Is it Expensive To Start Tufting?

Necessary Tools

There are 7 main crucial pieces of equipment to be able to start tufting. One of the most important and probably the most expensive is Tufting Gun. There are different available models of guns in the market with a price range between 150$ – 500$. It is possible to find two different gun types with different operation modes, this is probably the first thing to consider before you choose your tufting gun. Cut Pile and Loop Pile. Of these two different types, the Cut Pile Gun is the most popular one without any doubt. You can find a detailed comparison of them here.

After the tufting gun, the tufting frame is the other tool that increases the initial investment cost of tufting. Of course, it is a cost that you only need to think about in the beginning, after you build your frame it would be possible to use it for a long period of time. It would be logical to upgrade it only when you would like to create different sizes of rugs. There are a couple of various ways to acquire a frame, you can build yourself from scratch, ask for help from a local carpenter or purchase a tufting frame starter kit. If you would like to build it yourself and save from the initial cost, you can check here. 

Primary tufting cloth, yarn, glue, and the backing cloth are the four most important elements which have a direct effect on the final quality of the rug. You can purchase all of them in a single visit to the local craft shop. Adittionly to this four, do not forget to buy scissors too if you do not already have one. 

You can find more information about the necessary tools in 7 Tools You Need To Start Tufting.

Non-Essentials

In addition to the 7 essential tools, there is a few extra pieces of equipment that can help in the tufting process and make all process easier and faster. Besides making the process faster or easier they can increase the quality of the final product It is not a must to purchase them in the early days of the tufting journey however they can provide great support along the way. A Projector and Carpet Shavers are two great examples of this category. Of course, there could be hundreds of different items, and tools in this list depending on your technique of rug making.

If you are trying to start tufting with a limited budget, it is highly suggested to skip these tools in the beginning.

How Much Does It Cost To Make A Rug?

After the initial cost when the tufting setup is ready, the next most important question would be this. Okay but how much actually cost to make a rug? There are four main materials that can influence the answer to this question, such as primary tufting cloth, yarn, backing cloth, and glue. It is not hard to say that yarn is one of the most important materials in rug making. So the quality and price of it would affect the cost of it dramatically. As a rough estimation, you will require 200 grams of yarn per square foot (30cm x 30cm) of a rug. But this can show differences depending on the thickness of the rug and the model of the tufting gun. It is always better to have some backup yarn in case. It is possible to purchase 200gr of yarn starting from 7$-10$ for the cheapest available option which is acrylic yarn. You can find more information about the yarns here.

In addition to the yarn, the other materials that you need to consider the cost are mainly tufting cloth and the backing material. For beginners, burlap can be a good option for the cloth due to its lower cost. However, if you prefer a higher quality material, the primary tufting cloth would be the best alternative in the market. It s possible to purchase primary tufting cloth for 8$ per square foot (30cm x 30cm). 

If you are trying to reduce the overall cost of the rug it is possible to skip the backing step in the rug-making process, it would still be possible to use it especially if you are creating a wall hanging piece feel free to skip it. But if you decide to apply a proper backing material for the rug, you can find a number of different alternatives. Check here to learn more about different types of backing materials. It would be realistic to estimate backing costs 4-5$ per square foot (30cm x 30 cm).

The other materials such as glue, and scissors would not have a dramatic effect on a single piece of the rug but in order to achieve more realistic results, we can add 2-3$ to the final cost of the rug per square foot (30cm x 30cm).

Finally, we can roughly estimate the cost for one square foot of a custom-made rug as 24-28$, of course, don’t forget that these numbers can change dramatically according to the quality of rug you want to achieve and your location around the world. We don’t include your time in our estimation, but since time isn’t worthless, you might want to estimate the total time required to complete a rug and add it to the cost calculation according to your hourly rate.