Linen warps are used in a few handmade fabrics because they are stronger than cotton and do not shrink. Flax is also used today by one domestic manufacturer for an attractive and durable flat weave.

Silk
In certain regions where silk was plentiful, such as China and in the neighborhood of Kashan near the Caspian Sea, rugs were occasionally made with silk pile and often with silk warps and wefts.

Silk pile was used in the fabulously beautiful Polanaise carpets, but it is too delicate to be really suitable for floorcover­ings. It is practically never employed in machine-made rugs