Silk
Elegant gloss
Best fiber
body text
What kind of fiber is Silk?
- 1. Silk is protein fiber which silkworms spit out to spin their cocoons.
- 2. The silk threads made from the cocoons are called 'raw silk' and about 1,500m of thin and long fiber can be collected from one cocoon.
- 3. If you look at its cross section through a microscope, you can see the fiber called 'fibroin' surrounded by a substance like a gelatin glue called 'sericin'.
- 4. By refining it, you can get soft and glossy 'fibroin' raw silk.
Production Process of Silk
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- Silkworm farming
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- 1. This is the process from breeding silkworms to making cocoons.
- 2. Breeding silkworms goes through the processes of adjusting temperature and humidity and feeding them on mulberry leaves.
- 3. If 30 days of endurance pass, high-quality cocoons are produced by drying them with hot air.
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- Silk reeling
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- 1. The process of reeling off raw silk from cocoons is called 'silk reeling.'
- 2. Breeding silkworms goes through the processes of adjusting temperature and humidity and feeding them on mulberry leaves.
- 3. If 30 days of endurance pass, high-quality cocoons are produced by drying them with hot air.
- 4. The thread in the raw, obtained from silkworms, is stiff and not glossy.
- 5. It is because a substance called 'Sericin' is piled on its surface. If this Sericin is removed by soapy water, it has a gloss and a texture which are unique to the silk.
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- Weaving
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- 1. This is one of the production processes in which fabric is woven.
- 2. Warp threads and weft threads are woven evenly with no strand of thread breaking.
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- Refining
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- 1. As the woven fabric is stiff and rough, it goes through the process of boiling in order to make it soft and glossy.
- 2. As this refining process influences the quality of silk, it can be said to be the most important process.
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- Dyeing, printing and processing
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- 1. By dyeing, the refined fabric becomes a beautiful, high-quality work of art which has a variety of gloss, textures and colors.
Characteristics of Silk
- 1. Strength: It is as strong as a steel wire whose thickness is the same as that of silk.
- 2. Gloss: Silk has elegant gloss which is similar to that of the pearl. It is because the multi-layered fibroin has a prism-shaped structure which disperses light.
- 3. Non-irritation: The amino acid of silk does not irritate the skin. Besides, it is said that silk prevents various skin-related diseases. Some cosmetic products are made from silk powder.
- 4. Silk is known as the best fiber in the natural world.
- 5. Hygroscopic property: As the amino acid and tiny empty spaces inside silk fabric absorb and discharge a large amount of perspiration, your body does not become sticky and you feel refreshed even in hot weather if you wear silk clothes.
- 6. Thermal resistance: Silk does not burn easily and emit toxic gas even when it burns.
- 7. Skin protection: As silk absorbs ultraviolet rays, it protects the skin.
- 8. Reduction of static electricity generation: As silk contains both cations and anions and absorbs moisture well, it does not generate static electricity easily like other fabrics.
Silk management method
- 1. Washing: It is most desirable that silk clothes should be dry-cleaned.
- 2. Ironing: Before ironing, put a cloth between silk and an iron.
Set the temperature at about 130°C and make efforts to iron the silk in the direction of its grain. - 3. Stain removal
- In case silk is discolored a little bit
- 1. If you tap it with an oil pad, it can be restored. 2. If you want to restore the color of the whole fabric, soak it in a solution containing a gloss-softening agent, squeeze lightly and dry it, then you can restore its color.
- How to solve the yellowing problem
- If you wet the stain with 3% oxygenated water solution, add 3% ammonia solution and heat it with a steam gun, you can see small bubbles appear. At this time, you can also see the stain removed.
- In case silk is completely discolored, putting you in trouble
- You may buy an acid dyestuff called 'Silk Dye' at an art supplies specialty store and splay it to the discolored part with a special sprayer to restore the color.
In order to increase the chances of success, you are recommended to try several times with a light color. To do this, a skilled technician is required. - 4. Storage: Avoid moisture and direct sunlight, and be careful so that it is not moth-eaten.
Do not hang it on a hanger using sponge. Store it on a flat surface. If possible, do not fold it several times for storage.