Backings Available

We print our patterns on either premium, Belgian linen or primitive, Angus burlap.  We base our opinion on almost 30 years experience plus teaching hundereds of people to hook.

For ease of hooking, durability and minimal lint, we like linen.  It IS a bit more expensive, but the cost of the backing is minor compared to the cost of the wool to hook your rug.  It doesn't make sense to cut corners on your rug foundation.

For smaller rugs and decorative items that will not receive a great deal of wear, Angus burlap is a good choice if you wish to use a less expensive alternative.  Ease of hooking is next down from our linen, especially for #8 (1/4") and wider cuts.

We do not use either monk's cloth or rug warp for several reasons. 

Monk's cloth is very stretchy and harder to maintain taut.  This contributes to both making it a little harder to pull even loops and also to a tendency toward "packing" loops, especially common with newer hookers.  It's easy to pack but hard to make a packed rug lie flat.  Edges, particularly, are prone to "ruffling."  It is also easy to mount the monk's cloth on the frame off-grain.  Once hooked, it is difficult if not impossible to permanently straighten the rug.

Rug warp, another cotton rug foundation/backing, is sturdier and heavier than monk's cloth.  It is harder to hook a perfect loop in warp than in any of the other backings.  Even a #8 (1/4") cut is harder to hook and definitely #8.5 or larger quite problematic. Use this foundation only if you are hooking with very narrow to medium width strips, from #3 to #6.

Aside from being harder to hook wide cuts into, I have found that you need to pull your loops much higher in the warp than in the linen to not only form nice loops but also to hide the bright warp color or prevent it from peeking through.  That means you will be using much more wool, the most expensive component of the rug. So, if you are purchasing rug warp to save a few dollars on the backing, consider that you will be spending much more on the wool.  Which would you rather do?