Frequently asked questions.

Yes, every rug we sell is an authentic, hand-knotted vintage piece, typically forty to eighty years old and woven in wool on a cotton foundation. Nothing is machine-made, printed or reproduced. Each one is professionally washed, repaired where needed and inspected before we photograph and list it.

Most pieces were woven between the 1940s and the 1980s across the great weaving regions of Persia (Iran) and Turkey, places like Tabriz, Kashan, Mashhad, Heriz and Hamedan. The exact origin and approximate age are noted on every listing.

Almost all of our rugs are hand-knotted wool pile on a cotton foundation, colored with natural and traditional dyes. Wool is naturally durable, stain-resistant and made to be lived on for generations.

These are vintage pieces, so most show a gentle, honest patina, that’s part of their character. Any notable wear, low pile or old repair is described and photographed on the listing. If a rug has an issue worth knowing about, we’ll always tell you before you buy.

Three checks, and you can do all of them in a shop.

Look at the back. A hand-knotted rug has no separate backing. You see the knots themselves, slightly irregular, and the design reads clearly through to the reverse. Machine-made rugs usually have a stiff canvas or latex backing.

Pull the fringe. On a hand-knotted rug the fringe is the warp of the rug itself, so it cannot be separated from the body. A fringe sewn or glued on means a machine-made rug.

Look for imperfection. Hand-tied knots are never perfectly uniform. Machine rows are.

That is abrash, and it is a mark of hand work rather than a fault. A weaver using small, separately dyed batches of wool runs out of one batch mid-rug and carries on with the next. The band where the two meet reads as a soft change of tone. Collectors look for it.

Both appear in rugs of this age. Plant and insect dyes were used for centuries, and synthetic dyes spread through the region from the late nineteenth century onward, so a fifty-year-old rug often has a mix. What matters more is how the color has aged, and by this point in a rug’s life you can see that directly in the photographs.

Any textile loses color in direct, sustained sun. Rotating the rug 180 degrees every six to twelve months keeps the fading and the wear even, which is the real goal, because uneven is what looks wrong. If one part of the room gets hard afternoon light, rotate more often.

Yes. We photograph every rug ourselves in natural light, front and back, and show any honest wear plainly. The piece you see is the exact piece you receive, never a stock image. Screens vary, so if color is critical, message us and we’ll describe it in detail or send extra photos and video.

Always. Send us the reference number (for example, No. 5813) and we’ll share additional close-ups of the pile, the back, the ends and any detail you’d like to see.

Every listing gives exact measurements in feet, inches and centimeters. As a rule of thumb, an area rug should sit under at least the front legs of your furniture, and ideally under all of it. Our Size Guide walks through it room by room.

Gladly, it’s the part we enjoy most. Send a photo of your room and rough dimensions, and a specialist will put together a personal shortlist. We’d rather help you find the right piece than sell you the wrong one.

We do, everything from small accent rugs and hallway runners to room-filling oversized pieces. You can filter the collection by size, or tell us what you need and we’ll point you to the right options.

Yes. Every measurement on the site is the rug end to end, fringe included, so the number you read is the floor space the rug will actually take up.

Hand-woven rugs are also rarely perfect rectangles. A centimeter or two of variation from one end to the other is normal and is not a fault.

Enough that a pulled-out chair still has all four legs on the rug. In practice that means roughly 60cm (24in) of rug beyond every edge of the table, which for most dining tables puts you at 7×10ft or larger. That is exactly what we have gathered in Dining Room Rugs.

Runners, and small accent pieces for a landing or in front of a door. A runner should leave a hand’s width of floor visible on each side rather than reaching wall to wall. See Hallway & Entry, and the Size Guide for the full ranges.

It means there is only ever a single example of each rug. Once one finds a home it’s gone for good, and yours will be the only one like it anywhere. There’s no rush from us, but if a particular piece is speaking to you, it won’t be waiting for a second chance.

No, and we think that’s the point. Because these are genuine vintage pieces, none will ever be woven again. If something has sold, tell us what drew you to it and we’ll help you find another rug with the same spirit.

Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal. Affirm financing is offered at checkout to eligible US customers. Prices are in US dollars; Canadian orders have GST/HST and PST added at checkout.

Often, yes. We are buying constantly, and knowing what you are after makes us better at spotting it. Send the rug number and the size you need to hello@storiedrugs.com and we will tell you honestly whether it is likely, and let you know first when something close comes in.

Our prices are set close, so there is not much air in them. For multiple rugs or a full project we will always look at the whole basket rather than the pieces.

Vacuum gently without a rotating beater bar, rotate the rug every few months for even wear, blot spills immediately (never rub), and use a quality rug pad. Have it professionally cleaned every few years, never machine-washed. Treated kindly, a hand-knotted wool rug lasts for generations.

A little shedding is normal for a natural wool pile and settles within a few weeks of gentle vacuuming. Lay the rug flat when it arrives and give it a little time and foot traffic to settle into the room; a rug pad helps it sit flat from the first day.

Yes, and on a vintage rug it is not an accessory. A pad stops the rug sliding, cushions each footstep before it reaches an old foundation, and prevents the back of the rug abrading against the floor. It is the cheapest thing you can do to make a rug last another fifty years.

Yes, wool is well suited to it: it traps air but still lets heat pass through. Two practical limits. Keep the floor surface under about 27°C (80°F), which is what most underfloor heating manufacturers specify for covered areas, and keep the combined thickness of rug plus pad low. A hand-knotted rug with a 10–15mm pile is generally fine. Avoid a thick felt pad here, because felt insulates and blocks the heat you are paying for; choose a thin, open-weave pad instead.

Every three to five years for a rug in normal use, and by how dirty it actually is rather than by the calendar. Pets, a busy hallway or a wood fire push it sooner; a quiet bedroom pushes it later. Use a specialist hand-washer, not a general carpet cleaning service and not a steam cleaner. Our Rug Care page goes into the detail.

Suction, not aggression. Vacuum in the direction of the pile, keep a rotating beater bar off the rug entirely, and never run a vacuum over the fringe, which is the structure of the rug rather than a trim. Both sides once or twice a year lifts out the grit that grinds a foundation down from underneath.

Moths want wool that is dark, still and undisturbed, which is why damage almost always turns up under furniture or in a rug put away in storage rather than in the middle of a room. Move things, vacuum underneath, and look at the back. If you are putting a rug away for a season, have it washed first.

Better than a new rug, in truth. A vintage wool rug has already survived decades of a household, the pattern hides a great deal, and wool naturally resists dirt and releases spills. Blot a spill immediately with a white cloth, work from the outside in, and do not soak it. Deal with pet accidents quickly, since it is the urine, not the wool, that damages dyes.

A kitchen, yes; that is what runners and small accent rugs were made for. A bathroom, no. Sustained damp is the one thing wool and an old cotton foundation genuinely will not forgive.

Shipping is free and fully insured in the US and Canada, at every size, and for United States orders all customs duties and import taxes are included in your price. To the United Kingdom, the European Union, Australia and New Zealand we ship fully insured, with rates calculated at checkout, and any import duties or taxes are payable on delivery. Full detail is on our Shipping & Returns page.

Folded, wrapped and shipped on a tracked, fully insured service. Lay it flat when it arrives and give it a little time and foot traffic to settle into the room. A rug pad helps it sit flat from the first day.

You have 7 days from the day your rug arrives to request a return. The rug needs to be in the condition it reached you in, and return shipping is arranged and paid by you on a tracked, insured service. Full terms, including what cannot be returned, are on the Refund Policy page.

We would rather talk you through a rug before it ships than process a return afterwards. Ask us anything at hello@storiedrugs.com.

Contact us immediately and we will make it right. Inspect the rug when it arrives, photograph anything that looks wrong before you open it out fully, and write to hello@storiedrugs.com. That is on us, not on you.

Yes. Interior designers, architects, stagers and hospitality buyers can join our Design Trade program for preferred pricing, first look at new arrivals, and rugs on approval. There’s no fee and no minimum, just apply and we’ll set you up.

Absolutely. Tell us about the project and the spaces you’re dressing, and your dedicated contact will curate options across sizes and palettes, and coordinate delivery around your timeline.