Produces silk threads. Interesting Facts. Natural silk - the history of the origin of the fabric

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

Currently, the largest producer of silk is China (about 50% of total 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 waste product of the silkworm, which spins 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 Leizu, the eldest wife of the mythical Emperor Huang Di, 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 Leizu began to pick off the remaining cocoons hanging on the tree and unwind them. She wove fabric from the received threads and sewed clothes for her husband. Huang Di, having learned about this discovery, improved the methods of breeding silkworms and producing silk. This is how sericulture and silk weaving appeared.

Thanks to her discovery, Leizu also began to be called Xiling-chi - the Lady of the silkworm and she began to be considered the patron goddess of sericulture. Until now, in early April, festivals are held in honor of Leizu in Zhejiang province.

According to another legend, the most fantastic, there once lived a father and daughter, and they had a magical horse that not only could fly in the skies, but also understood human language. One day the father went about his business and disappeared. Then his daughter made an oath: if the horse could find her father, then she would marry this horse. The horse found his father, and they returned home together. However, when the father learned 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 horse’s skin 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 released long and thin threads from herself that expressed her feeling of separation from her beloved horse.

Another legend says that the women of Ancient China discovered silk completely by accident. They were collecting fruits 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 fit for food. Eventually, the women lost patience and began to beat them with thick sticks. And it was then that silk and silkworms were discovered. It turned out that the white fruit was nothing more than the cocoon of a silkworm!

History of silk production

Existing legends are just beautiful legends of antiquity. According to archaeological data, the properties of the silkworm and the secret of making silk were known already 5 thousand years ago. Thus, during archaeological excavations in various areas of China in the cultural layers of the 3rd millennium BC. Fragments of silkworm cocoons were found.

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

Gradually, a real cult of silk arose in China. Old Chinese texts mention sacrifices to the Silkworm God, 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, tattering (to loosen the compressed mass of fibers and partially remove impurities), soaking and further drying (to remove sericin). This is followed by several stages of carding (converting the mass of fibers into combed fly with oriented fibers), during which long-fiber and short-fiber toil are formed, used to produce yarn with different properties. Next comes the stage of twisting the threads, from which the fabric will be made later in the weaving stage.

Finishing silk fabrics to give them beneficial properties consists of the stages of boiling (in a soap solution at a temperature of about 95 degrees for 1.5-3 hours to completely remove sericin, dyes and fatty substances); dyeing; revitalization (treatment with a solution of acetic acid for 15-30 minutes at a temperature of 30 ° C to add shine and richness to the color (for dyed fabrics)). Optional: to obtain white silk, the raw material is bleached 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 application method using stencils (for single copies) or hardware application of a pattern using mesh templates is used. The final finishing for all types of raw materials is decatification - treatment with hot steam under pressure for several minutes to relieve intramolecular stress in the fiber structure.

Types of silk

The difference between natural silk and artificial silk

“Fake silk” is woven from threads derived from cellulose materials.
It differs from the real one in less wear resistance, does not stimulate regeneration processes, lacks the ability to repel harmful insects, and is prone to electrification.

How is artificial silk determined?

does not have an iridescent sheen, artificial fabric “glows” dimly;
Unlike polyester fabrics, even the smooth appearance of silk has some surface imperfections;
chill silk is woven from artificial threads;
silk threads are dissolved in a warm 10% alkali solution;
ignited artificial fibers emit the smell of burning plastic or wood;
when clenched in a fist, creases with clear lines are formed.

Properties of silk

Natural silk has a unique, pleasant, moderate shine 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 the light.
Silk is highly hygroscopic (all silk fabrics absorb moisture equal to half their own weight and dry very quickly).
Appearance of threads: white, slightly creamy, smooth, long (about 1000m), thin, soft.
The thickness of the elementary thread is 10-12 microns, the complex thread is 32 microns.
Silk is so light that 1 kg of finished fabric contains from 300 to 900 kilometers of thread.
Silk has good mechanical properties: breaking stress is about 40 kgf/mm? (1 kgf/mm?=107n/m?); elongation at break 14–18%.
In the wet state, the breaking stress drops by 10%, and the elongation at break increases by 10%.
Silk is not very resistant to alkalis (it is quickly destroyed in a 5% NaOH solution); more resistant to mineral acids. Insoluble in ordinary organic solvents.
Silk does not stretch or shrink
Silk drapes beautifully. This property allows silk to be used not only to create clothing of almost any shape, but also for curtains, bed linen and other home furnishings.
Silk's resistance to light is low. When exposed to direct sunlight, silk degrades faster than other natural fibers.
Features of combustion: burns slowly, when removed from the flame the combustion itself dies out, there is a faint smell of burnt hair, the combustion product is black fluffy brittle ash.
The production of silk is associated with high labor costs, which makes it one of the most expensive textile materials.

Application

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

Interior decoration

In the 90s of the last century, a new type of wall decoration appeared in European countries. 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 venues should pay attention to wet silk. This material has an excellent texture, it does not burn or smolder, therefore from a fire safety point of view it is ideal. In addition, the wet finishing material is very beautiful and durable.

Tailoring

This is perhaps the most common area of application for silk fabrics. For tailoring, both natural and acetate silk are used, which differ slightly in properties. The fine silk fabric of plain weave perfectly accentuates the figure, is comfortable to wear and durable.

Parachute silk, which is highly durable, is often used to make wardrobe items. This type is also used in the production of various products: tents, seat and furniture upholstery, etc.

Home textiles

Beautiful shiny fabric looks great in the interior. It is used to make curtains, bed linen, furniture covers, bedspreads and much more.

Silk is an absolutely non-allergenic material. Dust mites and bedbugs do not breed on it. Therefore, this thin fabric is best suited for people suffering from allergies.

Medicine

Mulberry silk has the ability to absorb moisture to a much greater extent than other materials. However, it is not at all wet to the touch. Therefore, it is actively used in medicine.

It is an excellent suture material used in surgery. The suture type of matter does not dissolve for up to 3 months. Also, suture silk causes a minor initial inflammatory reaction in living tissue. Silk suture material is even used in ophthalmic and neurosurgery.

Needlework

This fabric makes excellent souvenirs. Mulberry silk or artificial silk is used in embroidery of paintings. When visiting the Vietnamese city of Dalat, tourists must visit the workshop of a family of embroiderers. There are very expensive unique canvases, hand-embroidered with natural silk threads on transparent fabric.

Buret silk (or other natural silk) is also used in knitting. Exquisite knitted items are made from it by hand 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:

Silk scarves (scarves and other products) must be washed by hand, in warm (30-40 degrees) water, without pre-soaking, without bleaches.
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 much) of detergent, shake it until foamy. Only after this, lower the silk into the water.
When washing and rinsing, it is not recommended to rub silk with your hands, because The fabric is very delicate and can lose its beauty under strong pressure. Swirl the fabric in the soapy solution for a couple of minutes, lift it out of the water several times and lower it down. After such simple movements in a soap solution, the silk can be rinsed in cool water. However, during the first washes, slight coloration of the water may occur. Don't be scared! If the water remains the same clear, but is slightly colored, the product does not lose color. This is excess paint coming out of very bright products.
To refresh the color, it is advisable to rinse the silk in cool water with the addition of vinegar (2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water). The water should be slightly sour. But you don’t have to do this. Rinse the silk and drain the water until no foam remains.
The silk must be squeezed out carefully, without twisting. Don’t forget that silk, even satin, is a very soft and delicate fabric! Squeeze it between both hands until the water stops flowing. After this, you can wring it out in a clean towel.
It is better to dry silk in a straightened form, away from heating devices, so as not to form wrinkles, which you will then have to wet again to smooth it out. The exception is silk dyed using the shibori method, when the fabric is specially given texture. After the final wash, it is twisted into a rope (not too much) and dried without unrolling.
It is best to iron silk while it is damp, because... Silk is smoothed better when wet with the hottest possible iron in 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. From the reverse side, in the “silk” mode, you should also iron products painted with acrylic paint and having a contour (convex) pattern. For reliability, it is better to iron them through a thin cotton cloth.
Avoid contact with silk products with chemicals (perfume, cream, hairspray, deodorant). This can cause paints to lose their brightness or even become discolored. To prevent this from happening, tie a scarf after the perfume has dried.
Gently wipe sweat stains and other heavily soiled areas with alcohol.

To produce 500 grams of silk, you need about 3 thousand silkworm cocoons. It takes 12 hours of work to form a skein of silk thread weighing 250 grams.
Silk thread has amazing strength, it can withstand strong pressure and is very tensile. It was recently discovered that 16 layers of silk can withstand a .357 Magnum bullet (with a lead core).
Products made from natural silk do not harbor dust mites. Silk owes this property to sericin. Sericin, silk glue, viscous protein of natural silk. Most of it is washed out when processing (rinsing) the silk in hot water, but what remains is enough to resist the appearance of dust mites. 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 emits an unpleasant odor, and if the source of the fire is removed, the material stops burning and the thread itself then disintegrates into ash.
80% of all silk produced in the world belongs to China.
For more than three thousand years, China 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 hollowed out small holes in their staffs, where they hid the silkworm larvae. This is how silk came to Byzantium.
In India, silk appeared 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.
To create just one meter of silk, an average of 2,800 to 3,300 cocoons are required, a tie requires 110, 650 is required to make a blouse, and a silk blanket can require up to 12,000 silkworm cocoons.
If you unravel the threads of ten silkworm cocoons, there will be enough threads to cover Everest.
One of the most valuable properties of silk is thermoregulation. In hot weather, natural silk “cools”, and in winter it retains heat perfectly. At the same time, silk products absorb moisture well.

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

The publication will also be of interest to fans of felting, because Tussa and Mulberry silk, as well as silk scarves, 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 we are provided with natural silk by amazing worms - unsightly-looking caterpillars (larvae) of the silkworm. High quality silk is produced by these worms, and is often called "mulberry silk" or Mulberry silk(Mulberry is a mulberry tree translated from English), we call the mulberry tree mulberry and many people love its fruits. And the larvae love leaves and turn them into silk thread.

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

The butterfly is very impressive, it has also been called “silk moth”: The wingspan is 4-6 cm, the caterpillar can grow up to 9 cm before pupation.

It is believed that the Bombyx mori butterfly originated from a wild silk butterfly that lives on the mulberry trees of China. This was a very long time ago, it is believed that the history of silk production goes back at least 5,000 years, and over a long period of breeding butterflies in captivity, they lost the ability to fly well. Females practically do not fly, males fly a little during the mating period, so to speak, in moments of elation.

Process of obtaining raw mulberry silk

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

Each egg after a week gives rise to a larva of 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 kept in large trays with leaves, placed one on top of the other in a special room with constant temperature and humidity. The larvae are surprisingly sensitive - there should be no drafts, foreign odors or loud sounds in the room. What can happen if the conditions are not met? it’s just that the caterpillar will not spin a cocoon, it will die, and all the efforts of the silkworm breeders will be in vain.

The caterpillars' appetite is constantly growing, and within a day they eat twice as much as the previous day.

The constant work of the huge number of silkworms' jaws in the room produces a roar similar to the drumming of heavy rain on the roof.

On the fifth day of life, the larva freezes and sleeps for a day, tightly grasping the leaf. Then it straightens up sharply, and the old tight skin bursts, releasing the grown caterpillar. During the feeding period, the larvae change their skin 4 times and return to eating.

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

Sericulture breeders move the caterpillars onto floorings of leaves and branches, onto wooden grates or special bundles of rods for spinning a cocoon.

First, the caterpillar is attached to a twig or other base, creating a fluffy mesh frame, and only then it spins a cocoon inside it. It begins to secrete a gelatinous substance, which hardens in the air, forming a silk thread, and with rotational movements it wraps itself 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 falling apart; the thread also contains salts, fats and wax. The caterpillar completes the 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 those of females. Those who have ever held cocoons in their hands know how pleasant and silky they are to the touch.

After 8-9 days, the cocoon is ready to unwind. If you miss the time, after 2 weeks the butterfly will emerge from the cocoon, damaging the silk shell. Because The butterfly's mouthparts are 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 pupa is killed by heating the cocoons with hot air, and it suffocates in the cocoon, which is where the name “death of the silkworm” or “dead silk” comes from.

Here it is, a wonderful raw material for silk!

The cocoons are sorted by size and color and prepared for unwinding.

Wash alternately in hot and cold water. The adhesive substance sericin, which holds the threads together, dissolves enough to allow the thread to be unwound.

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

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

Raw silk requires further processing; it is wound into yarn and sent to a weaving factory. Factories buy silk by weight, but during further processing such raw silk loses 25% of its weight - it is soaked to remove residual sericin and 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 weave threads more economically and compensate for weight loss during weaving.

The sources don’t say it directly, but I think that’s why natural silk shrinks quite a bit when washed. After all, if you wash salts or water-soluble impregnations from the fabric, the fabric will shrink the freed space.

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

Nowadays, the silkworm culture is bred exclusively artificially. 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 apply a 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: a woman’s blouse requires a thread from 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 twisted, the thread turns out to be uneven, and on Thai-made silk we see such characteristic thread thickenings. Again, the entire production process is manual labor, often even unwinding is done by hand, so Thai silk is quite expensive and in Thailand is only available to wealthy Thais.

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 at most protected by canopies. Sericulture breeders only look after the caterpillars and protect them from birds. Silk cocoons are collected after the butterfly has left the cocoon, and the butterflies are completely different - Antheraea, a species of nocturnal peacock eye who are called oak silkworm. The butterflies are large, fly well, and the caterpillars grow up to 10cm before pupation.

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

They can feed on oak, apple, plum or chestnut leaves, and their cocoons are distinguished by a brownish color and a coarser and stronger thread. The cocoons are large, several times larger than mulberries, and can reach the size of a small chicken egg.

Some sources write that the thread is difficult to unwind, and the silk fiber is combed from the cocoon, while others say that the thread unwinds perfectly. I don't know where the truth is!

Also, wild silk has less shine; its thread does not shine evenly, but seems to sparkle.

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

Personally, I’ve been itching to paint it for a long time, it will be a gorgeous skirt, but I still don’t have 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, having appreciated the scale of manual labor, why real natural silk cannot be cheap :)

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

The article was written using materials from various Internet sites.

Author

It is interesting that the mentioned adhesive substance sericin is named after the ancient people of Sera, who, according to the records of historians that have reached us (Herodotus), have been engaged in the production of silk since ancient times.
As you can see, silk is produced by different silkworms, not just mulberries.

The Siberian silkworm, which is a pest, is widespread in Russia:

“Under favorable weather conditions for development, they are capable of significantly increasing their numbers in a short period of time. Thus, an outbreak of mass reproduction of harmful forest insects occurs. The total area of active foci of pests and diseases in 2001 amounted to more than 10 million hectares. Almost 70% This area accounted for the Siberian and gypsy moths.Focuses of the Siberian silkworm in Yakutia on an area of 6 million hectares became extinct after extermination measures and under the influence of natural causes.

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

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

The general deterioration of the forest pathological situation in the forests of the Russian Federation, in addition to the biological characteristics of pests and diseases, 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 expedition surveys, extermination measures, etc. "

Distribution area of the Siberian silkworm:

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

That is, even in the current harsh climate of Yakutia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Siberia, the silkworm actively reproduces, posing a threat to forests. In the past, Siberia was a 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.

In fact, the northern border of the silkworm’s range now lies in Primorye:

Sericulture is the breeding of silkworms to produce silk. According to Confucian texts, silk production using the silkworm began around the 27th century BC. e., although archaeological research suggests the breeding of silkworms as early as the Yangshao period (5000 BC). In the first half of the 1st century AD. e. sericulture came to ancient times Khotan,, and at the end of the 3rd 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 several 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.

Khotan, historical background:
The history of the city is inextricably linked with the functioning of the Great Silk Road, which from here went either to the south, to India, or to the west, through the gorges of the Pamirs. In ancient times, the oasis was inhabited by speakers of the Tocharian language, 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 faith to the Chinese, who were attracted to Khotan by the reserves of jade, a highly valued ornamental stone at the emperor’s court.

From about the 2nd century BC. e. The oasis is inhabited by Saka Iranian-speaking tribes, who left quite numerous monuments of Buddhist literature in the Khotanosaki language of the 1st millennium BC. e. Their appearance is associated 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 Turkic dialects.

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

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

It is not for nothing that silk is 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 from and how difficult is it? Read the article below.

A little 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 production. The threat of death penalty hung over the person who decided to reveal this secret. Therefore, the price of the fabric was appropriate; few people could afford the purchase. In the Roman Empire, silk was worth its weight in gold! When did the Chinese learn to use silkworm threads to produce fine linen? No historian will give you the exact date. There is a legend that a caterpillar cocoon once fell into the empress's tea and turned into a thread of amazing beauty. Then the wife of the Yellow Emperor began breeding 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 with them silkworm eggs. This is the end of the monopoly.

About silkworm caterpillars

Natural silk fabric today, as in ancient times, can be made only with the help of the best caterpillars. There are a great variety of butterflies in the silkworm family, but only caterpillars called Bombyx mori can produce the most expensive thread. This species does not exist in the wild, as it was created and raised artificially. They were bred for the sole purpose of laying eggs to raise silk-producing caterpillars.

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

How do caterpillars produce silk thread?

We have already figured out what silk is made from, but how does it happen? How does the caterpillar produce such precious thread? The fact is that the hatched creatures spend 24 hours eating the leaves of the mulberry tree on which they live. In two weeks of life, they grow 70 times and molt several times. Having fed on the mass, the silkworms are ready to produce thread. The body becomes translucent, and the caterpillars crawl in search of a place to produce thread. At this point, they need to be placed in special boxes with cells. There they begin an important process - cocoons are made.

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 it, two strands of fibroin are glued together with the help of sericin. It turns out one strong one that hardens in the air.

One caterpillar can spin a thread more than a thousand kilometers long in two days. To produce one silk scarf, more than a hundred cocoons are required, and for a traditional kimono - 9 thousand!

Silk production technology

When the cocoon is ready, it needs to be unwound (this is called cocooning). To begin with, the cocoons are collected and subjected to heat treatment. After this, 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 joins two or more threads (depending on the desired thickness). The raw material is rewound, and this is how it dries.

Why does the fabric turn out so smooth? The fact is that using a special technology, all sirocin is removed from it. The silk is boiled in a soap solution for several hours. Cheaper, untreated fabric is rough and difficult to dye. This 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, there is another important step - dyeing. Smooth threads are easy to dye. The structure of fibroin allows the dye to penetrate deep into the fiber. This is why 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 results. Silk is dyed both in skeins and ready-made fabric.

To obtain a more shiny fabric and its 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 relieve the internal tension of the fibers. The process is called decatification.

Now you know what silk is made from and what a long journey it takes. It is mainly produced in China and India, but the trendsetters of “silk fashion” are France and Italy. Currently, there are many that resemble silk, but at a much lower price (viscose, nylon). However, no fabric can compete with natural silk!

Silk is a valuable fabric that is known throughout the world for its soft shine, unique smoothness and high strength. It was from natural silk that in ancient times the robes of kings and noble nobles were made. Now the precious material is available to everyone: it is used to make magnificent clothes and shoes, luxurious interior decorations and valuable home textiles.

Silk, unlike other fabrics, is not made from materials of plant or animal origin. It is made from the cocoons of silkworm caterpillars.

Appearance of material

The world owes the appearance of silk to ancient Chinese masters, who began extracting silk thread from cocoons a couple of millennia BC. At that time, silk fabric was produced by hand, so only emperors and nobility had products made from it.

The Chinese understood the value of this amazing fabric, so they kept the secret of its production a secret. A person who dared to divulge the secret of silk production was sentenced to death. However, by the 4th century, silk production technology had become known in Korea, Japan and India. In 550, this art became available to Europeans.

The color of passion.

Manufacturing technology

The technology for making silk is very complex. Moths and silkworm caterpillars are raised in special nurseries. Once the caterpillar is wrapped in a cocoon, it is killed and the cocoon is softened in hot water. Then they unwind it. From 300 to 1000 m of silk fiber are obtained from one cocoon. The thread is compacted by twisting 5–8 fibers at a time and wound into spools.

The spools are sorted, processed, and sometimes the fibers are additionally twisted to increase density. The finished material is sent to the factory. There the yarn is soaked in water and dyed. It is then used to make fabrics with different weaves. The type of silk fabric will depend on the type of weaving and thread density.

Important! Now different countries are engaged in the production of this material. However, China is still considered the leader in the supply of natural silk to the world market.

Chemical and physical properties of silk fabrics

Silk composition

Silk thread is similar in chemical composition to human hair or animal fur: it consists of 97% protein, the rest is wax and fats. Its composition is as follows:

18 amino acids;
2% potassium and sodium;
3% fat and wax components;
40% sericin;
80% fibroin.

Natural silk is very expensive: not every person can afford a product made from this material. Therefore, factories have now appeared that produce artificial fabrics - cupro silk (from viscose) and synthetic silk. Externally, synthetics differ little from natural fabric, but do not have its wear resistance, strength and hygiene.

Important! The strength of silk decreases when exposed to temperatures above 110°C or ultraviolet rays. The fabric becomes fragile and can tear from minor physical impacts. When exposed to the sun for a long time (more than 200 hours), the strength of silk is reduced by half.

Properties of silk

Natural silk has gained popularity due to its amazing properties. The features of silk fabric are:

High density, wear resistance and resistance to vinegar and alcohol. Only a concentrated solution of acid or alkali can damage the material.
Smoothness, soft shine and bright shimmer. Silk pleasantly adheres to the skin, gently flows along the body and softly shines, making products made from it look royally luxurious.
Bactericidal and hypoallergenic properties. Silk prevents the growth of bacteria, absorbs unpleasant odors and does not cause allergies. This is why it is often used to make clothing and bedding.
The creaseability of the material depends on the type. Plain weave silk wrinkles easily. But lycra silk or jacquard silk hardly wrinkles.
The fabric is not subject to combustion: when a spark hits a silk product, it begins to smolder, spreading the smell of burnt feathers.

Fabric characteristics

For fans of silk clothing, other properties of the material are also important:

The fabric can be dyed well in any shade due to the high hygroscopicity of the material:
perfectly passes and absorbs water, does not electrify, stretches well;
has average shrinkage: after washing, silk fabric always shrinks and can lose up to 5% of its original length.

Important! Silk is used for more than just clothing. Beautiful souvenirs are made from it, it is used in embroidery, knitting and felting, and crepe de Chine, foulard or toile are an excellent basis for paintings and scarves using the batik technique.

Varieties of silk

There are many varieties of silk fabrics. They differ in thread quality, appearance, structure, weaving pattern and properties.

The most common types of silk fabric:

Toile- a material with a plain weave that holds its shape well and is distinguished by its soft shine and high density. Used for sewing dresses, skirts, linings for outerwear and ties.
Silk-satin- fabric with satin weave, which has two sides: a shiny front and a matte back. Satin drapes well and can have different densities. Used for making clothes, shoes and interior decoration.
Silk chiffon- fabric with a plain weave. It is soft, transparent, rough and matte. Used for blouses, dresses, dressing gowns.
DuPont– dense fabric with shine. Used for sewing curtains, drapes and vertical blinds.
Foulard– light and shiny fabric, suitable for making linen and scarves. It is very popular among batik masters.

There are other types of fabric: gauze, organza, silk-viscose, excelsior, brocade, chesucha.

Areas of use

The areas of application of silk are numerous:

Making clothes. Both winter and summer clothes are made from silk fabrics, since this material maintains a comfortable body temperature in any weather. In addition, silk products have an attractive appearance, absorb unpleasant odors, prevent the growth of bacteria on the skin and do not cause allergies.
Medicine. Silk has disinfectant and bactericidal properties, which is why it is used as a suture material in surgery (even in such delicate areas as eye or neurosurgery). For performing surgical sutures, threads made from the outer or inner fiber of the cocoon - buret silk - are best suited.
Home textiles. This hypoallergenic material, in which bedbugs and dust mites do not breed, is perfect for making home textiles. Thick silk is used to make curtains, roller blinds, bed linen, furniture covers, and bedspreads.

Advantages and disadvantages of natural silk

Advantages of the material:

Cons of silk:

expensive;
needs special careful care;
does not tolerate washing in very hot water;
requires care when ironing;
loses strength with prolonged exposure to ultraviolet radiation;
becomes dirty when liquid or sweat gets on the surface.

Despite the fact that silk products have a number of disadvantages, this fabric remains popular all over the world.

Silk is a delicate fabric that requires careful wear and careful care. Basic recommendations for caring for silk items are as follows:

wash by hand at a temperature not exceeding 30ºС or in a machine in the “Delicate Wash” or “Silk” mode;
Do not use regular alkaline powder for washing: you need to purchase a detergent labeled “for silk”;
Do not use bleach or fabric softener;
Do not crush, twist or squeeze the material too hard so as not to spoil its structure;
to dry a silk item, it is advisable to wrap it in a towel, allow excess moisture to be absorbed, and then place the item on a horizontal surface and leave until dry;
You can iron silk in the “Silk” mode without steam; ironing a wet product is prohibited;
After washing, colored silk should be rinsed in cool water with the addition of vinegar (5 tablespoons of 9% vinegar per 10 liters of water).

If you take proper care of your silk items, they will last you for many years.

Story

Legends about the appearance of silk in China

History of silk production

Gradually, a real cult of silk arose in China. Old Chinese texts mention sacrifices to the Silkworm God, as well as sacred mulberry groves and the veneration of individual mulberry trees.

Making silk fabric

Types of silk

The difference between natural silk and artificial silk

How is artificial silk determined?

does not have an iridescent sheen, artificial fabric “glows” dimly;
Unlike polyester fabrics, even the smooth appearance of silk has some surface imperfections;
chill silk is woven from artificial threads;
silk threads are dissolved in a warm 10% alkali solution;
ignited artificial fibers emit the smell of burning plastic or wood;
when clenched in a fist, creases with clear lines are formed.

Properties of silk

Natural silk has a unique, pleasant, moderate shine 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 the light.
Silk is highly hygroscopic (all silk fabrics absorb moisture equal to half their own weight and dry very quickly).
Appearance of threads: white, slightly creamy, smooth, long (about 1000m), thin, soft.
The thickness of the elementary thread is 10-12 microns, the complex thread is 32 microns.
Silk is so light that 1 kg of finished fabric contains from 300 to 900 kilometers of thread.
Silk has good mechanical properties: breaking stress is about 40 kgf/mm? (1 kgf/mm?=107n/m?); elongation at break 14–18%.
In the wet state, the breaking stress drops by 10%, and the elongation at break increases by 10%.
Silk is not very resistant to alkalis (it is quickly destroyed in a 5% NaOH solution); more resistant to mineral acids. Insoluble in ordinary organic solvents.
Silk does not stretch or shrink
Silk drapes beautifully. This property allows silk to be used not only to create clothing of almost any shape, but also for curtains, bed linen and other home furnishings.
Silk's resistance to light is low. When exposed to direct sunlight, silk degrades faster than other natural fibers.
Features of combustion: burns slowly, when removed from the flame the combustion itself dies out, there is a faint smell of burnt hair, the combustion product is black fluffy brittle ash.
The production of silk is associated with high labor costs, which makes it one of the most expensive textile materials.

Application

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

Interior decoration

Tailoring

Parachute silk, which is highly durable, is often used to make wardrobe items. This type is also used in the production of various products: tents, seat and furniture upholstery, etc.

Home textiles

Beautiful shiny fabric looks great in the interior. It is used to make curtains, bed linen, furniture covers, bedspreads and much more.

Silk is an absolutely non-allergenic material. Dust mites and bedbugs do not breed on it. Therefore, this thin fabric is best suited for people suffering from allergies.

Medicine

Mulberry silk has the ability to absorb moisture to a much greater extent than other materials. However, it is not at all wet to the touch. Therefore, it is actively used in medicine.

Needlework

Buret silk (or other natural silk) is also used in knitting. Exquisite knitted items are made from it by hand 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:

Silk scarves (scarves and other products) must be washed by hand, in warm (30-40 degrees) water, without pre-soaking, without bleaches.
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 much) of detergent, shake it until foamy. Only after this, lower the silk into the water.
When washing and rinsing, it is not recommended to rub silk with your hands, because The fabric is very delicate and can lose its beauty under strong pressure. Swirl the fabric in the soapy solution for a couple of minutes, lift it out of the water several times and lower it down. After such simple movements in a soap solution, the silk can be rinsed in cool water. However, during the first washes, slight coloration of the water may occur. Don't be scared! If the water remains the same clear, but is slightly colored, the product does not lose color. This is excess paint coming out of very bright products.
To refresh the color, it is advisable to rinse the silk in cool water with the addition of vinegar (2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water). The water should be slightly sour. But you don’t have to do this. Rinse the silk and drain the water until no foam remains.
The silk must be squeezed out carefully, without twisting. Don’t forget that silk, even satin, is a very soft and delicate fabric! Squeeze it between both hands until the water stops flowing. After this, you can wring it out in a clean towel.
It is better to dry silk in a straightened form, away from heating devices, so as not to form wrinkles, which you will then have to wet again to smooth it out. The exception is silk dyed using the shibori method, when the fabric is specially given texture. After the final wash, it is twisted into a rope (not too much) and dried without unrolling.
It is best to iron silk while it is damp, because... Silk is smoothed better when wet with the hottest possible iron in 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. From the reverse side, in the “silk” mode, you should also iron products painted with acrylic paint and having a contour (convex) pattern. For reliability, it is better to iron them through a thin cotton cloth.
Avoid contact with silk products with chemicals (perfume, cream, hairspray, deodorant). This can cause paints to lose their brightness or even become discolored. To prevent this from happening, tie a scarf after the perfume has dried.
Gently wipe sweat stains and other heavily soiled areas with alcohol.

To produce 500 grams of silk, you need about 3 thousand silkworm cocoons. It takes 12 hours of work to form a skein of silk thread weighing 250 grams.
Silk thread has amazing strength, it can withstand strong pressure and is very tensile. It was recently discovered that 16 layers of silk can withstand a .357 Magnum bullet (with a lead core).
Products made from natural silk do not harbor dust mites. Silk owes this property to sericin. Sericin, silk glue, viscous protein of natural silk. Most of it is washed out when processing (rinsing) the silk in hot water, but what remains is enough to resist the appearance of dust mites. 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 emits an unpleasant odor, and if the source of the fire is removed, the material stops burning and the thread itself then disintegrates into ash.
80% of all silk produced in the world belongs to China.
For more than three thousand years, China 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 hollowed out small holes in their staffs, where they hid the silkworm larvae. This is how silk came to Byzantium.
In India, silk appeared 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.
To create just one meter of silk, an average of 2,800 to 3,300 cocoons are required, a tie requires 110, 650 is required to make a blouse, and a silk blanket can require up to 12,000 silkworm cocoons.
If you unravel the threads of ten silkworm cocoons, there will be enough threads to cover Everest.
One of the most valuable properties of silk is thermoregulation. In hot weather, natural silk “cools”, and in winter it retains heat perfectly. At the same time, silk products absorb moisture well.