In keeping with the popular style of home decorating, many rugs have been ‘antiqued’ to give them an ‘aged’ appearance. This antique appearance is created using several techniques.
First, the weavers use yarn from a mixture of dye lots of varying colorations for a more faded and muted color palette. This results in varying degrees of colors throughout the rug, called ‘abrash’. Abrash is usually seen in horizontal rows across the rug, as the weavers tie the yarn in rows (with fringe at top and bottom).
In addition to abrash, most modern day antique style rugs are finished with a special process called an herbal wash. This washing process provides a tint to the colors in the rug that give it a more ‘warm’ and ‘earthy’ appearance, as opposed to bright, vivid colorations.
If you purchase a rug with “abrash” or antiqued finishing from RugStudio, rest assured, there is nothing wrong with your rug. The weavers intentionally added these techniques and it is not considered a defective or damaged rug.
This Karastan rug is an excellent example of modern day antiquing.
RugStudio.com 
My fiance and I ordered the “starburst” round rug in October 2010 and loved everything about it. It looks beautiful in the kitchen on our marble floor. The colors are vivid and the quality is outstanding. Very thick! We have recieved so many compliments! Prompt shipping. I was online this morning looking for another rug to go on our livingroom floor and found another beautiful gem. This time we ordered from the sale section and couldnt believe the great price! Very excited about recieving our new rug! Thank you so much and looking forward to our future purchases.