Hereke Production Technique

Hereke carpets are created using a unique construction method. The initial preparation of the loom is distinct from most other techniques worldwide. Two sets of warps (threads that run lengthwise) are employed. The first set of warps is located in front of the second set, which is necessary to wind the threads. Other rug types simply place the warps beside one another. The Hereke method allows the possibility of a second weft (horizontal threads interlaced through the warp), is thinner, and zig-zags to hold the knots in case the carpet is damaged. This is a major difference that separates the Hereke carpet-making technique from others.

Hereke carpets are double knotted using the Turkish knot, resulting in a more durable product. (The red knots which are displayed in the image beside, are used in Hereke Carpets, green knots are used in Anatolian Carpets. Straight weaving is used in Kilims.) Double knots cannot be undone or removed, unlike single knots, which may come undone if pulled with force. Double knotting ensures a 45-degree angle in the pile, as opposed to single knotted carpets, which have a 90-degree angle. Carpets with a single knotted pile become shiny through use and are more easily damaged. The 45-degree angle in Hereke silk rugs causes them to have a distinct appearance when viewed from opposite ends. Natural silk fibers have a darker inner color compared to the shinier surface fibers of the thread; this difference causes the rug to change appearance depending on the viewer's angle.

Hereke carpets are woven either in pure silk or cotton and wool. Hereke silk carpets are made with silk from Bursa . Hereke wool carpets are made with warps and wefts of cotton, providing greater tensile strength and allowing a denser more durable carpet. Highest quality wool is used for the knots in the pile. The knot density in Hereke wool carpets is anywhere between 360,000 to 400,000 knots per square meter. Hereke silk carpets have 1.0 to 1.2 million knots per square meter. On average, a skilled weaver can produce a Hereke carpet with 1 million knots in about one year.

The knots in a Hereke carpet are tightly squeezed together using an iron comb once each knotted row is completed. This step puts all the knots in order and increases the density and strength of the carpet. Once this is done, a horizontal line is passed between the front and the rear warps. A wooden dowel set above the knotting area in the loom is then moved up, causing the rear warps to move to the front. The second weft is then zig-zagged through the two lines of warps. The wooden dowel is then taken back down and the two horizontal lines are forced down with the iron comb. The ends of the double knots, which now form the pile, are then trimmed very carefully using special scissors. This process is repeated upon completion of every single row of knots.

Hereke carpets issued a Certificate of Authenticity by the Hereke Carpet Weavers Association are guaranteed 100% handmade.

Sericulture, or silk production, has a long and colorful history unknown to most people. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most widely used and intensively studied, and techniques for its rearing are the most improved. This insect is the sole living species in its family, Bombycidae , and has been domesticated for so long that it probably no longer survives in the wild.

According to Chinese records, the discovery of silk production from Bombyx mori occurred about 2,700 B.C. Sericulture during the following centuries spread through China and silk became a precious commodity highly sought by other countries. In 139 B.C., the world's longest highway was opened, stretching from Eastern China to the Mediterranean Sea . In addition to tangible commodities such as gold and jade, new ideas and religions also passed along this road. This road was the historically famous " Silk Road ," named after its most important commodity.

In spite of their secrecy, the Chinese were destined to lose their monopoly on silk production. Shortly after 300 A.D., sericulture traveled Westward. The emperor Justinian gained the secrets of sericulture for the Roman Empire in 522 A.D. when silkworm eggs were smuggled from China by two monks. The monks concealed the silkworm eggs in their bamboo walking sticks. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Europeans produced several major advancements in silk production. In 1801, A Frenchman named Joseph Jacquard exhibited his new machine for figured-silk weaving which gradually spread through the industry. The great French scientist, Louis Pasteur, rescued the silk industry in 1870 by showing that the then epidemic Pebrine disease of silkworms could be controlled by prevention through simple microscopic examination of adult moths.

Silk production today is a blend of ancient techniques and modern innovations. The first stage of silk production is hatching the silkworm eggs, which have been previously examined and shown to be free from disease. Larvae are then fed cut-up mulberry leaves, and after the fourth molt climb a twig placed near them and spin their silken cocoons. The silk is a continuous-filament fiber consisting of fibroin protein secreted from two salivary glands in the head of each larvae, and a gum called sericin, which cements the two filaments together. Pupae within cocoons are killed by steam or fumigation to prevent adult emergence, which would cut and tangle the silk filaments. Cocoons are later softened in hot water to remove the sericin, thus freeing silk filaments for reeling. Single filaments are drawn from cocoons in water bowls and combined to form yarn. This yarn is drawn under tension through several guides and eventually wound onto reels. The yarn is dried, packed according to quality, and is now raw silk ready for marketing.