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House Furnishing and Decorating: Carpet

Rag Carpet.-This is the cheapest carpet of all and can readily be made on a hand loom at home. It makes a thick and serviceable covering for the floors of kitchen or living rooms in winter. To make rag carpet, use a warp of strong cotton thread, and weave in any kind of rags twisted into small rolls.

To Color Rag-carpet Warp.-First use a strong cotton yarn reeled into skeins of five knots. About one skein to the yard of carpet will be required, with about three knots additional for binding at the end of each breadth.

For tan color first soak the warp thoroughly with lime water; next boil it in a brass or copper kettle in a strong solution of extract of hemlock bark in water. This is used by tanners for making leather, and may be obtained through a tanner or dealer in dye stuff.

For black color soak the warp in strong copperas water instead of lime water, and use iron or tin vessels instead of brass or copper. Afterwards boil in the hemlock solution.

For slate color use weaker solutions of copperas and hemlock. For brown use a weak solution of copperas and a strong solution of hemlock. Thus, by a little experimenting, the shades of color may be varied at will.