Zapotec Rug Weaving in Oaxaca, Mexico 🇲🇽

Zapotec Rug Weaving in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Zapotec woolen rugs are one of the popular handicrafts to purchase in Mexico. You'll find them for sale at shops throughout Mexico and also outside of the country, but the best place to buy them is in Oaxaca, where you can visit the home studios of weaving families and see all the hard work that goes into creating these works of art. Most of the Oaxacan rugs and tapestries are made in Teotitlan del Valle, a village located some 30 km east of Oaxaca City.
Most of the Zapotec rugs are made of wool, with a cotton warp, although some other fibers are also used on occasion. There are some very special pieces that are woven in silk. Some weavers have been experimenting with the addition of feathers to their woolen rugs, incorporating some ancient techniques.
The weavers of Teotitlan del Valle purchase wool in the market. The sheep are bred higher up in the mountains, in the Mixteca Alta area, where temperatures are colder and the wool grows thicker. They wash the wool with a root called amole (soap plant or soaproot), a natural soap which is very bitter and, according to the local weavers, serves as a natural insecticide, keeping pests away.
When the wool is clean and dry, it is carded by hand, and then spun with a spinning wheel. Then it is dyed.