Bohemian braid rugs, Swedish plat rugs, Naalbinding rugs have all been known as “toothbrush” rugs. These rugs are really 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. Bargain shopping for a carpet runner here.
To create the Swedish and Bohemian plats, both a nick and a hole had to be cut in the handle of the toothbrush, but for Naalbinding only a hole needed to get cut. Button hooks, crochet hooks or lacing wishes can also be used to make Swedish and Bohemian plats.
All of these “toothbrush” rugs are made of short strips of fabric ( rag strips ) using a technique wherein the strips are laced through the loops of strips and drawn thru the rugs. What differentiates the 3 sorts of rugs from one another is the pattern of the loopings and lacings. Actually, different patterns can be built even amongst the 3 different methods.
Bohemian braid rugs are also called Beggar’s plat and they are made by a sequence of loops and knots which appear quite straightforward. The standard rugs of this sort 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 reverse side of the rug has a platted appearance. The rug becomes so stiff, that it doesn’t seem as though it is formed of light weight cotton strips.
The modern bohemian braid rugs aren’t toothbrush rugs and are made with continuing strips of fabric. It looks like the normal Bohemian braid, but should possibly be classified as a variety of chain plat. This rug is also terribly stiff, but it can be adjusted to use with yarns.
The Swedish braid rugs are made like the conventional Bohemian braid , however , they’re worked from two laced loops instead of one. They also look somewhat different from Bohemian braid rugs in the front texture of a Swedish plat rug resembles a coiled basketweave and the back side is a sequence of knots which are close together.
Naalbinding rugs are made using a similar method to the Swedish braid rugs that basically originated in Scandinavia. They are worked with short strips of fabric which are worked in a sequence of loops. This technique was first used to make durable mittens from yarns that had been recycled from worn out sweaters or other knitted items. These types of rugs are not stiff like the other toothbrush rugs because they are formed by twisting one loop round the thumb, thus forming a stretch in the rug. These rugs appear very like braided-in rugs. Get hold of carpet runners.