What every rug inspection covers
Rugs are counted, sampled and checked one piece at a time. Each sampled rug is unrolled or unfolded on a clean floor, left to relax, then measured and examined on both faces.
- Quantity and status. Finished, washed, bound and packed pieces by design, colour and size. Handmade orders are often still at the washing or finishing stage when the buyer expects them packed.
- Size and shape. Length and width at several points, both diagonals for squareness, and the shape of rounds and ovals.
- Lie. Whether the rug lies flat, or has rippled edges, curled corners, a bowed middle or a cupped centre.
- Face against the approved sample. Pile height, weave or knot density, design accuracy, colour and sheen under the same light.
- Back and edges. Backing cloth and latex on tufted rugs, knots and weft on handmade rugs, side binding, serging and fringes.
- Colour and wet behaviour. A wet white cloth rubbed on the face shows loose dye; washing faults show as streaks, rings or chemical odour.
- Labels and documents. Fibre content, country of origin, flammability labels where needed, and any certificate behind a claim.
- Packing. Rolled or folded as agreed, polybag, carton or hessian wrap, shipping marks, and dryness.
Sample sizes follow ISO 2859-1; see the AQL guide. Large rugs take longer per piece than small ones, so a sample of 50 room-size rugs needs more time than 50 bath mats. We confirm the number of man-days before you book.
How the checklist changes by construction
| Construction | How it is made | What the inspector adds |
|---|---|---|
| Hand-knotted | Each pile knot tied by hand around warp threads, then sheared, washed and stretched | Knot count on the back, knot type, shearing height, squareness after stretching, abrash against dye faults |
| Hand-tufted | Yarn shot through a cloth with a tufting gun, locked with latex and a secondary backing | Latex coverage and bond, tuft pull-out, odour, curling edges, carving depth |
| Flatweave | Weft woven through warp with no pile; dhurries, kilims and many cotton rugs | Waviness, pulled-in edges, slit openings on kilims, both faces, dye bleeding |
| Hand-loomed | Pile held in by the weft on a loom, not knotted, usually back-coated | Pile pull-out, back coating, width along the length, selvedge |
| Braided | Plaited strips coiled and laced or stitched together | Join strength between braids, flatness of ovals and rounds, shape |
| Machine-made | Machine-tufted, power-loom woven or printed, often from synthetic yarn | Uniformity across the roll or batch, pattern repeat, backing delamination |
Small formats have their own risks: bath mats are judged on backing grip after washing, and doormats on tuft retention and the bond to a PVC or rubber base. Runners are a size of every type above; on a long runner, straightness of the edges over the full length is checked as well.
What each fibre adds
The same construction behaves differently in another fibre, and the fibre name on the label is a legal claim.
- Wool. Shedding, moth and insect damage in storage, odour after washing, and moth-proofing treatments that need their own labels in the EU.
- Silk and viscose. Viscose is often sold as "art silk" or "bamboo silk". The label must name the real fibre; a burn test on loose yarn is a screen and a lab confirms it. Viscose also marks when wet.
- Cotton. Shrinkage and dye bleeding, which matter most when the rug is sold as washable. See cotton, chindi and rag rugs.
- Jute and coir. Moisture, mould, fibre dust and the oil smell of processing. See jute rugs.
- Polyester, polypropylene and recycled PET. Fade under sunlight, heat damage at sealed edges, and proof for any recycled-content claim. See outdoor rugs.
Market rules for rugs and carpets
An inspection checks labels, documents and what can be seen on the goods. Flammability and chemical tests are done by an accredited lab; we can pull and seal the samples.
| Market | Rule | What it means at the factory |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 16 CFR 1630 (carpets and rugs with one side over 6 ft and area over 24 sq ft) and 16 CFR 1631 (small carpets and rugs) | Methenamine pill test: at least 7 of 8 specimens must pass. A small rug that fails may still be sold with the permanent label "FLAMMABLE (FAILS U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE STANDARD FF 2-70): SHOULD NOT BE USED NEAR SOURCES OF IGNITION". Mats are included |
| United States | Textile Fiber Products Identification Act, 16 CFR 303 | Fibre names and percentages, origin and the maker's name or RN. Floor coverings may state the pile or face only, marked as such, with the backing exempt |
| United States | Wool Products Labeling Act | Does not apply to carpets, rugs and mats (15 USC 68j); wool rugs are labelled under the Textile Act |
| European Union | Regulation (EU) 1007/2011 | Fibre names from the regulation's list. On multi-layer floor coverings it covers the textile upper layer. See EU textile labelling |
| European Union | REACH and GPSR | Azo dyes and other restricted substances; REACH entry 72 does not cover rugs or wall-to-wall carpet. See REACH and GPSR |
| EU (wall-to-wall only) | EN 14041, harmonised standard under the Construction Products Regulation | CE marking and declaration of performance for installed textile floor coverings; loose-laid rugs, runners and mats are outside its scope |
Under 16 CFR 1630 and 1631, a one-of-a-kind rug, such as an antique or Oriental, may be excluded from testing under conditions set by the CPSC. A production order of repeated designs is not one of a kind. For market checklists, see importing into the USA and importing into the EU.
Child and forced labour due diligence
Carpets from India are on the US Department of Labor's List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor (2024 edition), listed for both. US law (19 USC 1307) bars entry of goods made wholly or in part with forced labour, including forced or indentured child labour. In the EU, Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 will ban products made with forced labour from 14 December 2027.
Handmade rugs are often woven on looms in villages and homes, not in the exporter's own building, so the exporter's unit may be only where rugs are washed, finished and packed. That matters for what any visit can show.
- A product inspection can record where the goods are finished, ask for the loom list and subcontractor details, and note any workers who appear to be under age at the site visited.
- A factory audit adds a scored capability review with basic social-compliance observations. It is not a SMETA or amfori BSCI audit.
- Certification schemes such as GoodWeave and Care & Fair are voluntary and run their own loom monitoring. Ask for the licence and the labels issued for your order.
None of these replaces a buyer's own due diligence on the full supply chain.
Where rugs are made in India
| Town | Status | Typical products |
|---|---|---|
| Bhadohi, Uttar Pradesh | Town of Export Excellence for carpets and other textile floor coverings (DGFT); Handmade Carpet of Bhadohi GI | Hand-knotted and hand-tufted rugs |
| Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh | Town of Export Excellence for handmade carpet and dari (Foreign Trade Policy 2023); Mirzapur Handmade Dhurrie GI | Hand-knotted rugs and dhurries |
| Panipat, Haryana | Town of Export Excellence for carpets, other textile floor coverings and bed linen (DGFT) | Flatweaves, tufted, hand-loomed, braided and cotton rugs, bath mats |
| Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir | Carpet producing centre (CEPC); Kashmir Handmade Carpet GI; Kashmir Namda and Kashmir Chain Stitch GIs | Hand-knotted wool and silk rugs, chain-stitch rugs, namdas |
| Jaipur, Agra, Gwalior, Jodhpur | Carpet producing centres listed by the Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) | Hand-knotted rugs, dhurries and cotton rugs |
| Alleppey (Kerala), Pollachi (Tamil Nadu) | Towns of Export Excellence for coir products (DGFT) | Coir doormats and mats |
Clear To Load is based in Jodhpur and has inspectors in Jaipur and Delhi NCR, and covers any town in India; travel is set by travel band. For towels, bed linen and other made-ups from the same towns, see home textile inspection in India. The product pages below cover each rug type in detail.
Sources
- eCFR: 16 CFR Part 1630, surface flammability of carpets and rugs
- eCFR: 16 CFR Part 1631, surface flammability of small carpets and rugs
- eCFR: 16 CFR Part 303, Textile Fiber Products Identification Act rules
- 15 USC 68j: Wool Act exception for carpets, rugs and mats
- US DOL: List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor (2024)
- Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 on products made with forced labour
- Regulation (EU) 1007/2011 on textile fibre names and labelling
- EN 14041:2018 scope (Estonian Centre for Standardisation)
- DGFT: Appendix 1B, Towns of Export Excellence
- DGFT: Foreign Trade Policy 2023 presentation (new TEEs incl. Mirzapur)
- CEPC: An Overview of Indian Handmade Carpet Industry (centres and GIs)
- IP India GI registry: Kashmir Namda (application 868)