Do you have a few silk garments or items in your home that you absolutely love? If you do, you probably want more, since silk is so elegant and comfortable.
But have you ever wondered how silk is made? It’s quite a fascinating process.
Unlike cotton or other natural fibers, silk is produced by living creatures; silkworms. And the process of harvesting and making silk has existed for thousands of years.
So how is silk made into fabric? And what makes silk such a coveted fabric? Keep reading to find out.
Why People Love Silk
Around the globe, people regard silk as a high-end, luxurious fabric. Because of how it’s processed, silk is an expensive fabric. It’s likely you won’t have all of your clothing and accessories made from silk. People reserve silk for special occasions or areas you’d like to splurge.
Silk is super soft and comfortable. When you touch it, you don’t want to let go.
It also looks incredible as it sports a nice sheen. Plus, silk is very durable, especially for being a natural fiber.
What Is Silk Used For?
Silk is a popular fabric choice for many different applications. The elegant appearance and drapery of silk make it the perfect fabric choice for wedding gowns.
Ties, scarves, and other high-end apparel accessories are also made from silk. Silk is durable and allows for tightly woven patterns and lively colors.
Bedding is what most people think of when they consider silk fabric. They are ultra-soft and naturally absorbent making them ideal for bed sheets. Sleeping on silk is the definition of comfort and luxury.
Where Does Silk Come From?
Silk originated in ancient China, where the renowned fabric was reserved for the emperor. This is why the ancient path from the East to the West was known as the Silk Road. Today, other Asian and European countries produce silk.
So how is silk harvested? It starts by feeding silkworms mulberry leaves. After the worms molt a few times, they will form a cocoon made of silk, which is ultimately what is used to produce silk fabric.
How Silk Is Made
Once the silkworms have produced a silk cocoon, harvesters drop them into boiling water, which kills the worm and prepares removes the sticky gum holding the silk together. After boiling, the cocoon is brushed in order to extra the silk filament.
Individual silk filaments are then bound together into thread and spun onto reels. At this point, you have raw silk, ready to be sold and shipped to manufacturers to produce goods.
How many silkworms are needed to produce a useable amount of filament? It takes about 2,500 worms just to produce 1 pound of raw silk. No wonder this fabric is expensive.
A single silkworm can lay up to 1,000 eggs at a time, producing a lot of worms once hatching begins. Each cocoon made by the worms contains a single silk filament that measures about a mile in length.
Supernatural Silkworms
So how is silk made? Thanks to the natural abilities of the tiny, marvelous creature we know as silkworms, they make the fabric for us.
We just have to extract the fabric from the cocoons and get it ready for use. It would be pretty fun to watch how silk is made, especially considering that the process today resembles that of the ancient methods.
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