Silk is a natural fiber harvested from the cocoons of the silkworm. Attempts to produce a synthetic alternative have been unsuccessful. The process of silk production has remained largely unchanged for 4,000 years. The adult moth is flightless and only lives to reproduce. Females lay up to 500 eggs, which hatch into silkworms that only eat mulberry leaves. The silkworm pupates and secretes a single continuous thread of raw silk. The cocoon is then boiled and unwound to produce yarn, which can be woven and dyed. Waste silk is used for lower quality items. Rolled silk is the highest quality and most valuable.
Silk is a natural fiber and the process of harvesting and preparing raw silk has remained largely unchanged for the past 4,000 years. It is harvested from the cocoons of the silk moth larvae, Bombyx mori. After harvesting, the fibers are processed, woven and dyed.
Several creatures secrete a form of silk, but their secretions are far inferior to those of the silkworm, which is the larval stage of the moth. Many attempts have been made to produce a synthetic alternative, but the results have been poor and the quality very different from the natural material. The moth is native to China and it was the Chinese, more than 4,000 years ago, who discovered the process for making this fabric.
Chinese silk producers have kept an absolute secret about the origins of this extremely precious and sought-after material. At one point, revealing any part of the process was an offense punishable by death. There are no more wild moths; they survive exclusively in captivity, mainly on silk farms.
Intensive cultivation and domestication over more than 4,000 years resulted in the adult moth evolving into a flightless creature with a fat body and small wings that are unable to lift the creature’s weight. Instead, the adult moth crawls on legs that struggle to support its weight. It lives up to a week, without eating or drinking, its only purpose is to reproduce.
Females lay up to 500 eggs, which take about two weeks to hatch into tiny caterpillars called silkworms. The larvae only eat mulberry leaves which are cut into small pieces and given every few hours. It grows rapidly, repeatedly shedding its skin until it reaches 3 inches (7.5 cm). The caterpillar then pupates and begins to secrete a liquid from two glands on the head; the liquid hardens by reacting with the air.
This process is designed to protect the pupa and can take up to three days. The secretion is a single continuous thread and is raw silk. Once complete, the cocoon is placed in boiling water to kill the developing moth before it can emerge and destroy it. The cocoon is then carefully unwound and placed on a large spool. From each, the silk thread measures up to 2,953 feet (900m).
The fine threads are wound together to produce yarn which can then be woven and dyed. Waste silk, such as defective or short threads, is also processed. It is used to make short furnishings or lower quality clothing and items, which is reflected in the cost of the finished items. Rolled silk is the term given to the highest quality material, and it is the most valuable.
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