Real Silk Rug or Fake? How to Tell
Many rugs sold as "silk" are really made of viscose (rayon), mercerised cotton or "bamboo silk". These fibres are shiny and attractive, but they do not have the durability or value of natural silk.
1. Touch
Natural silk feels cool at first and warms quickly in your hand. It is soft but has a slight grip. Viscose usually feels colder, slicker and heavier.
2. Sheen and colour shift
Seen from opposite directions of the pile, a silk rug shows a clear change in colour and brightness. Synthetic fibres shine too, but the sheen tends to be uniform and plastic-like.
3. The back and the fringe
On a hand-knotted silk rug the fringe is the end of the silk warp threads, and the knots on the back are tiny and even. A sewn-on fringe or a uniform machine-made back is a warning sign.
4. The burn test (only with the seller's permission)
With the seller's permission, carefully burn a very short strand from the fringe or edge. Natural silk burns slowly, smells like burnt hair and leaves an ash that crushes to powder. Viscose and cotton burn like paper, smell like burnt paper and leave a soft grey ash.
5. Price
A fine natural silk rug takes months or years to weave. A "silk" rug priced close to a machine-made rug is almost never natural silk.
6. Certificate
The pile, warp and weft materials should be written on the rug's certificate. Every Jalili Collection silk rug comes with a physical certificate that states the fibres.
- To look after a silk rug, read our rug care guide.
- See Qom silk rugs in the classic rugs collection.