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Natural silk is wrinkled or. Three myths about silk

Natural silk is obtained from the fibers of the cocoon of the so-called silkworm - a kind of butterfly. The process of obtaining silk fibers takes a long time and is very laborious. Therefore, natural silk fabrics are expensive, and clothes and accessories made from them are sold in relatively small volumes.

However, varietiesThere are still many silk fabrics. Here are just a few of them.

Atlas (satin) - one of the most noble and popular varieties, characterized by smoothness and characteristic brilliance; shimmers beautifully in the light. Expensive blouses and dresses are sewn from satin; Elite bed linen, scarves, ties, ceremonial vests are produced from it. In addition, tuxedo lapels and (sometimes) very expensive dressing gowns get off with satin. This fabric is expensive, dense, very durable, but delicate, requires specific care and careful attitude. It can look both solid and vulgar.

It should be noted that not only fabrics from natural silk: The point is that it's just a type of thread weave, not a specific fabric per se. The quality of the satin can vary: for example, there are satin ties that are very, very pleasant to the touch, and there are satin ties that do not cause delight when touched.

In English, the atlas is called satin. In other words, satin is an atlas, and atlas symbols in English language in relation to the fabric you will not meet.

Grenadine- silk fabric with a characteristic grainy texture; used for sewing ties. It looks very original and beautiful, has a soft, moderate sheen. Grenadine ties are one of the most versatile. Read more about grenadine and its varieties.

Silk twill- 100% silk fabric with a diagonal (twill) weave. It is used, in particular, for the production of breast (and not only breast) scarves, ties, scarves, and even for lining jackets / jackets / coats. Very popular.

Reps (repp) - outwardly resembles a silk fabric with a twill weave, but more “seasoned”, “heavy”, even a little rough. The rep has a pronounced texture: diagonal ribs, which are more noticeable than on silk twill. Their reps sew ties (usually striped models) and sometimes dresses.

Crepe de chine (crepe) - light silk fabric with a characteristic slightly embossed texture(see photo below), which is used for tailoring women's clothing, in particular, dresses, and in addition - scarves. Does not electrify, does not wrinkle. Sometimes a similar cotton or even synthetic fabric can be called crepe de chine.

Brocade - silk with intricate patterns embroidered with gold and silver threads. Looks luxurious and pretentious. Brocade is dense and heavy. Now it is practically not used for tailoring (except for some historical costumes and some women's toilets). In modern men's clothing material is unacceptable. Sometimes brocade upholstery is made for very pretentious antique furniture.

Foulard- a thin silk fabric with a printed pattern, which is used mainly for tailoring different kind shawls and scarves. There is a foulard made of 100% silk and with the addition of other fibers, including cotton and synthetic. Sometimes a specific type of pattern on a fabric (with repeating elements) is called a foulard. Read more about the pattern called foulard.

Jacquard- fabric with an embossed pattern. It can be silk, it can be cotton, or it can be made from a mixture of silk and cotton fibers, and sometimes synthetics. It is used for the production of ties, shirts, blankets, bedspreads, furniture upholstery. Jacquard ties are best tied with small and simple knots.

Silk velvet - slightly "hairy" fabric, looks beautiful, pleasant to the touch, quite heavy, strongly shimmers in the light. Not very durable and requires careful maintenance. Products made of silk velvet are very rare on sale, much more often you can find clothes made of cotton or even artificial velvet. Sometimes there is a mixture: say, 28% silk and 72% viscose.

- very thin silk fabric, dresses, scarves are sewn from it, thinnest scarves. Lightweight and translucent.

Wild silk (often raw silk in English)- rough silk, which does not look as sophisticated as the "classic" smooth shiny silk. In general, strictly speaking, wild silk is silk that is obtained from the cocoons of silkworm caterpillars collected in the field (that is, not those grown on special "farms"). Once, in ancient times, all silk was "wild", but now this "silk gathering" is commercially impractical, as it requires huge amount time - and, accordingly, the cost of such wild silk will be incredibly high.

Dupion (dupioni)- in fact, this is what is sometimes called "wild" silk. Such silk is characterized by an uneven, heterogeneous texture. Some people believe that she gives him charm, but others may think that "knots" are generally a sign of marriage. Dupion has no gloss, the luster is weak. Things made of such silk usually look informal (it can be women's dresses, and men's ties, and jackets/jackets). Sometimes the term is used to refer to such silk. Shantung silk(Shantung is a province of China).

Knitted silk- this is not a fabric, but knitwear, which is used to produce informal ties. Such ties are knitted by special machines. There are several subspecies of knitted silk, which differ from each other in texture. An interesting variant is the Cri de la Soie subspecies, which stands out for its large and rough texture. Knitted ties made of such silk look informal, but expressive.

Bemberg silk- this is sometimes called bemberg (cupro). This is an artificial fabric ("relative" of viscose), which resembles silk with its smoothness and slight sheen, but in fact has little in common with it. It has high wear resistance and excellent breathability and is the best material for linings.

What is silk material made from?

Weave from natural, synthetic, and also artificial threads. The last two variations can be safely attributed to one group - chemical. Artificial matter is made from cellulose with chemical impurities, it has several excellent performance and affordable cost.

Natural material consists of thin hairs, which include wax, fat and proteins. It is made from the proteins fibroin and the adhesive substance sericin. Dye and mineral elements are part of the fibers. Natural material, as well as belongs to the category of expensive elite fabrics with a large list of positive qualities that it does not have. synthetic analogues, namely:

Increased hygroscopicity. The ability to absorb a large amount of moisture, but at the same time dry quickly.
Hypoallergenic. The material does not absorb dust, does not electrify, is suitable for people with allergies, prevents the spread of germs and masks unpleasant odors.
Good thermoregulation. In clothes made of silk, a person retains optimum temperature body in any weather.
Breathability and vapor permeability. Despite the fact that products made from natural silk fabric have a high density, natural fibers perfectly pass water vapor and air. This provides the best conditions for the functioning of the human body.
Wear resistance and durability. Silk fabric has a long service life without losing quality. It is even resistant to acetic acid and alcohol. Only a concentrated alkaline solution or acid, as well as constant exposure to the sun, can harm silk.
Fire resistance. Of course, it is impossible to say that natural silk does not burn, but when a spark hits the fabric, it does not light up, but begins to slowly smolder, spreading the smell of burnt feathers around.

Advantages of artificial fabric

It has been scientifically established that chemical composition high-quality fibers have a beneficial effect on the human body. Consider the properties of silk fabric:

Relieves joint pain.
Has a positive effect on heart and skin diseases.
Helps with viral and colds.
Promotes the process of cellular renewal, thereby prolonging human life.
Artificial silk soothes irritation on the skin and relieves it of dryness.

Silk material drapes well, which means it is ideal for sewing dresses and curtains. The folds are even, and the products are light and airy.

The next advantage of silk is its color fastness. Clothes made from this fabric will not shed when washed and will not stain. Products can be dried in the sun without fear that it will burn out. But, despite the foregoing, it should be remembered that the care of silk products should be selected in accordance with its weaving and appearance (we will talk about them below).

Disadvantages of artificial material

Despite the large number of advantages, artificial material also has disadvantages:

The main disadvantages include its ability to accumulate electricity. This property gives consumers great inconvenience when wearing, because at the most inopportune moment, a dress or skirt can stick to the body. But the problem is solved quite simply - you need to use special tool, antistatic. Natural material does not have this problem.
Fabric is difficult to work with. Artificial silk is well cut and ironed, but the edges of the product crumble heavily. Therefore, many novice craftswomen do not risk taking it to work. In addition, the fabric has increased slip, respectively, it is also not easy to cut parts.
You can work with silk fabric only with special needles (they are very thin). With an incorrectly selected needle, cut holes will remain at the stitching points.
Artificial silk retains stains on clothes. Unlike natural material that masks stains and odors, here, if a person sweats, stains will remain. It can be difficult to wash them, stains remain on things even when they hit clean water. In the process of ironing, it is also impossible to wet the fabric, as traces will remain, and the thing will have to be rewashed.

Types of silk fabrics

In the production of silk fabrics, various methods of weaving are used. The most popular include:

Satin.
Sarzhevoe.
Linen.
Finely patterned.
Large-patterned.

The main difference between all these types is the beautiful sheen inherent in silk.

According to the composition of the fibers, the canvas is divided into the presence of threads:

natural.
Unnatural.
Synthetic.
Mixed.

Interesting. Mixed materials do not always include the composition of natural and synthetic fibers. The canvas may include exclusively natural fibers, but different origin. For example, in recent years, for sewing suits and dresses, materials are often used in which woolen and silk fibers are mixed in different proportions.

Crepe.
Jacquard.
Smooth.
Pile.

certain direction.
Piece by piece (for sewing napkins, tablecloths and bedspreads).
Industrial.
Jacket and raincoat fabric.
Decorative.
For textile haberdashery.
Lining fabric.
Shirt.
Dress and costume.
Dress and blouse.

Crepe materials

The crepe type of silk includes fabrics that were made using a right or left crepe twist in the warp or with the weft. This technique allows to make the material rough, fine-grained with a mobile structure. It drapes well, stretches and has good elasticity. Two types of weave are used in this technique, depending on what is required at the output - crepe or full crepe.

The most common types of crepe materials include:

Crepe chiffon is a translucent, light silk fabric, consisting of a double or triple thread of crepe.
Crepe georgette is an elegant silk fabric, not as transparent as the previous representative of crepe fabrics, moreover, it is more shiny and consists of three and four threads.
Crepe pleated is a thin silk fabric that is derived from crepe de chine or crepe georgette. Distinctive feature This material, as you might guess from the name, is a “pressed” surface, which is obtained by using weft threads with different crepe twists.

Semi-crepe materials

This variety primarily includes crepe de chine and light silk. Semi-crepe fabrics are based on raw material metaxa silk, which adds a glossy appeal to the material, and due to the use of linen weaving technology, the fabric structure drapes well, acquires stability and elasticity. Products made of crepe de chine practically do not wrinkle, respectively, are very practical to wear.

The following representatives of semi-crepe materials are crepe satin and crepe satin. The description of silk fabrics can be expressed in this way: they have a rather dense texture, are heavy, outwardly almost do not differ from each other. The front side of crepe satin and satin is smooth, and the wrong side is fine-grained. In production, satin weaving with crepe torsion of weft threads is used. Crepe satin and crepe satin are used for the manufacture of almost any product: daily wear, evening dresses, vestments for sleep and rest, curtains, paths, covers and more.

Crepe-maroquin with a pronounced twist of the thread at the base belongs to rep semi-crepe fabrics. Such fabrics are practical, durable, very resistant to wear, have a rough and embossed texture. Business suits, everyday and ceremonial outfits are sewn from crepe-maroquin.

Another representative of rep weaving is fideschin (a variation of crepe de chine). This material has a rather dense specific structure, due to which the transverse scar is weakly expressed on the front side of the fabric. This fabric is used for tailoring, in exceptional cases, curtains.

Smooth fabrics

Satin silk fabrics differ in fiber composition into the following types:

Viscose warp with acetate weft.
Acetate warp with viscose weft.
With base in viscose with triacetate weft.
With triacetate base with viscose weft.

The entire satin subgroup of silk is connected by the same properties, such as a completely smooth surface of the fabric and an average density. The material is produced according to the linen, twill, satin or finely patterned technology of twisting from metax with a weakened gentle twist, which does not give a crepe effect. Fabrics of the satin group are visually similar to cotton representatives, but they are softer and more shiny.

The satin subgroup of silk includes:

Satin/satin/wet silk. These are iridescent silk fabrics of satin twist, smooth and glossy with front side and matte inside out. These fabrics drape well.
Silk fabric. Material of average density with gentle gloss and the smallest degree of transparency. By external signs, the material is similar to staple fabric, but practically does not wrinkle.
Thin, not quite transparent silk fabric with medium twist muslin threads. The canvas has an attractive appearance, but there is also a minus - the divergence of the threads.
Chiffon. Thin and airy material. It can be plain, and there is also a silk fabric with patterns. Most often used for the manufacture of shirts and dresses.
Toile, foulard. Both sheets are made by linen twisting, characterized by airiness and plasticity. Foulard is a lighter material.

Wet silk can be divided into several types:

dupont.
Charmeuse.

All these fabrics are varying degrees density and brilliance. They are used for tailoring dresses for an evening out and exclusive bed linen.

jacquard fabrics

The canvases belonging to this group are distinguished by high decorativeness. Jacquard weaving due to a variety of color overflows from light to dark tones gives volume to the canvas. And the sheen inherent in the iridescent silk fabric with a pattern visually provides the surface with a metallic effect. On jacquard fabrics, a wide variety of patterns can be found: floral, multi-color, geometric or two-tone. To emphasize the relief and texture contrasts, additional blotches are used.

In the jacquard subgroup, the collection of fabrics is not very diverse. The main raw material for their manufacture is acetate and triacetate fiber. Jacquard fabrics have a high density and are quite hard to the touch, an important advantage of this material is that it is not whimsical to care for. Scope of application - tailoring of casual and elegant clothes, costumes for the stage and textiles for the home.

Pile materials

This group of fabrics has a high degree of decorativeness and elegance. It is quite difficult to work with pile fabrics, therefore, tailoring of products is carried out only by professional craftsmen with the skills of cutting patterns, processing seams and others.

The materials belonging to this subgroup are distinguished by the fact that they have a dense pile fastening, an ideal and expressive pattern.

Pile fabrics include:

Velvet for sewing dresses. Cloths with a continuous, fairly dense pile and a stable vertical arrangement. Most often, this material is produced in one color, but in rare cases you can find samples with a printed pattern.
Velor velvet. Dense material with smoothed, slightly inclined viscose pile, up to 2 mm high. This fabric is much heavier than the one used for sewing dresses.
Etched velor velvet. The viscose pile is not located in a continuous web, but only in independent areas provided for by the pattern.

Differences between natural material and analogues of artificial and synthetic origin

natural fabrics from artificial analogue it can be quite difficult to distinguish, which cannot be said about synthetic canvases that do not exist in nature, but are extremely difficult chemical compounds. When choosing products made of silk or material, it remains to rely on personal feelings, which can fail or arrange a burning test (which the seller is unlikely to allow). How to distinguish materials?

In order to understand what is in front of you, you need to pay attention to the following features:

Synthetic materials are slightly stiffer, highly electrified, do not shrink and do not absorb moisture. Externally, synthetics have overflows, the brilliance of which is much brighter than that of natural silk. When burning, the threads melt, the process is accompanied by the smell of burnt plastic.
Artificial silk is less elastic and is very wrinkled. By the second sign, it is very easy to determine what material is in front of you, for this it is enough to squeeze the product tightly in your fist and hold it for a few seconds, after that you need to smooth it and evaluate the result. On cellulose canvases that have undergone a mercerization process to obtain a natural radiance, clear creases remain. In addition, rayon can be checked by setting fire to the thread. It will light up with an even fire like paper with its characteristic smell.
Natural Chinese silk is very smooth and pleasant to the touch; when the material is applied to the hand, it seems to “flow” from it. When in contact with the skin, silk does not cause discomfort, quickly taking on body temperature and forming the effect of a second skin. This property is explained by the fact that natural threads are a protein product of the vital activity of an insect, therefore they are not rejected by skin receptors. If natural silk is set on fire, it does not burn, but smolders, releasing the smell of burnt hair or wool in the process. After burning out, a caked lump remains, which can be easily rubbed with your fingers.

Silk is a soft fabric made from threads extracted from the silkworm cocoon. Silk originally originated in China and was an important commodity that was brought to Europe along the Silk Road. The fiber thickness is 20-30 micrometers. The length of a silk thread (silk) from one cocoon reaches 400–1500 m. The thread has a triangular section and, like a prism, refracts light, which causes a beautiful transfusion and shine.

Currently, China is the largest silk producer (about 50% of the world production). India produces about 15% of the world's silk, followed by Uzbekistan (about 3%) and Brazil (about 2.5%). Iran, Thailand and Vietnam are also significant producers.

Story

Legends about the appearance of silk in China

Silk is a product of the vital activity of the silkworm, which twists a strong cocoon around itself. But who was the first (or the first) to guess to unravel this cocoon and twist the thread, and then weave the fabric? There are many legends about this in China. The most famous of them connects the emergence of sericulture with Lei Zu, the eldest wife of the mythical emperor Huangdi, who, according to traditional sources, ruled the Celestial Empire from 2698 to 2598 BC. e.

One day a young woman was drinking tea in the garden, under a mulberry tree. And several silkworm cocoons accidentally fell into the cup. She began to take them out, the cocoons began to unwind into a long thread. Then Lei-zu began to pluck the rest of the cocoons hanging on the tree and unwind them. From the received threads she wove a fabric and sewed clothes for her husband. Huangdi, having learned about this discovery, improved the methods of breeding silkworms and silk production. This is how sericulture and silk weaving appeared.

Thanks to her discovery, Lei-zu was also called Xiling-chi - the Lady of the Silk Worm, and she began to be considered the patron goddess of sericulture. Until now, in early April, festivities in honor of Lei Zu are held in Zhejiang Province.

According to another legend, the most fantastic, a father and daughter once lived, and they had a magical horse that not only could fly in the sky, but also understood human language. One day, my father went about his business and disappeared. Then his daughter swore an oath: if the horse could find her father, then she would marry this horse. The horse found his father, and together they returned home. However, when the father found out about this oath, he was shocked, and in order to prevent this marriage, he killed an innocent horse. But when they began to skin the carcass, the skin of the horse suddenly picked up the girl and carried her away. They flew and flew, and finally landed on a mulberry tree. And the moment the girl touched the branches, she turned into a silkworm. She let out long and thin threads that expressed her feeling of separation from her beloved horse.

Another legend says that the women of ancient China accidentally discovered silk. They were picking fruit from the trees and came across strange white fruits that were too hard to eat. Then they began to boil them to soften them, but they were hardly suitable for eating. In the end, the women lost their patience and began to beat them with thick sticks. And then silk and silkworms were discovered. It turned out that the white fruit was nothing more than a silkworm cocoon!

History of silk production

Existing legends are only beautiful traditions of antiquity. According to archaeological data, the properties of the silkworm and the secret of silk production were known already 5 thousand years ago. So, during archaeological excavations in various areas on the territory of China in the cultural layers of the III millennium BC. found fragments of silkworm cocoons.

The first silk fabrics were very rare and expensive, so only rulers and their family members wore them. In all likelihood, inside the palace they dressed in white clothes, and on solemn exits - in yellow. With the expansion of production, silk gradually became available to the court, and then to the wider population.

Gradually, a real cult of silk was born in China. Old Chinese texts mention sacrifices to the god of the silkworm, as well as sacred mulberry groves and the veneration of individual mulberry trees.

Making silk fabric

Fibrous raw materials successively go through the stages of sorting, tearing (to loosen the pressed mass of fibers and partially remove impurities), soaking and further drying (to remove sericin). This is followed by several stages of carding (conversion of the mass of fibers into combed fly with oriented fibers), during which long-staple and short-staple tows are formed, which are used to obtain yarn with different properties. This is followed by the stage of twisting the threads, from which the fabric will be made later at the weaving stage.

Finishing silk fabrics to give them useful properties consists of the stages of boiling (in soapy water at a temperature of about 95 degrees for 1.5-3 hours for the final removal of sericin, coloring and fatty substances); dyeing; revitalization (treatment with a solution of acetic acid for 15-30 minutes at a temperature of 30 ° C to give shine and richness of color (for dyed fabrics)). Optional: to obtain white silk, the raw material is subjected to bleaching with an alkaline solution of hydrogen peroxide at a temperature of 70 ° C for 8-12 hours; to obtain silk with a pattern, an airbrush method of application using stencils (for single copies) or hardware application of a pattern using mesh patterns is used. The final finishing for all types of raw materials is decanting - treatment with hot steam under pressure for several minutes to relieve intramolecular stresses in the structure of the fibers.

Types of silk

The difference between natural silk and artificial

"Fake silk" is woven from threads obtained from cellulose materials.
It differs from the present by less wear resistance, does not stimulate regenerative processes, lack of the ability to repel harmful insects, and a tendency to electrify.

How is artificial silk defined:

does not have an iridescent sheen, artificial fabric "glows" dimly;
unlike polyester fabrics, even the smooth look of silk has some surface imperfections;
silk-cold is woven from threads of artificial origin;
silk threads dissolve in a warm 10% alkali solution;
set fire to artificial fibers emit the smell of burning plastic or wood;
when compressed in a fist, creases with clear lines are formed.

Silk properties

Natural silk has a unique pleasant moderate sheen that does not fade over the years. In the rays of the sun, silk fabric will sparkle and shimmer, playing with different shades depending on the angle of incidence of light.
Silk is highly hygroscopic (all silk fabrics absorb moisture equal to half their own weight in quantity and dry very quickly).
Appearance of the threads: white, slightly creamy, smooth, long (about 1000m), thin, soft.
The thickness of the elementary thread is 10-12 microns, the complex one is 32 microns.
Silk is so light that for 1 kg of finished tissue is coming from 300 to 900 kilometers of thread.
Silk has good mechanical properties: breaking stress - about 40 kgf / mm? (1 kgf/mm?=107n/m?); breaking elongation 14–18%.
When wet, the breaking stress drops by 10% and the elongation at break increases by 10%.
Silk is not very resistant to the action of alkalis (it quickly collapses in a 5% NaOH solution); more resistant to mineral acids. It does not dissolve in common organic solvents.
Silk does not stretch or shrink
Silk drapes beautifully. This property makes it possible to use silk not only to create clothes of almost any shape, but also for curtains, bed linen, and other home interior items.
To the action of light, the resistance of silk is low. When exposed to direct sunlight, the destruction of silk occurs faster than other natural fibers.
Burning features: burns slowly, when removed from the flame, the combustion itself dies out, the presence of a faint smell of burnt hair, the combustion product is black fluffy fragile ash.
Getting silk is associated with high labor costs, which makes it one of the most expensive textile materials.

Application

As already mentioned, the areas of use of this material are very extensive. Let's consider each of them in more detail.

Interior decoration

In the 90s of the last century, a new type of wall decoration appeared in Europe. For this, wet silk was used - a special plaster containing natural fibers. Wet silk was used in the decoration of elite premises. Now the wet silk look of decor has become more accessible.

Owners of entertainment establishments should pay attention to wet silk. This material has excellent texture, it does not burn or smolder, so in terms of fire safety- perfect. In addition, the wet finishing material is very beautiful and durable.

Tailoring

Perhaps this is the most common area of application of silk fabrics. For tailoring, both natural and acetate silk, with slightly different properties. Thin silk fabric of plain weave perfectly emphasizes the figure, is comfortable to wear and durable.

For the manufacture of wardrobe items, parachute silk is often used, which is highly durable. This type is also used in the production different products: tents, seat and furniture upholstery, etc.

Home textiles

Beautiful shiny fabric looks great in the interior. Curtains are sewn from it, bed sheets, covers for furniture, bedspreads and much more.

Silk is absolutely non-allergenic material. Dust mites and bed bugs do not breed on it. Therefore, for people with allergies, this thin cloth fits best.

Medicine

Mulberry silk has the ability to absorb moisture in much more than other materials. It doesn't feel wet at all though. Therefore, it is actively used in medicine.

It is an excellent suture material used in surgery. The suture type of matter does not resolve up to 3 months. Also, suture silk causes a slight initial inflammatory response in living tissue. Silk suture material is used even in eye and neurosurgery.

Needlework

This fabric makes excellent souvenirs. In the embroidery of pictures, mulberry silk or artificial silk is used. Arriving in the Vietnamese city of Dalat, tourists must visit the workshop of a family of embroiderers. There are very expensive unique canvases embroidered by hand with natural silk threads on a transparent canvas.

Burette silk (or other natural silk) is also used in knitting. Exquisite knitted things are made from it manually or on special machines.

Care

In order for a silk product to serve for a long time and delight you with its beauty for many years, you must follow simple rules:

Wash silk scarves (scarves and other products) by hand, in warm (30-40 degrees) water, and without pre-soaking, without bleach.
For washing, use mild detergents for silk (such as Laska), neutral shampoo or baby soap. Pour water into a bowl, add a couple of drops (you don't need a lot) detergent shake it until foamy. Only then dip the silk into the water.
When washing and rinsing silk, it is not recommended to rub it with your hands, because. the fabric is very delicate and can lose its beauty from strong pressure. Shake the fabric in the soap solution for a couple of minutes, lift it out of the water several times and lower it down. After such simple movements in a soapy solution, silk can be rinsed in cool water. At the same time, during the first washing, slight staining of the water is possible. Don't be scared! If the water remains the same transparent, but slightly stained, the product does not lose color. This is excess paint coming out of very bright products.
To refresh the color of silk, it is advisable to rinse in cool water with the addition of vinegar (2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water). The water should be slightly acidic. But you can not do this. Rinse the silk and drain the water until no foam remains.
Silk must be pressed carefully, without twisting. Do not forget that silk, even satin, is very delicate and delicate fabric! Squeeze it between two hands until the water stops flowing. After that, you can wring it out in a clean towel.
It is better to dry silk in a straightened form, away from heating appliances, so that wrinkles do not form, which then have to be wetted again to smooth out. The exception is silk dyed using the shibori method, when the fabrics are specially textured. After the final wash, it is twisted with a tourniquet (not much) and dried without unfolding.
It is best to iron silk while it is damp. silk is smoothed better when wet with the hottest iron on the “cotton” mode. Natural silk is not afraid of temperature and will not melt, like artificial (viscose and acetate) or synthetic (polyester and nylon) fabrics. WITH wrong side in the “silk” mode, it is also necessary to iron products painted with acrylic paint and having a contour (convex) pattern. For reliability, it is better to iron them through a thin cotton fabric.
Avoid contact with chemical products (perfume, cream, hairspray, deodorant) on silk products. From this, the paints can lose their brightness or even discolor. To prevent this from happening, tie a scarf (scarf) after the perfume has dried.
Sweat stains and other heavily soiled areas should be gently wiped with alcohol.

It takes about 3,000 silkworm cocoons to produce 500 grams of silk. It takes 12 hours of work to form a skein of silk thread weighing 250 grams.
Silk thread has tremendous strength, it can withstand strong pressure and is very strong at breaking. Recently, it was found that 16 layers of silk can withstand a 357 Magnum (lead-cored) bullet.
In products made of natural silk, a dust mite does not start. Silk owes this property to sericin. Sericin, silk glue, viscous natural silk protein. Most of it is washed out during processing (washing) of silk in hot water, but what remains is enough to resist the appearance of a dust mite. Thanks to this, natural silk is absolutely hypoallergenic.
You can distinguish natural silk from non-natural silk using the “burning” test. As with wool, burning silk radiates bad smell, and if the source of fire is removed, the material stops burning, and the thread itself then crumbles into ashes.
80% of all silk produced in the world belongs to China.
For more than three thousand years, China has kept the secret of this amazing material, and any attempt to take silkworm cocoons out of the country was punishable by death. According to legend, only in 550 AD, two wandering monks in their staffs hollowed out small holes, where they hid silkworm larvae. So silk came to Byzantium.
Silk appeared in India thanks to the cunning of the Indian king, who wooed a Chinese princess and demanded mulberry seeds and silkworm larvae as a dowry. Unable to refuse the groom, the princess hid the seeds and larvae in her hair and took them out of the country.
It takes an average of 2,800 to 3,300 cocoons to create just one meter of silk fabric, 110 for a tie, 650 for a blouse, and up to 12,000 silkworm cocoons for a silk blanket.
If you unravel the threads of ten silkworm cocoons, they are enough to wrap around Everest.
One of the most valuable properties of silk is thermoregulation. In the heat, natural silk "cools", and in winter it perfectly keeps heat. At the same time, silk products perfectly absorb moisture.

Silk is not in vain called the "king of fabrics", because this fabric is very beautiful, has many advantages and can be used both in the production of clothing and accessories, and in interior design. What is silk made of and how difficult is it? Read the article below.

A bit of history

The production of this amazing fabric originated in ancient China, and for a very long time the world did not know the secret of its manufacture. The threat of the death penalty hung over the person who decided to reveal this secret. Therefore, the price of the fabric was appropriate, few people could afford to buy it. In the Roman Empire, silk was worth its weight in gold! When did the Chinese learn to use silkworm threads to make thin linen? No historian will give you the exact date. There is a legend that a cocoon of a caterpillar once fell into the tea of the Empress and turned into a thread. amazing beauty. Then the wife of the Yellow Emperor began to breed silkworm caterpillars.

Only in 550 AD. e. Byzantine emperor Justinian managed to reveal the secret of what silk is made of. Two monks were sent to China on a secret mission. Returning two years later, they brought silkworm eggs with them. The monopoly is over.

About silkworm caterpillars

Natural silk fabric today, as in ancient times, can only be made using the best caterpillars. There are a lot of butterflies in the silkworm family, but only caterpillars called Bombyx mori can give the most expensive thread. This type does not exist in the wild, as it is created and raised artificially. They were bred for the sole purpose of laying eggs for rearing silk-producing caterpillars.

They fly very badly and see almost nothing, but they cope with the main task perfectly. Caterpillars live for several days, but manage to find a partner and lay up to 500 eggs. On about the tenth day, caterpillars emerge from the eggs. It takes about 6,000 caterpillars to produce a kilogram of silk.

How do caterpillars produce silk thread?

What silk is made of, we have already figured out, but how does it happen? How does a caterpillar produce such a precious thread? The fact is that the hatched creatures eat the leaves of the mulberry tree on which they live all day and night. In two weeks of life, they grow 70 times and molt several times. Having fed the mass, the silkworms are ready for the production of thread. The body becomes translucent, and the caterpillars crawl in search of a place to develop a thread. At this point, they need to be placed in special boxes with cells. There they begin an important process - weaving cocoons.

The digested leaves turn into fibroin, which accumulates in the glands of the caterpillar. Over time, the protein turns into a substance called sericin. In the mouth of the creatures there is a spinning organ, at the exit from which two strands of fibroin are glued together with the help of sericin. It turns out one strong one that freezes in the air.

One caterpillar is capable of twisting a thread more than a thousand kilometers long in two days. It takes more than a hundred cocoons to produce one silk scarf, and 9,000 for a traditional kimono!

Silk production technology

When the cocoon is ready, it must be unwound (this is called cocoon reeling). To begin with, cocoons are collected and subjected to heat treatment. After that, low-quality threads are thrown away. The remaining threads are steamed in hot water to moisturize and soften. Then special brushes find the end, and the machine connects two or more threads (depending on the desired thickness). The raw material is rewound, so it dries.

Why is the fabric so smooth? The point is that by special technology all syrocin is removed from it. Silk is boiled in a soapy solution for several hours. Cheaper untreated fabric is rough and difficult to dye. That is why chiffon is not so smooth.

Silk dyeing

The long journey of fabric production is not yet over, although it is nearing completion. After boiling the silk, another important stage lies ahead - dyeing. Smooth threads are easy to dye. The structure of fibroin allows the dye to penetrate deep into the fiber. Therefore, silk scarves retain their color for so long. The canvas contains positive and negative ions, which allows you to use any paint and get good result. Silk is dyed both in skeins and ready-made fabric.

For more shiny fabric and her rich color silk is "revitalized", that is, treated with vinegar essence. At the end of the journey, the canvas is once again doused with hot steam under pressure. This allows you to remove the internal stress of the fibers. The process is called decatenation.

Now you know what silk is made of and what a long way it is. It is mainly produced in China and India, but the trendsetters of "silk fashion" are France and Italy. Currently, there are many reminiscent of silk, but at a much lower price (viscose, nylon). However, not a single fabric can compete with natural silk!

Natural silk is a wonderful fabric that has no analogues, its history is covered with ancient legends, and the production process has changed little over several millennia.

The publication will be of interest to fans of felting, because Tussa and Mulberry silk, as well as silk handkerchiefs, tows, cocoons and other materials are widely used in wet felting.

So where does silk come from?

Natural mulberry silk (

Probably, almost everyone knows that amazing worms provide us with natural silk - unsightly-looking caterpillars (larvae) of the silkworm. Silk High Quality it is these worms that produce, and it is often called "mulberry silk" or mulberry silk(Mulberry - mulberry tree translated from English), we call the mulberry tree and many people love its fruits. And the larvae love the leaves and turn them into silk thread.

Silkworm (scientific name Bombyx mori- lat. ) - a butterfly from the real silkworm family, translated from Latin Bombyx mori means "silkworm death" or "dead silk". The name is explained by the fact that the butterfly is not allowed to fly out of the cocoon, it dies inside.

The butterfly is very imposing, it also met the name "silk moth": The wingspan is 4-6 cm, the caterpillar can grow up to 9 cm before pupation.

The Bombyx mori is thought to have originated from a wild silk butterfly found in the mulberry trees of China. It was a very long time ago, it is believed that the history of silk production is at least 5000 years old, and for long time breeding butterflies in captivity, they have lost the ability to fly well. Females practically do not fly, males fly a little during the mating season, so to speak, in moments of spiritual uplift.

The process of obtaining raw mulberry silk

The butterfly, having hatched from the cocoon, mates with the male, and then begins to lay eggs. For 4-6 days, she lays up to 800 eggs, does not eat anything, because. her oral apparatus is underdeveloped, and when she finishes her work, she dies. Eggs are checked, selecting healthy, not affected by infection. In this way, the quality of the future silk and the reproduction of healthy butterflies are controlled.

Each egg in a week gives a larva about 2-3mm with an unimaginable appetite. The larva must be fed regularly day and night for a month with mulberry (mulberry) leaves. The leaves are collected, sorted by hand and crushed. All this time, the larvae are in large pallets with leaves placed one on top of the other in a special room with a constant temperature and humidity. The larvae are surprisingly sensitive - there should be no drafts, odors and loud sounds. What can happen if the conditions are not met? Yes, just the caterpillar will not spin a cocoon, it will die, and all the efforts of silkworm breeders will be in vain.

The appetite of the caterpillars is constantly growing, and in a day they eat twice as much as the previous one.

From the constant work of a huge number of jaws of silkworms, there is a rumble in the room, similar to the beat of a drum. heavy rain over the roof.

On the fifth day of life, the larva freezes and sleeps for a day, tightly clinging to a leaf. Then it straightens up sharply, and the old tight skin bursts, freeing the grown caterpillar. During the feeding period, the larvae change their skin 4 times, and are again taken for food.

Before pupation, the caterpillars lose interest in food and begin to behave restlessly, constantly waving their heads back and forth. Under the lower lip are glands that produce a silky substance. At this point, they represent 2/5 of the body weight, and are so full that a silk thread stretches behind the caterpillar.

The silkworm breeders move the caterpillars to the flooring of leaves and branches, to wooden lattices or special bundles of rods for cocooning.

First, the caterpillar is fixed on a twig or other base, creating a fluffy mesh-frame, and only then a cocoon is twisted inside it. It begins to secrete a gelatinous substance, which hardens in air, forming a silk thread, and with rotational movements is wrapped around this thread in the shape of a figure eight.

The thread consists of 75-90% protein - fibroin and the adhesive substance sericin, which holds the threads together and prevents them from disintegrating, salts, fats and wax are also present in the thread. The caterpillar completes its cocoon in 3-4 days.

An interesting fact: the cocoons of males are made more carefully - they are denser and the length of the thread is longer than that of females. Those who have had to hold cocoons in their hands know how pleasant and silky they are to the touch.

After 8-9 days, the cocoon is ready for unwinding. If you miss the time, after 2 weeks a butterfly will come out of the cocoon, damaging the silk shell. Because The mouth apparatus of the butterfly is undeveloped; it does not gnaw through the cocoon, but secretes a special caustic substance that dissolves the upper part of the cocoon. Such a cocoon can no longer be unwound, the thread will be torn.

Therefore, the chrysalis is killed by warming the cocoons with hot air, and it suffocates in the cocoon, hence the name "silkworm death" or "dead silk".

Here it is, a wonderful raw material for silk!

Cocoons are sorted by size and color and prepared for unwinding.

Rinse alternately in hot and cold water. The adhesive substance sericin, which holds the threads together, dissolves enough to unwind the thread.

According to all the sources studied, only the unwinding of the thread is mechanized at the present time, all previous stages of production remain completely manual labor, as in ancient times.

The thread of one cocoon is very thin, therefore, when unwinding, from 3 to 10 threads are connected, thus obtaining raw silk. When one of the threads in the winding process ends, a new one is screwed to it, ensuring continuity. The sericin (sticky substance) remaining in the thread helps to easily fasten the ends of the thread.

Raw silk requires further processing, it is wound into yarn and sent to a weaving factory. Factories buy silk by weight, but in the process of further processing, such raw silk loses 25% of its weight - it is soaked to remove sericin residues, bleached. To compensate for their losses, factories enrich silk with metal salts or water-soluble substances - starch, sugar, glue or gelatin. Such impregnations make it possible to make more economical interlacing of threads and compensate for weight losses during weaving.

The sources don't explicitly say this, but I think that's why natural silk shrinks a lot when washed. After all, if you wash salt or water-soluble impregnations from the fabric, the fabric will shrink the vacated space.

After unwinding the cocoons, a dead chrysalis remains, which is rich in protein and is eaten!

Now the silkworm culture is bred exclusively by artificial means. The cocoons that the silkworm caterpillar weaves can be of various shades from white to yellow and even grayish. The white variety of cocoons contains the highest percentage of silk protein and produces the best quality silk. Produced by silkworms in Japan, China and India. Japan was the first to use scientific approach to the selection and breeding of silkworms in special laboratories, and now surpasses other countries in the efficiency of silk production, but China is the leader in production volumes.

It is believed that France and Italy make silk fabric of higher quality than Asian countries. But the raw material, raw silk, is purchased by European manufacturers in China.

Fabric white chinese silk:

I came across this example: women's blouse you need a thread of 600 silkworm cocoons.

Traditional Thai mulberry silk obtained by processing yellow cocoons, which are produced by another variety of silkworm Bombix Mori. The breeding process is similar.

Yellow cocoons contain less silk protein, and the thread is uneven - it has thickenings. When twisting, the thread turns out to be uneven, and on Thai-made silk we see such characteristic thickening of the thread. Again, the entire production process is manual labor, often even unwinding is done by hand, so Thai silk is quite expensive and is available only to wealthy Thais in Thailand.

Thai silk fabric:

Natural "wild silk", "tussah silk (Tussah, tussar)"
What is it and how is it different from mulberry?

This silk is "wild" because the butterfly is grown in natural conditions, on bushes and trees, which are maximum protected by canopies. Silk breeders only look after the caterpillars and protect them from birds. Silk cocoons are harvested after the butterfly leaves the cocoon, and butterflies are completely different - Antheraea, a kind of night peacock-eye who are called oak silkworm. Butterflies are large, fly well, caterpillars grow up to 10 cm before pupation.

Chinese oak silkworm (there are Japanese, Mongolian and other varieties). The wingspan of a butterfly is 10-15 cm.

They may feed on oak, apple, plum, or chestnut leaves, and their cocoons are brownish in color, coarser, and more durable. Cocoons are large, several times larger than mulberry cocoons, and can reach the size of a small chicken egg.

In some sources they write that the thread is difficult to unwind, and the silk fiber is combed from the cocoon, in others - that the thread unwinds excellently. I don't know where the truth is!

Also, wild silk is less shiny, its thread does not shine evenly, but gleams, as it were.

Silk obtained in this way is not bleached to pure white. The fabric is durable and is often used for interior decoration and the production of very wearable dense suiting silk fabrics.

Personally, my hands have been itching to paint on her for a long time, there will be a chic skirt, but there is no time.

Dyed wild silk fabric:

I hope, dear readers, that the article was interesting to you. Personally, in the process of writing, I learned a lot of new things for myself and understood, appreciating the scale manual labor why real natural silk can't be cheap :)

In the photo in the publication, most likely, small private farms in Asia. In China, it is very common for farmers to grow silkworms and then sell the cocoons by weight for further processing.

The article was written using materials from various Internet sites.

Author

Interestingly, the adhesive substance sericin mentioned is named after ancient people Sulfur, who, according to the records of historians that have come down to us (Herodotus), has been engaged in the manufacture of silk since ancient times.
As you can see, silk is produced by different silkworms, not only mulberries.

On the territory of Russia, the Siberian silkworm is common, which is a pest:

"With favorable for development weather conditions they are able to significantly increase their numbers in a short period of time. Thus, there is an outbreak of mass reproduction of harmful forest insects. The total area of active foci of pests and diseases in 2001 amounted to more than 10 million hectares. Almost 70% of this area was occupied by Siberian and gypsy moths. The centers of the Siberian silkworm in Yakutia, covering an area of 6 million hectares, have become extinct after extermination measures and under the influence of natural causes.

The most dangerous pests in Siberia are the Siberian silkworm (the main area is the Irkutsk region, the Republic of Buryatia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory) and the black barbel (the main area is the Krasnoyarsk Territory). The Siberian silkworm has a pronounced ecological variability, differing in different parts of its range in the set of preferred food species and in the characteristics of population dynamics, which allowed A.S. Rozhkov (1963) to identify several regions where it feeds on certain types of fodder plants and outbreaks of its mass reproduction occur with similar dynamics (Fig. 6). The area of forests damaged by this dendrophagus only for 40 years of the 20th century (1930-1970) amounted to more than 8 million hectares only for Central Siberia (Kondakov, 1974).

Of forest diseases, fir cancer is the most widespread (on 445 thousand ha). The main area of this disease in Siberia is the Kemerovo region.

General deterioration of the forest pathological situation in the forests Russian Federation in addition to the biological characteristics of pests and diseases, it is caused by a complex of factors unfavorable for forest ecosystems and a number of organizational shortcomings of the forest protection service, such as a limited number of specialists in the regions, insufficient funding for forest pathological expeditionary surveys, extermination measures, etc."

Distribution area of the Siberian silkworm:

Harmfulness of the Siberian silkworm, according to A.S. Rozhkov (1963):
1 - the greatest harm; 2 - significant harm; 3 - little harm; 4 - possible harm.

That is, even with the current harsh climate of Yakutia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Siberia, the silkworm actively breeds, posing a threat to forests. In the past, Siberia was much more suitable place, judging by the rich flora and fauna, the remains of which are found by scientists during excavations. And the preserved piece of the tropical jungle of Primorye clearly illustrates what the climate was like in the past. When the warm Pacific current worked to heat the Far East and Siberia.

Actually, in Primorye, the northern border of the silkworm range is now passing:

Sericulture is the breeding of silkworms to obtain silk. According to Confucian texts, the production of silk using the silkworm began around the 27th century BC. e., although archaeological research suggests breeding silkworms as early as the Yangshao period (5000 BC). In the first half of the 1st century A.D. e. sericulture came to the ancient Hotan,, and at the end of the III century - to India. Later it was introduced in other Asian countries, in Europe, in the Mediterranean. Sericulture has become an important industry in the economies of a number of countries such as China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, India, Brazil, Russia, Italy and France. Today, China and India are the two main producers of silk, accounting for about 60% of the world's annual production.

Hotan, historical background:
The history of the city is inextricably linked with the functioning of the Great Silk Road, which went from here either to the south, to India, or to the west, through the Pamir gorges. In ancient times, native speakers of the Tocharian language lived in the oasis, who early adopted Buddhism and whose mummies were discovered by European researchers at the beginning of the 20th century.
It is likely that the local monks were the first to introduce the Buddhist doctrine to the Chinese, who were attracted to Khotan by stocks of an ornamental stone, jade, highly valued at the court of the emperor.

Approximately from the II century BC. e. The oasis is inhabited by Saka Iranian-speaking tribes, who left quite numerous monuments of Buddhist literature in the Khotanosak language of the 1st millennium BC. e. Their appearance is connected with the actual foundation of the city and the receipt of the name known to us (Iran. xvatan). Starting from the 9th-10th centuries, the Khotanosak language was gradually replaced by the Turkic dialects.

The Khotan oasis (called 和阗 in old Chinese texts) marked the limit of the Chinese borders during the Han (Ban Chao troops visited here in 73) and Tang (there was a Chinese border outpost in the 630s). According to legend, back in the 5th century, a Chinese princess, married to a Khotan prince, secretly took out of China in her lush hair silkworm pupae. Thus, Khotan became the first sericulture center outside of China; it was from here that the secret of its production leaked to Persia and Byzantium.

In the 10th century Kashgar princes dominated Khotan. During the periods of their highest power, the rulers of Tibet also tried to subdue the oasis. Marco Polo, who visited the city in 1274, admired the quality of local fabrics.

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