Wool carpet mottled

The special weave turns the soft virgin wool into a firm, voluminous carpet one centimeter thick. Strong cotton yarn is used as the warp, and in the weft the thick wool yarn forms "bobbles" or nubs in places, creating a distinctive texture that feels pleasantly cushiony underfoot. Combined with the mottled gray tones, this creates a beautiful, vibrant surface. Nevertheless, the carpet fits well into any style of living - whether minimalist and Scandinavian clear or colorful playful.

The wool carpet is woven in India, where Finarte has been working with hand weavers since the 1990s and thus supports not only the local people, but also the continuation of the traditional weaving craft. The new wool comes from Egypt, where it is obtained mulesing-free. Pure new wool is extremely suitable for carpets: the hard-wearing natural material is abrasion-resistant, lint-free and, thanks to the scaly surface of the wool fibers, also dirt-repellent and has a self-cleaning effect. Regular vacuuming or careful beating is therefore sufficient; in the case of larger soiling, it is recommended to take the carpet to the cleaners.

Who hasn't heard of the colorful Finnish rag rug - but its inventor Eija Rasinmäki is less well known. Ever since she was given a loom by her mother, herself a weaver, at a young age, she has been enthusiastic about carpet weaving and later turned her passion into a profession. From the very beginning, back in 1970, she used recycled cotton or wove from remnants - long before the term upcycling was coined. Together with her husband, she founded Finarte in 1985 to offer affordable yet high-quality rugs produced in a resource-conserving way. While she initially designed all of her rugs herself, she now works with a range of different designers. The common thread in her designs is the combination of traditional Finnish weaving craftsmanship with modern Finnish design.

Since the 1990s, Finarte has had its carpets manufactured in India, a conscious decision for the production location: where the cotton is grown, processed and upcycled, it should also be woven. The company obtains selvedge remnants, production overhangs and offcuts from the textile industry, recycles them and then weaves them into carpets. This saves around 11,000 liters of water per kilogram of recycled cotton - the amount that would be needed to produce one kilogram of fresh cotton. In upcycling, a wide variety of cotton scraps, mostly from the clothing industry, are shredded into fibers and spun into new yarn. In addition to recycled and upcycled cotton, Finarte uses other natural materials such as virgin wool, jute and leather scraps, and since 2018 has also been producing carpets from PET material obtained from recycled plastic bottles.