Guide · For the trade
Kilim rugs: what a kilim is, kilim vs dhurrie, and how to specify one
Kilim rugs are pileless, weft-faced flatweaves, traditionally wool on a wool or cotton warp, woven in Turkey, Iran, the Caucasus and Afghanistan with a slit-tapestry technique that leaves a tiny gap wherever two colors meet. A kilim is 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick, reversible, and lighter than a pile rug of the same size by half; it belongs under a dining table, in an entry, on a stair, or layered under a pile rug, and it is a geometric rug almost by definition, because the slit technique cannot draw a curve.
This guide is for the designer or the junior putting a kilim into a scheme, or deciding between a kilim, a dhurrie and a pile rug for the same floor. It covers the weave and what the word means, kilim versus dhurrie in numbers, where a kilim works and where it does not, sizing, the pad, and the care instructions to hand the client. The broader flatweave family, including the pad detail that stops corners curling, is in the flatweave rugs guide; this page is the kilim itself.
What is a kilim?
The word is Turkish, from the Persian gelim, and it means a flatwoven rug with no knotted pile. The weaver passes colored weft threads back and forth over the warp only where that color appears in the design, then turns back. Where two colors meet along a vertical line the wefts do not interlock, which leaves the slit the trade calls slit-weave or slit-tapestry. Weavers keep those slits short by stepping the design diagonally, which is why kilim patterns are built from diamonds, hooks, zigzags and stepped medallions rather than vines and flowers. A kilim is woven on a wool warp in the tribal traditions and on a cotton warp in most of what is made for export today, and the pattern is identical on both faces.
Two relatives get called kilims and are not: a soumak is weft-wrapped, with a raised braided surface and a shaggy back, and a dhurrie is the Indian cousin, the one a designer is most often choosing between.
Kilim vs dhurrie: the comparison in numbers
| Attribute | Kilim | Dhurrie |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Turkey, Iran, Caucasus, Afghanistan, Balkans | India |
| Fiber | Wool weft, wool or cotton warp | Cotton, or wool on cotton |
| Technique | Slit-tapestry, colors stepped on the diagonal | Interlocked or dovetailed weft, so stripes and straight color changes run clean |
| Thickness | 1/8 to 1/4 in | 1/8 to 3/16 in |
| Hand | Dense, slightly stiff, wool-warm | Flatter, softer, cooler underfoot in cotton |
| Pattern | Tribal geometrics, saturated madder reds, indigo, ochre | Stripes, lattices, pastel and chalk colors |
| Traffic | Wool wears well; slits are the weak point under a chair leg | Cotton soils faster and flattens; wool dhurries wear like a kilim |
Specify a kilim when the client wants color, age and a tribal geometry, and a dhurrie when the room wants a quieter stripe or lattice in a lighter palette. Both are reversible; flipping the rug every year or two doubles its life.
Vintage, antique and new kilim rugs
A good share of the kilim market is vintage: Turkish and Afghan pieces 40 to 80 years old, cleaned and often repaired, in the odd sizes the looms produced, 4x6 to 6x10 and long narrow runners; antique, in the trade, means over 100 years. A vintage kilim is the answer when the room wants a one-off with faded, uneven color and the designer can accept the size that exists. New kilim rugs, woven today in Turkey, India and Afghanistan to standard sizes, are the answer when the plan needs an 8x10 or a 9x12 exactly, a matching runner, or two of the same piece. Wool kilim-pattern flatweave broadloom, cut and bound to any size in 3 to 5 weeks, is the third route and the one we use for dining rooms over 10 by 14 feet; it is among our 332 flatweave styles from Prestige Mills, Bellbridge and Stanton.
Where a kilim is the right rug
Under a dining table, because chair legs slide over a flatweave and crumbs vacuum off it. In an entry or a mudroom, where its 1/4 inch thickness clears a door swing a pile rug would not. On a stair as a runner, waterfall-installed over a 1/4 inch dense pad. Layered, as a 9x12 base under a 6x9 hand-knotted piece or a 5x8 top layer over sisal. In a kitchen, as a 2.5x8 or 3x10 runner along the island. A kilim is wrong where the client wants softness underfoot, the bedroom and the family room, and under a heavy, small-footed piece of furniture; a slit under a cabinet leg will open.
Kilim rug sizes and the 70 percent rule
Kilims are sized like any other rug. In a living room the rug should cover about 70 percent of the floor the furniture occupies, with at least the front legs of every seat on it; in a dining room it should extend 24 inches beyond the table edge on every side so chairs stay on the rug when pulled out; against the walls, keep 18 inches of floor showing. Vintage pieces rarely hit a standard size, so draw the plan around the rug, or move the vintage kilim to a hall and put a new 8x10 or 9x12 where the furniture plan is fixed.
The pad and what to tell the installer
A kilim without a pad will creep, ruck and curl. Specify a thin felt-and-rubber pad, 1/8 to 1/4 inch, cut 1 inch inside the rug on all four sides, rubber face down on wood and stone; over wall-to-wall carpet, a rug-on-carpet pad with a textured face. Tell the installer to lay the face with the cleaner selvedge up and to weight the corners for 48 hours after unrolling. Corners that still lift after a week get rug tape under the pad, not on the rug.
Questions designers ask
What does the word kilim mean?
Kilim is the Turkish word for a flatwoven, pileless rug; it comes from the Persian gelim. In the trade it means specifically a slit-tapestry flatweave in wool from Anatolia, Persia, the Caucasus or Central Asia, as distinct from a dhurrie, a soumak or a Scandinavian rölakan, which are flatweaves of other techniques.
What is the 70 percent rule for rugs, and does it apply to a kilim?
The rug should cover roughly 70 percent of the floor area the furniture group occupies, so the seating sits on it rather than around it. It applies to a kilim the same as to a pile rug; the only difference is that vintage kilims come in the sizes they were woven, so the designer sometimes chooses the room for the rug.
Where should a designer source a kilim?
Through a to-the-trade showroom that can show a new kilim in a standard size with a matching runner, a kilim broadloom for a custom size, and the pad and installation in the client's city; for a one-off vintage piece, a specialist dealer who photographs both faces and discloses repairs. Interiors ships kilim and flatweave samples from the mill within 24 hours to trade accounts.
Can a kilim rug be washed in a washing machine?
No. A wool kilim with natural or vegetable dyes will bleed, felt and shrink in a machine, and the slits will distort. Tell the client to vacuum without a beater bar, blot spills with cold water and a white cloth, and send the rug out for a flat hand wash every three to five years. Small cotton dhurries, under 4x6, are the only flatweaves that survive a cold gentle machine cycle, and even those lose some color.
Browse: flatweave rugs · geometric rugs · runners · flatweave rugs guide · dhurrie rugs guide