Red Persian Carpets and Rugs

You might be curious in how Persian weavers have colored red yarn for so long and why these carpets have such strong hues. Persian carpets most frequently include the color red, which is produced by particular natural dyes. Different Persian rug designs and patterns come in a variety of red hues. Persian art and culture place a lot of significance on the color red, hence it was always crucial to them to get natural red pigments. While many other plants were used to dye fibers in varying shades of red, madder and cochineal dyes are the most common sources of red for Persian rug's fibers.

Madder is a summer-growing Eurasian shrub with lovely little yellow blooms and berries-like fruits. In India, madder has been used as a durable dye for millennia to color yarns and fabrics. The roots of this plant gradually gained popularity among prominent citizens as a superior red dye. The Persians traditionally employed a unique mordant known as "alum" to dye yarns with madder's root. Because of the strong bonds, this mordant creates between the pigments and the fibers, the colors are long-lasting and resistant. This enchanted plant develops several colors of red.

Cochineal is an insect that lives on cacti grown chiefly in tropical areas in South America (also India and the Mediterranean). The female cochineal contains acid carminic, the bug that makes carminic acid, which protects it from other insects. 17 to 24% of the bodies and eggs of dried insects can be removed for their carminic acid, which can then be combined with aluminum or calcium salts to create a carmine color. The carmine dye makes wonderful and brilliant red colors on natural fibers with high durability. Today carmine dye is used in dyeing unique handmade rugs, especially those woven with silk yarns, as they have high prices.