Overdyed vs Naturally Faded Rugs: How to Tell Them Apart

By Storied Rugs7 min read

Two old rugs side by side on pale oak boards: one overdyed raspberry pink all over, one faded red, blue and ivory

An overdyed rug is an old hand-knotted rug that was bleached and then dyed one strong color, so a single pink or blue covers the whole design. A naturally faded rug has softened over decades, but each of its colors faded on its own, so its reds and blues are still different colors. To tell them apart, look at the back, the fringe and the color at the base of the pile. We do not sell overdyed rugs.

An old Persian rug overdyed cobalt blue, its medallion and borders showing only in lighter and darker blue, under a white boucle sofa on polished concrete — An overdyed rug. The whole design sits under one strong blue, and the old medallion and borders show only as darker and lighter blue.

What overdyeing is

It starts with an old rug, often one that is worn or in colors nobody wanted. The rug is washed with strong chemicals to strip or bleach out much of its original color. Sometimes it is also clipped down to an even, low pile. Then it goes into a single dye bath and comes out one strong color, such as hot pink, turquoise, cobalt or gray. The old pattern still shows through faintly. It is darker where the original colors were deep and lighter where they were pale.

The rug underneath is still hand-knotted, but little of its original color still shows.

Why overdyed rugs became popular

The appeal is easy to see. One bold color over an old pattern gives a modern room the texture of a hand-knotted rug without the traditional look. From across the room it reads as a single block of color. Overdyeing also turned worn or unfashionable rugs, which were hard to sell, into something people wanted.

There is nothing wrong with liking the look. The problem comes when an overdyed rug is sold as a vintage rug whose color came from age.

How to tell an overdyed rug from a faded one

Count the colors

Look at the pattern, not the background. On an overdyed rug, the border, the central medallion and the field (the main background) are all shades of one color. You see pink with darker pink, or blue with darker blue. On a faded rug the colors are softer, but they are still separate. A faded red field sits next to a faded blue border and an ivory that has turned warm. If you can name three or four distinct colors, the rug has not been overdyed.

Muted pink Isparta rug with a denim blue medallion under the foot of a white linen bed in a sage green bedroom, oak bench — An Isparta, 5 feet 7 inches by 9 feet 10 inches. Its muted pink, denim blue and greige are all soft, and each is still its own color. Overdyeing would turn them into shades of one.

Look at the back

Fold a corner over. The dye bath soaks the whole rug, so the back of an overdyed rug is the same new color as the front. Sun works the other way. Light falls on the face of the rug, so a sun-faded rug is usually brighter on the back than on the front, sometimes by a lot.^[1]

Look at the fringe

The fringe is the loose ends of the warp, the threads, usually cotton, that run the length of the rug.^[2] On an overdyed rug the fringe usually comes out the same color as the rug, because it went into the same bath. On a naturally aged rug it is undyed cotton in cream or ivory, sometimes a little darker from years of use.

Seen from above, the back of a small rug overdyed raspberry pink, its medallion and borders in darker pink, pink fringe, on oak boards — The back of an overdyed rug, laid face down. The old design shows through in pink and darker pink, and the fringe went into the same dye bath.

Look at the base of the pile

Part the pile with your fingers and look down at the knots. On a sun-faded rug the color is usually deeper near the base, where less light reached, and paler at the tips. On an overdyed rug the new color runs all the way down to the knot. It often looks a little muddy there, because traces of the old color are mixed in.

Rugs washed to look faded

Some rugs are bleached or chemically washed to look old, without being dyed again.^[3] In photographs they can look very like a faded vintage rug. The same checks help. A washed rug tends to be lightened evenly on both sides, while a sun-faded rug is lighter on the face. Words like “antique wash” or “distressed” describe this finish, not the rug’s age. Our post on antique vs vintage rugs explains the age labels.

What natural fading looks like

Natural fading is uneven, and the way it is uneven makes sense. The end of a rug nearest a window fades first.^[4] The paths people walk wear lower and lighter. Each dye loses strength at its own pace, so a yellow may fade quickly while an indigo blue holds. After decades of this, and of washing, the rug has a quieter version of its first colors, not a new set of colors.

You may also see abrash, which is soft bands of lighter and darker color inside one area. It comes from the weaver starting on a new batch of dyed wool.^[5] Our post on natural dyes explains the bands and how natural colors age.

Close detail of a faded vintage rug, a soft pink field around an olive stepped medallion inside gray borders — A faded rug, not an overdyed one. The pink field, the olive medallion and the gray border have each softened at their own pace.

To slow fading on a rug you already own, turn it every few months so the light falls evenly. Our post on protecting a rug from sun, pets and spills has more.

Is an overdyed rug a bad buy?

Not if you know what it is and you like the look. Sold honestly, it is simply a decorative piece made from an old rug. But you do give some things up. The original colors are gone for good. Stripping color with strong chemicals is hard on wool.^[1] The new color can also hide wear and old repairs that you would otherwise see.

That is one reason overdyed rugs are priced on their look rather than on the rug underneath. Our post on what determines the cost of a rug touches on this. Before you buy one, ask the seller whether the rug has been overdyed or chemically washed, and ask to see photos of the back.

What we sell instead

Every rug on our site keeps the colors it was woven with, softened by about fifty years of use. Our rugs are washed with a mild soap, and no color is painted back onto a faded rug. Our post on how our vintage rugs are washed and restored describes the whole process.

Long beige Anatolian rug with rose bands and charcoal medallions on a slate floor down a galley kitchen with cream cabinets — An Anatolian rug, 4 feet 2 inches by 11 feet 4 inches. Its beige, rose and charcoal have softened with age, and they are still three separate colors.

If you like the overdyed look for its softness rather than its punch, look at pale Turkish rugs. Many have a cream field with dusty rose or muted pink in the pattern. Many Turkish rugs were woven with pale dyes and a lot of undyed ivory, so the colors sit soft, as our Isparta guide explains. Good places to start are pink rugs, Isparta, Manisa and Anatolian rugs, or beige and neutral rugs from any region.

Sources

Caring for textiles and costumes. Canadian Conservation Institute.
Untying the knots of Central Asian carpets. Central Asian Archaeological Landscapes, University College London, 2020.
Afghan Carpets. Penn Museum, Expedition Magazine, 1973.
Basic care: Carpets and rugs. Canadian Conservation Institute.
Talish Carpet. Springfield Museums.