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The Dougs learn about Education and Washing Rugs

ByBunyaad
Students lined up for the beginning of the school day at St. John's.
Students lined up for the beginning of the school day at St. John’s.
After a hearty breakfast at the Chaman home we walked across the street to visit St. John’s school. The school is on the same property as St. John’s church. The school has 168 students from Kindergarten to grade 10 and 13 teachers. Families that can afford to pay a small monthly tuition. Families that can’t afford to pay can send their children for free. The Principal, Ms. Mehrul Nisa, said that 60% of the students go on to college.

Eager students getting ready for a day of study at St. John's.
Eager students getting ready for a day of study at St. John’s.

Many more students would like to attend St. John’s but the school has very limited space. The local public school is quite far away, crowded and does not match the quality of education at St. John’s. Bunyaad’s ongoing support of St. John’s helps the school to provide top notch education for families living in the Saeed Park community.

Design and Finishing Departments

Later in the morning we drove over to the Bunyaad office and warehouse. We had time to watch and visit with folks in the design and finishing departments.

Imran is combing the fringe straight before trimming.
Imran is combing the fringe straight before trimming.
Imran cutting the fringe to proper length.
Imran cutting the fringe to proper length.
Imran working on final small details of a 4 x 6 foot tree of life Persian rug.
Imran working on final small details of a 4 x 6 foot tree of life Persian rug.
Imran trimming the edge of the pile along the fringe.
Imran trimming the edge of the pile along the fringe.

In the design room workers were perfecting new designs and writing Talam for new rugs to be produced.

Peacock rug graph for rug that we saw on Ghulam Rasoom's loom in Chistian on Saturday.
Peacock rug graph for rug that we saw on Ghulam Rasoom’s loom in Chistian on Saturday.
New design being worked out in pencil.
New design being worked out in pencil.
Comparing painted rug graph to wool yarn that will used to knot the rug.
Comparing painted rug graph to wool yarn that will used to knot the rug.

Wajid’s Rug Washing Location

We walked a couple of blocks over to Wajid’s rug washing location to see how Bunyaad rugs are washed and cleaned before final finishing. Rugs are soaked in water, washed several times with a bleach solution, rinsed, washed again with a soap solution and rinsed again. Wajid and his crew washed an 8 x 10 foot Chobi for us. The whole process took over an hour for 5 men working really hard. After they were done, Wajid told us that some lesser quality Chobis take only 15 minutes to wash. He said that Bunyaad only brings top quality rugs for him to wash – by far the best quality in Wajid’s opinion.

Walking towards Wajid's rug washing operation.
Walking towards Wajid’s rug washing operation.
Burning the back of the carpet to get rid of extra wool fuzz.
Burning the back of the carpet to get rid of extra wool fuzz.
The propane fueled flame is hot but the rug doesn't burn because of the high lanolin content wool.
The propane fueled flame is hot but the rug doesn’t burn because of the high lanolin content wool.
After burning, the rug is flipped right side up and dowsed with water.
After burning, the rug is flipped right side up and dowsed with water.
A bleach solution is added to the wet rug with a watering can.
A bleach solution is added to the wet rug with a watering can.
The bleach solution is worked into the rug by vigorous brushing.
The bleach solution is worked into the rug by vigorous brushing.
Here's the business end of the brush – very sharp steel spikes.
Here’s the business end of the brush – very sharp steel spikes.
After rubbing in the bleach solution is scraped off with sharp metal squeegees (locally called a 'poorah')
After rubbing in the bleach solution is scraped off with sharp metal squeegees (locally called a ‘poorah’)
The rug is dowsed again with water and more bleach solution is added if more dirt needs to come out.
The rug is dowsed again with water and more bleach solution is added if more dirt needs to come out.
When the rug looks pretty clean it gets dowsed again and gets a good washing with soap.
When the rug looks pretty clean it gets dowsed again and gets a good washing with soap.
The soapy water gets scraped off.
The soapy water gets scraped off.
The scraping process is hard work and the water cascades out of the rug.
The scraping process is hard work and the water cascades out of the rug.
Finally the rug is brushed out with wire brushes that are similar to grooming brush for a horse. This gets all the loose wool fibers out of the rug.
Finally the rug is brushed out with wire brushes that are similar to grooming brush for a horse. This gets all the loose wool fibers out of the rug.

After the washing was done the rug was carried upstairs for drying.

The rug was laid flat on the roof
The rug was laid flat on the roof and gently brushed into the natural lay of the wool nap. It will stay on the roof until completely dry and then it will be delivered to Bunyaad.
Yousaf and Doug on the roof at Wajid's
Yousaf and Doug on the roof at Wajid’s watching a couple of rugs being repaired. Other rugs are in the background drying after being washed by Wajid and his crew.

A number of other rugs from other companies were on the roof as well so Wajid showed us a competitor’s Chobi that used machine spun wool and was only 5/5 or 6/6 quality (25 – 36 knots per square inch). In addition, the wool was lower quality so loose fibers could be pulled out of the rug. The Bunyaad Chobi was all handspun wool, 10/10 quality (100 knots per square inch), it weighed at least twice as much and no wool fibers could be pulled out of the rug. Again, Wajid commented that he does not see quality rugs like this from anyone else. These days, only Bunyaad makes 100% handmade, top quality Chobis.

Bunyaad rug is vastly superior
Bunyaad 10/10 quality Chobi on top and 6/6 quality Chobi with machine spun wool on the bottom. On close examination it’s obvious that the Bunyaad rug is vastly superior, and twice as heavy (more than twice as many knots per square inch).
The view from Wajid's roof.
The view from Wajid’s roof.
On the short walk back to Bunyaad.
On the short walk back to Bunyaad.
Yousaf sitting on the 'JAKCISS Company' motorcycle.
Yousaf sitting on the ‘JAKCISS Company’ motorcycle. Bunyaad’s official Chief Executive vehicle.

It was great to see the washing process at Wajid’s business today. Especially interesting to us was to hear Wajid declare that Bunyaad rugs are the best quality that he washes in Lahore. He washes rugs for several other clients and told us that no other company gives him better quality rugs to wash. In Wajid’s opinion, Bunyaad is the gold standard to handmade, 100% wool rugs. They are worth every penny our customers pay to own a Bunyaad rug.

Back at the office we enjoyed a great lunch and then headed out to attend our next wedding reception.

Wedding reception
Qaiser, Yousaf, the Groom & Bride, Ehsan, Kiran at the wedding reception hosted by the groom’s family.

Stay tuned for Doug’s next trip post

We hope you’ve been enjoying the notes, experiences and photos and have been able to follow our adventures on the Bunyaad blog so far. Stay tuned for more.

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Here is a link to all of the posts: Read Pakistan Learning Tour

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One Comment

  1. Today, you have brought me right back to our Learning Tour of more than ten years ago. Seeing the children at St. John’s again really made me smile. Thank you so much for the memories!

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