Guide · For the trade
Alpaca rugs: fiber, pelt and blend, and where each belongs in a spec
Alpaca rugs come in two kinds that share a name and nothing else: an alpaca fur rug is a pelt, stitched from Peruvian hides into a 4x6 or a 5x7 with a 2 to 4 inch nap, for a bedroom floor or a bench; an alpaca fiber rug is woven or knotted from the shorn fleece, usually blended with wool at 30 to 50 percent, at 1/4 to 1/2 inch pile, for a living room or primary suite. Alpaca fiber is finer and softer than most wool, with less resilience, so the blend is the durable spec and the pelt is the decorative one.
This guide is for the designer who has a client asking for alpaca and needs to know which alpaca, and for the junior reading a hand-knotted spec that says "65 percent wool, 35 percent alpaca" and wondering what the 35 percent does. It covers the fiber against wool, the three product types, where each goes, pad and care, and custom work. The cowhide and sheepskin guide covers the hide side of the family in more depth; the mohair rugs guide is the other luxury hair fiber.
Alpaca fiber against sheep's wool
Alpaca is a hair fiber from the two breeds of the Andean camelid: huacaya, which is crimped and fluffy and makes up most of the fleece on the market, and suri, which is straight and lustrous and rarer. The fiber runs about 18 to 30 microns against 25 to 40 for carpet wool, which is why it is softer in the hand, and it is semi-hollow, so a rug of it feels warm and weighs less than wool at the same pile. It carries almost no lanolin, which is the basis of the hypoallergenic claim. It comes in about 22 natural colors from white through fawn, brown and grey to black, so an undyed alpaca palette is a real palette.
What alpaca lacks is crimp memory. Wool's scales and crimp make it spring back from a footstep and a chair leg; alpaca's smoother fiber lies down and stays down, and it pills and sheds more in a cut pile. That is why a mill blends it: wool for recovery, alpaca for hand and luster. Like wool it is a protein fiber, naturally flame resistant and self-extinguishing.
Three kinds of alpaca rug
| Type | What it is | Sizes | Pile | Where to spec |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpaca fur rug (pelt) | Tanned alpaca hides from Peru, sewn edge to edge, often with a suede or fabric back | 2x3 to about 5x7; custom by adding hides | 2 to 4 in natural nap | Bedside, nursery, a bench or a chair, a reading corner; no traffic |
| Hand-knotted wool and alpaca | Shorn fiber spun and knotted with wool, 25 to 100 knots per sq in | 6x9 to 12x15, custom | About 1/2 in | Living rooms, primary bedrooms, dens |
| Hand-loomed or flatwoven alpaca | Alpaca or alpaca-wool yarn on a loom, cut or loop, or flat | 5x8 to 10x14, runners | Flat to 3/8 in | Bedrooms, studies, halls at low traffic |
The hand-knotted blend is what most designers mean when they specify alpaca for a room. In the catalog it comes through Prestige Mills, where the Ashley Stark Home designs are knotted in India in 65 percent wool and 35 percent alpaca at about a 1/2 inch pile and 25 knots per square inch, a low-knot, high-pile construction that reads as a soft abstract field. Pure alpaca woven rugs are mostly Peruvian, hand-loomed, and sold as alpaca carpet or alpaca area rugs; we source them through our specialty fibers collection and the Design Studio.
Where alpaca works, and where wool should win
Alpaca earns its place in rooms the client touches more than walks: a primary bedroom under a king at 9x12, a living room where the rug sits under the seating and traffic goes around, a study, a dressing room. A pelt belongs beside the bed, in a nursery as a play surface, or over a bench. Keep every kind of alpaca out of entries, halls, stairs, dining rooms and family rooms with dogs; the fiber mats under repeated traffic and a pelt under a dining chair is a short-lived idea.
Alpaca wool rugs in a custom design
Alpaca is one of the fibers available in full custom work alongside wool, silk, viscose and linen: a rendering in your colors, a strike-off in 4 to 6 weeks, production in 18 to 20 weeks. The usual custom spec is a wool ground with alpaca at 30 to 50 percent for hand, or alpaca used undyed in its natural greys and fawns against a dyed wool pattern. Suri alpaca reads close to silk in a rendering and softer in the room. Custom pelts are made by adding hides, so an 8x10 alpaca fur rug is possible.
Pad, placement and care to hand the client
Under a knotted or loomed alpaca rug on a hard floor, a 1/4 inch felt-and-rubber pad cut 1 inch short of the edge; under a pelt, a thin rubber pad so it stays put, or nothing on a carpeted floor. Vacuum a pile alpaca with suction only, no beater bar, and expect shedding for the first few months in a cut pile; the shedding guide applies to alpaca as it does to wool. A pelt is shaken outside and brushed with a wire pet brush, never vacuumed with a rotating head. Spills: blot with a dry white cloth, then a damp one, no detergent; a protein fiber dissolves in strong alkali. Professional cleaning for a pelt is a leather and fur specialist, not a rug washer. Keep both out of direct sun and away from radiators.
Questions designers ask
Are alpaca rugs durable?
A wool and alpaca blend is, in a bedroom or a living room with traffic around it; a pure alpaca pile mats under traffic and a pelt wears at the seams within a few years in a used room. For halls, stairs and dining rooms specify wool.
Alpaca vs wool: what is the difference in a rug?
Alpaca is finer (18 to 30 microns against 25 to 40), softer, warmer and lighter, with a natural luster; wool has the crimp that springs back from furniture and feet. Most alpaca rugs are blends for that reason, with wool at half or more.
How do you clean an alpaca rug?
Pile rugs: suction-only vacuuming, blot spills dry, and send to a wool rug washer. Pelts: shake, brush with a wire brush, spot-clean with a damp cloth, and use a fur and leather cleaner for anything more. No beater bars, no steam, no alkaline detergent on either.
Do alpaca rugs shed?
A cut-pile alpaca or blend sheds loose fiber for the first few months, less than a wool of the same construction because the fiber is smoother, and then settles. A pelt sheds a little when new and should not be vacuumed with a rotating brush.
Are alpaca rugs hypoallergenic?
The fiber carries almost no lanolin, so clients who react to wool's lanolin usually tolerate alpaca. It is still a protein hair fiber and still holds dust like any pile; a flatwoven alpaca is the better choice for an allergy-conscious bedroom, and the carpet and allergies guide covers the rest.
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