Bohemian plat rugs, Swedish plat rugs, Naalbinding rugs have all been known as “toothbrush” rugs. These rugs are awfully similar in their construction and are traditionally made with a tool that was the flat handle of a wooden toothbrush. A toothbrush was used for rug making because it might be evolved for this reason. Acquire a carpet runner here.
To create the Swedish and Bohemian braids, both a notch and a hole had to be cut in the handle of the toothbrush, except for Naalbinding only a hole needed to get cut. Button hooks, crochet hooks or lacing needs can also be used to make Swedish and Bohemian braids.
All of these “toothbrush” rugs are made from short strips of fabric ( rag strips ) employing a method whereby the strips are laced through the loops of strips and drawn through the rugs. What differentiates the 3 types of rugs from one another is the pattern of the loopings and lacings. In fact, different patterns can be formed even amongst the 3 different methods.
Bohemian plat rugs are also called Beggar’s plat and they are manufactured by a sequence of loops and knots which appear quite straightforward. The traditional rugs of this type are made with short strips of cotton fabric. The front of the rug looks like a flat wrap rug with a basketweave texture, whereas the back side of the rug has a braided appearance. The rug becomes so stiff, that it does not appear like it is created of light weight cotton strips.
The modern bohemian braid rugs are not toothbrush rugs and are made with continuing strips of fabric. It looks like the traditional Bohemian braid, but should probably be classified as a type of chain plat. This rug is also extraordinarily stiff, but it can be adjusted to use with yarns.
The Swedish plat rugs are made like the conventional Bohemian plat they are worked from two laced loops rather than one. They also look rather different from Bohemian braid rugs in that the front texture of a Swedish braid rug resembles a coiled basketweave and the other side is a sequence of knots which are close together.
Naalbinding rugs are made employing a similar method to the Swedish plat rugs that basically originated in Scandinavia. They are worked with short strips of fabric which are worked in a sequence of loops. This method was first used to make durable mittens from yarns that had been recycled from worn out sweaters or other knitted items. These sorts of rugs are not stiff like the other toothbrush rugs because they are formed by twisting one loop around the thumb, thus forming a stretch in the rug. These rugs appear very like braided-in rugs. Bargain shopping for quality carpet runners.
Tags: carpet runner, cotton fabric, toothbrush rugs, traditional rugs, weight cotton