Zili Explained: How the Weave Makes the Pattern

Zili is a real place in the history of carpet weaving, and the name on a modern rug is a reference to a specific tradition rather than decoration. Here is what it refers to, and what the pattern is actually saying.

Where the design comes from

Zili is a float-weave in which the pattern weft skips over several warps at once, giving a distinctive ribbed, almost corduroy surface — a technique used across western Anatolia for covers and floor pieces.

In our range this sits in the Kilim & Flatweave collection. Kilim, cicim, sumak and zili — traditions with no pile at all, where the design is made by the weave itself and every diagonal has to climb in steps.

How to read the pattern

Compact repeating motifs in horizontal bands, the surface visibly ridged. The texture is part of the pattern, not a by-product.

Zili in a machine washable rug

A flatweave has no pile at all, so a pile rug imitating one is always an interpretation. The low chenille pile helps — it reads flat from standing height — but the slit-weave joins and the ridged surface of the original are a texture no pile construction reproduces exactly.

Our Zili designs are woven in chenille polyester on a woven cotton backing with a non-slip finish. That construction is what makes the rug washable at 30°C in a domestic machine — there is no latex or rubber layer to crack, and no wool to felt. It is a genuinely different object from the hand-knotted rugs the name refers to, and it is meant to be: one is an heirloom, the other is a floor covering you can put in the wash.

Colours it comes in

We currently weave 1 Zili design, across 2 colour families — red & burgundy and orange & terracotta. Prices run from £50 for the 60 × 100 cm to £185 for the 200 × 300 cm, with delivery to the UK and Europe included.

What size to buy

Tribal geometry reads well at any size, and it is one of the few design families that genuinely works as a runner: the pattern climbs the rug rather than radiating from a centre.

Every design is woven in all ten sizes: 60 x 100, 80 x 150, 100 x 200, 120 x 180, 80 x 300, 100 x 300, 155 x 230, 200 x 300, 160 round, 200 round cm. We would put Zili in the living room, the dining room, the kitchen and the hallway before anywhere else.

Common questions

Is this the same as a hand-knotted Zili?

No. A hand-knotted Zili is a different object entirely — tied by hand in wool or silk, often over months, and priced accordingly. What we make is a power-woven washable rug that uses the Zili design vocabulary. The pattern is the inheritance; the construction is modern.

What colours does Zili come in?

2 colour families — red & burgundy and orange & terracotta. We file a rug under the colour it reads as across a room, not the colour covering the most area, so an ivory ground with strong blue motifs is listed under blue.

Where should a Zili rug go?

The living room, The dining room, The kitchen and The hallway suit it best. Anchor the sofa and coffee table. Because it washes at 30°C, the rooms most people avoid putting a rug in — kitchen, hallway, under a dining table — are the ones where it earns its keep.

Living with it

• Machine washable at 30°C on a gentle cycle — sizes up to 120 × 180 cm fit a standard 7 kg drum.
• Non-slip woven cotton backing: no separate underlay needed on wood, tile or laminate.
• Low pile, so robot vacuums pass over it without snagging.
• No latex, glue or rubber crumb — nothing to break down into dust.
• Dry flat or over a rail. Never tumble dry.