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Silk
Silk is produced by silkworms, which are native to Asia and create their cocoons out of a strong elastic material that is collected and processed into silk fabric. This fabric can be used to make clothing, bedding, and other goods.
535 Questions
How is silk made into fabrics?
Production of Silk from Cocoon to Factory
Sericulture: The production of cocoon for their filament is called sericulture. The species Bombyx mori is usually cultivated and is raised under controlled condition of environment and nutrition. The life cycle of silk worm encircle in the four stages. The egg, the silk worm, the pupa and the moth. The silk worm which feeds on mulberry leaves forms a covering around it by secreting a protein like substance through its head. This stage is called cocoon, the desirable stage for the silk producers.
Filature operations: The cocoons raised by the farmer are delivered to the factory, called a filature, where the silk is unwound from the cocoons and the strands are collected into skeins. Some cocoons are scientifically bred in such factories. The filature operations consist of the following stages.
a) Sorting cocoons :
The cocoons are sorted according to the color, size, shape and texture as these affect the final quality of the silk. Cocoons may range from white and yellow to grayish.
b) Softening the Sericin : Silk filament is a double strand of fibroin, which is held together by a gummy substance called sericin or silk gum. After the cocoon has been sorted, they are put through a series of hot and cold immersions, as the sericin must be softened to permit the unwinding of the filament as one continuous thread.
c) Reeling the filament : Reeling is the process of unwinding the silk filaments from the cocoon and combining them together to make a thread of raw silk. As the filament of the cocoon is too fine for commercial use, three to ten strands are usually reeled at a time to produce the desired diameter of raw silk which is known as "reeled silk". The useable length of reeled filament is 300 to 600 m.
d) Bailing : The silk filament is reeled into skeins, which are packed in a small bundles called books, weighting 2 to 4.5 kg. These books are put into bales weighing about 60 kg. In this form raw silk is shipped to silk mills all over the world.
Why is silk cotton a more environment friendly fiber than silk?
Cotton is significantly more environmentally impactful than silk. (Cotton is less environmentally friendly than silk)The drawbacks of cotton are:
- the amount of land required to supply the worlds needs which reduces the land for food farming
- cotton requires large amounts of irrigation water
- cotton requires continuous applications of herbicides, pesticides and fertilizer
- cotton transformation into fabric is water intensive
- No part of the plant is edible
The environmental impacts of silk are minimal:
- the silkworm eats mulberry leaves which are hardy requiring little pesticide herbicides or water
- the silkworm itself is highly bred so it cannot survive or exist in nature
- the dead larva can be consumed as food (Beondegi - Korea)
What impact does silk have on the world today?
Silk farmers -- businesses involved in the care, feeding and tending of domesticated silk worms which produce the commercial silk fibre -- are responsible for their environmental impact.
Where in the world are silk worm found?
They were discovered in China and can still be found in China today.
Cotone is the Italian equivalent of 'cotton'. It's a masculine gender noun in the singular form. It's pronounced koh-TOH-nay.*
*The sound 'ay' is similar to the sound of 'ay' in the English noun 'ray'.
How many silk worms are killed for one silk saree?
for my opinion to make one silk saree maybe 1000 or 50,000 silk worms could be killed to make one silk saree from silk
because they look like worms accept they are grey and herbivore. (plant eater)
Yes, Lycra is a synthetic fabric that was made in 1958 as an alternative to making corsets with rubber. Oftentimes it is blended in with natural fabrics such as cotton or silk. It's made of polymer.
Where can you get silk drapes for canopy bed?
Silk Bedding can be bought at the following companies :- Bed Bath and Beyond, Simo Silk, Amazon, Lightning Audio, Lova Silk, Jasmine Silk, Manito Silk, Elle Silk, Summit Silk Bedding, Ginger Lily and Lilly Silk.
What are the differences between natural silk and artificial silk?
Natural silk comes from silk worms while artificial silk is made of cotton. Natural silk has a beautiful sheen to it. Go to the links and see this beautiful silk fabric.
a fine continuous protein fiber produced by various insect larvae usually for cocoons; especially : a lustrous tough elastic fiber produced by silkworms and used for textiles. 2. : thread, yarn, or fabric made from silk filaments. 3. a : a garment of silk.
The route used by the Chinese for exporting silk was called the silk route because silk was the most important item of trade
Is silk a natural fiber or a man made fiber?
Natural, although you wouldn't want to touch it in its natural state. Silk is a cousin to spiderwebs; both are natural fibrous secretions from bugs.
It takes a LOT of processing to convert bug spit into fine clothing; so, the fiber is natural but silk itself is 90% man-made. Of course, the same could be said about wool or cotton.
Cotton cultivation in the Old World can be traced back to the Indus valley (in Pakistan ) more then 6,000 years ago. and evidence of its use in the Americas dates back more then 7,000 years with cotton textile traces found in Mexican caves..
Cotton is grown in sub-tropical climates all over the earth.
Silk moths lay eggs on specially prepared paper. The eggs hatch and the caterpillars (silkworms) are fed fresh mulberry leaves. After about 35 days and 4 moltings, the caterpillars are 10,000 times heavier than when hatched, and are ready to begin spinning a cocoon. A straw frame is placed over the tray of caterpillars, and each caterpillar begins spinning a cocoon by moving its head in a "figure 8" pattern. Two glands produce liquid silk and force it through openings in the head called spinnerets. Liquid silk is coated in sericin, a water-soluble protective gum, and solidifies on contact with the air. Within 2-3 days, the caterpillar spins about 1 mile of filament and is completely encased in a cocoon. The silk farmers then kill most caterpillars by heat, leaving some to metamorphose into moths to breed the next generation of caterpillars.
Why do people keep silk worms?
Silk is not made out of silk worms. Silk is made by silk worms which spin to make a cocoon for themselves.
