How to Tell Real Handloom from a Power Loom Copy
Look at the selvedge, the back of the fabric and the small irregularities — three checks that take ten seconds.
Handloom costs more because a person sat at a loom for days. Three quick checks tell you whether that happened.
The back of the fabric
On a handloom the reverse shows loose floating threads where the weft turns. A power loom cuts them cleanly.
Irregularities
Slight variation in the weave is the point, not a defect. Perfectly even repetition across six metres means a machine.
The selvedge
Handloom selvedges are slightly uneven and often have a small woven mark. Buy from sellers who name the weaving cluster — Chanderi, Maheshwar, Bhagalpur — rather than saying only 'handloom'.