Multicolor Spiral Handwoven Rush Rug, Bolga Series

Along the Ganges in India there is a natural fiber the region calls the Golden Fibre, and the Bolga Series is woven from it. Multicolor Spiral Handwoven Rush Rug, 170 × 240 cm (5'7" × 7'10"), is a flatweave of coiled discs in earth beige, warm orange, red, mustard and deep green, made entirely by hand. The discs are the whole design. Each is a spiral coiled flat and bound in place, and they sit beside and over one another like braided rosettes laid on a floor, so the surface has depth with no pile at all.

01A question of size

Every coil turns in its own direction and no two are quite the same size, because they are made one at a time. The color is set into the fiber rather than laid over it, and the natural straw tone showing between the coils is what keeps five strong colors from arguing with each other. This is a flatweave, not a knotted rug, and it behaves differently.

02To make it last

It absorbs very little, which makes day-to-day cleaning simple, and it cannot be washed — water is what destroys a rush fiber. It also dislikes point loads: wheelchair casters and heels will break the coils, and the house prefers to say that before the sale rather than after it.

03Where it is laid

Keep it to entryways, conservatories, kitchens and the sort of room people arrive in rather than settle in, and it will hold its shape for years. Brush it, and keep it dry. Handwoven in India from natural rush fiber, along the Ganges. A flatweave of coiled discs — no pile, and depth built from the coils themselves. Earth beige, warm orange, red, mustard and deep green over natural straw tone. Very low absorbency, so day-to-day cleaning is easy. Not washable.

04Choosing the size

Water is what ruins this fiber. Heels and wheelchair casters will break the coils. 170 × 240 cm (5'7" × 7'10"); a 120 × 180 cm size is also made. An honest alternative for anyone shopping sisal and rush. Can this rug be washed? No.

05How it feels underfoot

Rush fiber loses its structure when it is soaked, so a Bolga rug is brushed and kept dry rather than washed. Its low absorbency means most spills sit on the surface long enough to be lifted off with a dry cloth. What is the Golden Fibre? It is the name given along the Ganges to the natural rush fiber this rug is made from.

06What it sits well with

It is harvested locally, worked while it is still pliable, and coiled and bound by hand into the discs that make up the surface. Where does a rug like this belong? Entryways, conservatories and kitchens, where it is walked across rather than lived on. It stands up to traffic and to dirt, and it does not stand up to concentrated weight from heels or caster wheels. Anyone who has looked at sisal and wanted something with color in it has been looking for this.