When the surface color of a rug has dulled, shearing may be a good way to restore the original color and luster.  Shearing must be done carefully, so that the surface of the rug is even.  The right side of this image shows the surface of a rug that has faded due to age and sunlight.  The left side of the image shows where the rug has been shorn; the color is bright and the surface of the rug is smooth.

The iron shearing blade is a traditional tool that our craftsman brought from Iran.  It is used to remove mere millimeters of yarn from the face of the rug as it is swiftly pushed across the surface.  The blade is sharpened frequently on the whetstone in order to achieve smooth, clean cuts.  As you can see in the photo, small fiber bits left on the blade after shearing are not much larger than dust particles.