SILK PRODUCTION
The most spoiled worm in existence
Producing silk involves two essential components. Number one is the care of the domesticated silkworm (Bombyx Mori) from the egg stage through creation of the cocoon. Number two is the growing of Mulberry trees, whose leaves provide the food for the worms. The silkworm builds its cocoon by surrounding itself with a long continuous fibre or filament. From spinnerets in its head, two filaments are bound together to form a single filament. The two components are fibroin, a protein material, and sericin, a gummy substance that is the cement.
Silk is a continuous filament within each cocoon, having a usable length of 600 to 900 metres (2000-3000 feet). It is freed from the cocoon by softening the sericin and the locating the filament end. When tourists visit silk factories they will take the silk strand and manually stretch it out to its full length by having numerous people gently string it out (2000 + feet). Modern techniques are mechanical, by reeling or unwinding several cocoons at the same time and twisting the filaments together. Several silk strands twisted together form a thicker, stronger yarn. Various yarns are produced differing by the amount of fibres and the different twists that are used.
Silk containing sericin is called raw silk. To remove the gummy substance, the silk is boiled in soapy water. What remains is a yarn which is very soft and lustrous. This is the stage we purchase our silk. Silk in this form is completely non-allergenic and is resistant to mold, dust mites and mildew.
Silk in this stage is very strong, having a tensile strength greater than steel of the same thickness. Additionally because silk is very smooth, it does not readily retain soil making silk very easy to clean. The key things that can damage silk are bleach, high heat and prolonged exposure to sunlight (uv rays). Silk has been found in good condition in shipwrecks having lasted in the ocean for centuries.
Because of the durability and ease of care, silk quilts and doonas have been known to last a lifetime. Many Chinese seniors still have their original silk they were given as children.
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