo silk is softer and less resilient than wool, so a rug with bamboo silk suits rooms with lighter foot traffic. A lounge, bedroom or formal dining room suits it better than a busy hallway.
Sizing it for your room
At 306 x 244 cm, this camel grass rug suits a medium to large room. Under a dining table of 180 x 90 cm that seats six, it leaves 63 cm beyond each end of the table and 77 cm along each side, so chairs can be pulled out and still stand on the rug.
In a living room, a 3-seat sofa about 2.2 m long placed along the length leaves 43 cm of rug at each end. Under a queen bed 153 cm wide, there is 45.5 cm on each side. Under a king bed 183 cm wide, there is 30.5 cm.
Looking after your camel grass rug
Vacuum it on a suction-only setting, or with the beater bar switched off, so the brush does not pull at the pile. Turn it around every six to twelve months so sun and foot traffic wear it evenly. Blot spills with a clean white cloth and cold water rather than rubbing them in. When it needs a full clean, choose a cleaner who washes handmade rugs by hand.
Put a good underlay beneath it. It stops the rug sliding on timber or tiles, adds cushioning and takes some of the wear off the pile. Moths like wool in dark, quiet spots, such as the part of a rug under a sofa, so vacuum those areas often and lift the furniture now and then.
Rubbing spills can dull bamboo silk, so this rug needs a cleaner who handles that fibre by hand.
See it before you buy
Visit our showroom at 307 Penshurst St, North Willoughby, open every day from 11 am to 4:30 pm, to see this camel grass rug in person. If you would rather judge it in your own room, with your own light and furniture, book a home trial and we will bring a selection to you.
You can see this camel grass rug in our showroom or at home. Browse more Contemporary rugs, or ask about a custom made rug in your own size and colour. Read more about bamboo silk and viscose.
