Silk Production, Morphology, Properties & Uses From its discovery, in about 2650 B. C., until today, silk has been known as the “queen of the fibers”. Japan and China are the word’s major sources of silk，although minor quantities come from India, Italy, and...
More
Silk Production, Morphology, Properties & Uses From its discovery, in about 2650 B. C., until today, silk has been known as the “queen of the fibers”. Japan and China are the word’s major sources of silk，although minor quantities come from India, Italy, and Korea. Silk is a natural protein secreted by the larvae of several different moths. The two main categories are cultivated silk and wild silk or tussah. Cultivated silk is more lustrous and lighter in color than tussah. The luster of the fiber is affected by cross-sectional shape. 1. Fiber Production of Silk To obtain silk, workers stifle the larvae and boil the cocoons in a carefully controlled bath to loosen the sericin coating. The end of the filament is brushed off the cocoon and, along with ends from one or two other cocoons, unwound. This process is known as reeling, The filaments are usually twisted to form a silk yarn of about 6 to 8 denier. The raw silk may now be used as is. However, it is generally thrown，or twisted, with
Less
