Silky Stylings

Five thousand years ago, when modern forms of writing had not yet been invented and Egyptian hieroglyphics were just developing, some farmer or worker or emperor of China discovered silk making. I wonder what induced that person to look in the mulberry bushes, pick through the tiny silk worm cocoons, and spin them into thread.

Mulberry bushes at Angkor d' Artisans

Silk worms; moths; cocoons

Silk is something we take for granted, now. It is another fabric that we can pick up in markets, stores, and boutiques. We line our purses, wrap our necks, and clothe ourselves in dresses and shirts all made of silk. We had no idea how much labor goes into producing a small silk scarf until we visited Artisans d'Angkor in Siem Reap. a small silk scarf until we visited Artisans d'Angkor in Siem Reap.

 Cocoons

The silk moth lays about 500 eggs in a period of four to six days and then dies.  The eggs grow into small worms which became adults in about 20 days.  According to Wikipedia, in order to produce 2 pounds of silk, 3000 silkworms need to eat 230 pounds of mulberry leaves.  The silk worms spin cocoons to turn into moths.  About 75% of the cocoons are used in the silk weaving process and the remaining 25% hatch from the cocoons into moths to produce more eggs.

Cocoons ready to be boiled

The workers boil the cocoons with the live moths inside.  Frankly, I find this disgusting. I know that they are insects, it is questionable whether they can feel pain, and most people don't care if they live or die, but it seems wrong to me to boil an insect alive in the name of fashion.  But, maybe I am just being overly sensitive.  (Apparently, there is a type of silk promoted by Mahatma Gandhi called Ahimsa Silk made from cocoons in which the pupae have been extracted or have naturally flown away.)

Rough silk threads extracted from boiled cocoons

A woman sits with a hand crank all day long to extract the rough silk threads from the boiled cocoons which are then dyed using natural and artificial dyes.  The women spin the silk into even thinner fibers until they glisten and glimmer like webbing from a spider.

Spinning raw silk into thin fibers

The women then convert the silk threads into amazing designs which is then woven into scarves, ties, and other fabrics with a loom.  Amazingly, the women don't listen to music or watch television while performing these wholly monotonous jobs.

Spools of silk thread

We also saw no men working in the silk factory; perhaps silk weaving is traditionally considered "woman's work."  (In the same regard, we never saw any female tuk tuk drivers.)  These women work long hours and come from nearby villages to produce the beautiful products we found at the end of the tour.

Weaving silk design with a loom

Though we purchased nothing at Artisans d'Angkor, we have gained a newfound appreciation for this labor-intensive and beautiful material.

Unravelling the Secrets of Silk Production

I get the sense here that we are not too far out from making silk without involving a lot of silkworms. We are getting into critical details here and it appears that it practically self assembles in a two phase process that is surely tricky but no more so than many other manufacturing processes.
It would be neat to produce a synthetic product identical to the natural product. Silk is generally superior to most fiber and cheap supply is a good start. This also suggests how to tweak the process to achieve and sustain best quality.
Again the natural world is feeling the full press of modern research numbers as never before. Few such secrets will remain uncovered and that is great.

Unravelling the secrets of silk production,Oct 11, 2010

    The secrets behind the mighty strength of silk could be unravelled by neutron-scattering experiments being carried out in France. Early results have revealed that silk worms spin their silky threads in a process that seems completely counterintuitive to what is expected. On a domestic note, the findings provide some practical tips for anyone wondering how to wash their silk products.
    For such an elegant material, silk is incredibly durable, possessing a tensile strength comparable with steel. These properties combine to make silk a highly desirable product. But despite being ubiquitous in luxury textiles throughout the centuries, the process of silk formation inside the body of silk worms has remained something of a mystery, with different scientists proposing varying explanations.
    One of the practical limitations when studying silk is that at any given time each silk worm has only minute amounts of silk's precursor proteins inside its body. So any scientific programme to study silk requires the upkeep of large numbers of silk worms followed by the careful extraction of silk samples. Given these difficulties, previous silk studies have used "regenerated" silk proteins, obtained by breaking down silk worm cocoons with high salt concentrations then mixing samples.

Native silk

In this research, a team led by Cedric Dicko of the University of Oxford has for the first time studied the production of pure silk, extracted in small quantities from silk worms. Using a series of small angle neutron-scattering experiments at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), the team was able to hone in on relatively small samples of the large biological molecules that form silk.
    Dicko's team discovered that proteins are abundant inside the worm, with concentrations of up to 400 mg/ml. Unusually for this concentration, the proteins showed very little interaction, instead forming a compact helical structure with a radius of gyration of 90 nm. However, the situation changed as the researchers diluted the silk solution with water, which caused the proteins to unfold to 130 nm and start to combine into the ordered filaments of silk.
    "This is an extraordinarily high concentration for the proteins to remain stably dispersed throughout the solution," says Dicko. "Even stranger, as the concentration drops the proteins begin to expand and flow, until they eventually clump together – this is the reverse of what we'd expected."

Saving silk shirts

The finding that water plays such a key role in giving silk its strength has implications for those in possession of silk products. "Dry-cleaning silks can strip away the moisture and weaken the fibres in silk garments, leaving them more likely to get damaged," says Phil Callow, one of the researchers, based full-time at the ILL. Callow provides reassurance, however, that if one were to make the mistake of dry-cleaning a silk shirt, they should be able to return it to its original condition by steaming it gently.
    Callow explained that neutrons were used to examine silk because they offer advantages over other diffraction experiments, such as X-rays, which can damage the samples under study. He revealed that Dicko is set to return to the ILL in December to continue this research by investigating the effects of temperature variation on silk production.

The latest findings are described in a paper in Soft Matter.

About the author
James Dacey is a reporter for physicsworld.com

How to Clean a Silk Dress

How to Clean a Silk Dress

Things You Need

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• White vinegar
• Shampoo or mild soap
• Soft sponge
• Thick towels

Note: White vinegar, Shampoo or mild soap, Soft sponge, Thick towels

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If you're afraid to wear your fabulous silk dress to a party for fear of damaging it, a few cleaning tips can help you out and save you big on dry cleaning. While this delicate fabric requires careful handling, most silk clothing does well with hand washing in mild soap. Removing stains from a silk evening dress is a little trickier, but it is still something you can do at home. You do, however, need the right technique to avoid roughening or dulling the fabric. Find out how to wash a silk dress correctly so your dress keeps its soft texture and original color for years.

Cleaning Silk Dresses: Spot treat stains. Blotting silk clothing with cool water will treat most food stains. For perspiration or deodorant stains, apply diluted vinegar to the area with a soft sponge. Fill a clean sink or washtub with lukewarm water. Add two or three drops of hair shampoo or mild soap and stir the water to create lather. Immerse the silk dress and let it soak for no more than five minutes. Rub stained or very dirty spots with soapy water. Use your fingers or a soft sponge to apply very light pressure. Avoid scrubbing the silk, which can permanently damage the fibers. Drain the warm water and fill the sink with cool water. Add 1/4 cup white vinegar to neutralize alkalinity and remove traces of soap. This softens the silk and restores its shine. For extra softness, add a few drops of hair conditioner. Use this water to rinse the dress. Replace the used water with fresh water. Rinse the silk dress again in pure, cool water with no fabric softeners or other additives. Turn the dress as you rinse it to ensure water runs over all areas of the garment and no traces of soap remain. Remove the dress from the water. Spread the dress on a thick terry-cloth towel and roll it up in the towel, pressing as you go, to absorb excess water. Lay the dress flat on another dry towel or a sweater dryer to air dry.

Tips:

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• If you have hard water, add one teaspoon of borax to the water for the wash and the first rinse water.
• Brighten white silk by adding one teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide to the wash.
• If you want your dress to dry more quickly, use a sweater dryer, a net stretched over a frame. A sweater dryer is ideal for drying silk items because it lets the garment lie flat but receive air from both sides.
• Very delicate silk items, such as silk brocade or dresses with beading, require dry cleaning to avoid damage. Don't submerge a dress such as this in water.
• Before treating stains or cleaning a silk dress, check for color fastness. Dampen the fabric or apply your preferred stain remover to an inconspicuous part of the dress. If the color runs or changes, dry clean the dress.

Silk Making in 6 Steps

Silk Making in 6 Steps

Wichai lailawitmongkhol is a professor at chulalongkorn university in bangkog. he is teaching at the faculty of architecture, in the department of industrial design. In march 2008 designboom visited together with him
a tiny village of silk producers and weavers in north-east thailand.
for the past five years, wichai has been teaching a group of women the techniques of the ancient art of silk making. the village ‘hong hae’ has ca. 60 families living in it. 10 of these families are currently involved in wichai's project. In order to support the community, the men, from december to february, harvest the rice patties. Then most men leave the village to go to bangkok for the better part of the year, where they work as unskilled laborers. To support their families, they leave the village because there are no other jobs available in these area. Wichai realized that revitalizing the crafts of dying and weaving can provide immense value to the inhabitants. By introducing new advanced skills to the woman left behind in the villages, wichai is providing a new means of employment. the extra income earned through the manufacturing of textiles allows the men to stay in the villages for longer periods, helping stabilize their situation.
while the women already have basic weaving and dying skills, wichai is teaching them more intricate and advanced techniques in order to bring their silk works to the attention of a larger and maybe international market. these skilled families now have a more profound knowledge which they can in turn transmit to the others in their village. In the following pages designboom documents the process of traditional silk making and will soon present to our readers a collection of hand-made silk scarves of this village, to support wichai’s work and the community’s welfare. enjoy!


update - you can now help support the community featured in this article
by purhcasing a 'natural silk scarf' from the designboom shop.



Silk cocoons in bamboo tray.



Close-up to silk cocoons.



The dyeing process.



Dyed silk yarn



Weaving on a wooden loom.



Silk scarves in ‘bamboo-green’



50 km from this small village is the largest silk producing conglomerate in the north east region of thailand. The ‘pha toom thong’ company, headed by mrs. saengdeun (pui), located in ‘na pho’, in the province of ‘buri rum’. This image shows wichai and the owner of the company, mrs. pui.



The ‘pha toom thong’ company has been producing silk textiles since two generations and is the official silk supplier to the thai royal family. the company is quite unique because they employ over 300 families all trained in traditional silk making techniques. some work at the company while the rest work from their homes. Wichai is also collaborating with this company because of his exquisite textile design expertise. This image shows birgit lohmann and massimo mini from designboom together with mrs. saengdeun and wichai lailawitmongkhol.



Currently 2 of wichai’s students of the textile design course gain experience in an internship at this company. Both are learning the traditional silk techniques in hopes that one day they too will be able to start their own silk producing companies. this image shows the interns nan (left) and pang (right) together with wichai.