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History of Carpets in Nepal

Nepal has many fine handicrafts to offer to visitors hand-knotted woollen carpets, nepal rug, rugs nepal, nepali carpet, tibeten carpet, carpet nepal, nepal rugs, Nepali galaincha.

History of Carpets in Nepal

The art of weaving is an old tradition in the Kingdom of Nepal, especially in the mountainous region of the country. Radii, Pakhi, Bakkhu, Darhi (with pile) are well-known Nepalese products produced in these regions using indigenous wool. The marketing of these products was confined to the domestic market.
The development of an export quality carpet was initiated with the influx of the Tibetan refugees in the early sixties. Credit goes to the Swiss Agency for Technical Assistance (SATA) for their contribution, in the development of the carpet industry in Nepal through financial & technical support to the Tibetan refugees re-settlement programs. In the beginning, it was launched as a source of livelihood for the Tibetan refugees and marketing was limited to tourists visiting the kingdom. Efforts to gain access in the international market arena paid-off in 1964 when the first commercial shipment left to Europe, namely Switzerland. With vision and entrepreneur skill it transformed into a nationally recognized commercial commodity and remains the most important export product from Nepal.
The Nepalese- Tibetan carpets contain a very high degree of hand processing and qualities ranging from 60-150 knots per square inch. Regularity safe guards are in place to ensure that only highest quality fleece wool is imported for use in these carpets.
The traditional design of the Nepalese-Tibetan carpet are basically influenced by Buddhism but in recent years the Nepalese manufacturers have introduced modern design and colors in line with the present day market tastes. The traditional size has been replaced by a wide range of sizes from 0.25Sq.m. to 56m2 in shapes such as round, octagon and customs shapes. The desired designs, styles and shades are the creation of local designers & engineers with regular feedback from the market.
At present, 95 percent of the production of carpet is concentrated in the Kathmandu valley with the remaining 5 percent is spreading over a number of other districts of the country.

Carpet Manufacturing

Prior to 1984, no machineries were used in the production process. The whole process from the sorting of the wool to the packaging stage of the finished product was carried out by hand process. The production process of Nepalese Tibetan carpet include:

Wool sorting & Washing:
Wool from Tibet is generally imported in raw form requiring careful sorting to pick-out the foreign particles such as vegetable materials. The Tibetan wool also requires washing to remove dirts and executive greases which is followed by sun drying for two to three days. The Tibetan wool has a strong good fiber length is imported in scoured form, good luster and a high resilient value. The New Zealand wool are of 36 micron, 100 mm barb length and is identified as type 128. British wool meeting regulatory standards have also started being available in the market.

Carding:
The carding process allows the fiber stand to flow smoothly when spinning. This is also the stage for blending different wools and to ascertain the ratio of different origins. Traditionally, carding was performed by hand and machine carding was introduced when the industry grew. However hand carded product is still available if a customer so desires.

Spinning:
The carded wool is spun into yarn by hand using a charkha (Spinning wheel). The thickness of the yarn depends on the quality of the carpet and generally a 3 ply yarn is used .

Dyeing:
The traditional pot dyeing method has been largely replaced by machine dyeing in closed Chambers. Dues containing harmful substances such as AZO are banned and dye-stuffs from renowned international manufacturers are used. These dyes have a high degree of fastness. The dyed yarn has to be dried in the sunlight for one to three days depending on the weather. Pot dyeing and vegetable (natural) dyeing are still being used by some manufacturers.

Carpet Knotting:
Carpet knotting is an art by itself. The workers known as the weavers are well trained and skilled in their art and has a very high versatility in knotting. One or more weavers work on a loom depending on the size of the carpet. Each weavers makes individual knots row after row. The designs are chartered out on a graph and the weaver translate the graphic designs into knots on a carpet. The dyed yarn is made into balls and scissors, iron rod, levers, comb beaters are used as tools.

Trimming:
The finished carpet taken off from the loom and the designs & patterns are curved out by scissors.

Washing and Drying:

The trimmed carpet is washed with the fresh water & chemicals. The washed carpet is dried in the sunlight up to four or five days. While the bulk of the carpets are manually washed in Nepal a notable quantity is washed in Switzerland.

Final Finishing:
The dried carpets are given the final finishing touch by retriming and stretching, where necessary to bring it to as close to the ordered size.
Packing:
All washed carpets are rolled and wrapped in polythene sheet and is sealed at each end. Again, it is wrapped in Hessian cloth and sewn. Generally around 14m2. are packed in each bale.

Payment:

Export proceeds must be received through an irrevocable letter of credit (L/C) or advance payment.


Quality of Nepalese-Tibitan Carpets:

There are quite a few distinctive qualities of Nepalese - Tibetan Carpets, which are generally identified by the density of knots. The major productions is in 60 knots quality but demand for 80 knots, 100 knots, & above 100 knots quality are rising. A universal density of 70,000 knots/ m2 and 3.80 kgs weight in 60 knots quality carpets was the standard upto early seventies. But the introduction of strong wash and market demand in Europe, led the manufacturers to change their product to beet thick pile product.

The present day quality of Nepalese- Tibetan carpet of knot of 60 knots would have a density of 56,000/m2+and the weight ranges from 4.5 to 5.0 kgs., where as in 80 knots would have 80,000 + with a weights is 3.5 to 4.25 kgs and in 100 knots the density would be 1,25,000+& the weight varies form 2.5 to 3.5 kgs.

Characteristics of Nepalese Carpet and Manufacturers
Hand knotted using handspun woolen yarn
Top quality fleece wool meeting regulatory and strict standards
Fast and health friendly dyes and chemicals
Immense adaptability with changing market trends
Fast delivery
The credibility of the manufacturers and exports.
The carpets from the highest Himalayan region are specially created to feed your imagination with many magnificent artistic visions. As a matter of fact, each of the carpets, most skillfully hand-knotted with the finest handspun sheep wool is indeed a beautiful symbol of warm Himalayan heritage.

If you are interested to buy Nepali Carpet from Nepal visit www.shoppingnepal.com or email us

info@shoppingnepal.com