A genuine hand made Turkish Carpet from the Milas region will enhance any room. The styles and design date back as far as the 17th century and antique carpets from this region are very sought after.

Milas is a small town close to the Aegean coast in the southwest of Turkey. While Milas itself was once a major producer of carpets, contemporary Milas carpets are now only produced in the villages surrounding the town.

 The warp, weft and pile are all of pure wool, often from the villagers own sheep.

Even the dyes are produced from natural local materials. The yarn is boiled with the color producing material until the desired depth of color is reached. Details of the materials used during the dying process are included on our carpet dyes page.

The look and feel of a genuine hand made Turkish Carpet cannot be matched by any machine made carpet. The use of all natural materials, the minute difference between each knot and each row and the varying skill of the weaver all combine to produce not just a carpet but a work of art that can be treasured for a lifetime.

Each row in even a small carpet can take twenty minutes or so to complete. After tying, each knot is rough cut with a knife and after all the knots in one row have been tied, two spacing threads are loosely woven into the warp, each row is then compacted using a heavy wooden comb .

Finally the rough cut pile is trimmed using traditional Turkish scissors that have a special depth gauge that determines the thickness of the pile.

There are paper patterns for each of the traditional designs though most weavers work from 'reading' the back of an existing carpet. Expert weavers only glancing occasionally at the template without the need to measure or count the number of knots for each color.

It is not unusual for Milas carpets to incorporate as many as twenty colors and shades in one carpet as can be seen in the picture above.

Most Milas carpets are woven using Ghiordes knots [left], the fineness of the knotting is usually between 90,000 to 200,000 knots per m².

The use of hand spun yarn and the number of knots per m², results in a rustic, country looking carpet.

The mixture of stylized motifs, geometric patterns and hard wearing natural wool pile make Milas carpets suitable for everyday use in almost any room as well as making excellent wall hangings.

The predominantly 'earthy' and subtle colors will blend into almost any color scheme. A genuine Turkish Milas carpet is not just a piece of furniture, it is a work of art that will justifiably be admired by everyone.

A Milas carpet straight from the loom is not ready for use, though many are sold to unsuspecting tourists in their unfinished state, the finishing process actually consists of several more stages.

First the loose fibers on the back of the carpet are removed by singeing, the pile is shaved and polished to give the carpet a worn look, it is then washed, pinned down to set the shape and sun dried.

The pile surrounding the design motifs and panel borders is trimmed back to produce a subtle border line that gives an almost three dimensional look to the carpet.

Finally the loose ends of the carpet warp are braided and knotted. The fringe designs are also very traditional and are often the signature of the weaver. It is sometimes possible to trace the village and the marital status of the actual weaver by the style and design of a Milas carpets fringe.

Hand made Turkish carpets are much more durable than their synthetic, machine made and very distant cousins. Our hand made carpets with their natural materials and dyes will not shrink or fade if properly cared for. They can be washed in warm water with a mild detergent, are colorfast and can be left in the sun to dry.

Here in Turkey the 'family carpets' are often handed on from generation to generation, outliving their original owners several times over.

Unlike most things in life, a genuine Turkish carpet is forever.