Rug Color Re-Dyeing
Color, returned.
Patina, preserved.
Sun-faded field? Patchy border? We match natural vegetable and chrome dyes to the rug’s original palette, applied with hand brushes — not dunks or sprays.
Starting price
Quoted on inspection — free estimate.
Small localized fades. Large field re-dyes quoted after inspection.
Typical time on bench
Sample dyeing, color iteration, application, wash, and dry cycles.
Door-to-door
Pickup, dye work, conservation wash, delivery. Free pickup Bay-wide.
Every project is quoted after inspection. See the pricing table.
What is color re-dyeing?
Bringing a faded rug back without erasing it.
Color re-dyeing is the hand-applied restoration of color to a rug that has faded from sun, wear, or an earlier attempted cleaning. Most commonly the need is localized: an area near a south-facing window where ten years of UV have washed the reds into dusty pink, or a traffic line down a runner where foot pressure and dust have dulled the navy. Whole-rug re-dyeing is rare; targeted work is the norm.
We use two dye families. Natural vegetable dyes — madder, indigo, walnut, weld, pomegranate — for antique rugs whose original palette was vegetable-dyed. Chrome dyes for modern wool rugs whose original dyes were chemical. The match matters both for color fidelity and for lightfastness; a vegetable dye applied over chrome can look perfect on day one and fade wrong by year two.
Every re-dye is reversible in principle. We apply dye with hand brushes to the pile only, not the foundation, and only after a sample iteration approved by you. If the color doesn’t match exactly, we can wash the sample out and re-mix — and that is part of the process we charge for honestly.
Our process
Five steps to a matched color.
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Assess
Identify the dye family (vegetable vs. chrome) with a spot test. Map the fade with photos under daylight. Identify the target color from a protected section of the rug.
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Match materials
Mix dye on a sample wool clip pulled from the rug. Iterate — often 3 to 5 samples — until the color reads correctly in daylight and under the rug’s actual room lighting.
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Execute
Hand-brush dye onto the pile tips only, building color in thin layers. Heat-set between layers. Bottom of the pile and foundation stay untouched.
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Blend & finish
Light conservation wash to set dye and check for runoff. Flat air-dry 48 hours. Brush and groom the pile to blend the new color into the original field.
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Quality review
A second master weaver inspects the color under daylight, bench light, and at arm’s length. If the match isn’t invisible, we wash it out and redo.
Before & after
Fifty years of sun, reversed.
A 1950s Kashan with south-facing fade — reds restored with matched vegetable madder dye.
What we work on
Re-dyeing by rug type.
- Persian — Kashan, Tabriz, Kerman (vegetable)
- Oriental — Turkish, Chinese (chrome or vegetable)
- Silk — color-lock treatment before dyeing
- Wool — localized and whole-field dyes
- Antique — original dye family identified first
- Navajo and tribal — natural indigo and weld
- Modern hand-knotted — chrome and acid dyes
- Designer — custom color shifts for interiors
Insurance & estimates
Free estimates. Safe for antiques.
UV fading is typically not covered by homeowner insurance, but fading from a water or fire event often is — when the bleach or chemical in the cleanup degraded dyes, that is a reimbursable restoration. We bill State Farm, Allstate, AAA, Farmers, and most Bay Area carriers directly. All dye work is safe for antiques when the original dye family is correctly identified — which is why we always sample-test first.
Service areas
Free pickup & delivery across the Bay Area.
Color FAQ
Common questions.
Will the colors match exactly?
When the sample matches, the application matches. We iterate the sample 3 to 5 times before committing — typically a half-day of bench time. The final match is judged in the lighting of the rug’s actual room.
Is re-dyeing safe for antique rugs?
Yes, when done with the same dye family as the original. Vegetable-dyed antiques get vegetable re-dyes; chrome-dyed modern rugs get chrome. The wrong family mismatches lightfastness and can look off within a year.
How long does the new color last?
Properly matched and heat-set, 20 to 30 years — effectively as long as the original dyes, because they are effectively the same chemistry. UV exposure is the main wear factor; keep the rug out of direct sun to extend it further.
Can you change a rug’s color entirely?
Technically yes, but we usually discourage it on a valuable rug. Re-dyeing to restore original colors is restoration. Changing colors entirely is closer to art than conservation and drops collector value.
Can you fix bad amateur color work?
Often yes. Amateur work usually over-dyes with the wrong family, creating visible tonal shifts. We identify what was used, wash most of it out, and re-apply with the correct dye family.
Will the dye bleed when cleaned later?
No, if we did the work. Heat-setting after application locks the dye. We perform a rinse test in our own wash before delivery to confirm no runoff.
Send us a photo
Bring it in or send a photo for a free estimate.
Photos in natural daylight of the faded area and a protected section is all we need to scope the color match.