History of Silk

Silk a secret mission!

The silk - silk and history

Some of the world 's most beautiful costumes are often made of silk fabric . Silk is a lustrous material and has been called " the queen of all fabrics ." Silk has been used by many, ranging from royal , noble people and celebrities in the past for ordinary people in the present. Around the world have all been captivated by the silk beauty, but silk has not always been easy to obtain.

In older times, silk was only made in China. Only in China knew how silk was and if anyone revealed anything about the silkworm secret could be tried and executed as a traitor . Because China had a monopoly on the production of silk fabric was very expensive . For example, silk literally worth its weight in gold, throughout the Roman Empire.

Persia came time to control all trade in silk from China. It was impossible to act outside of the Persian merchants so the price was still very high. But in the Byzantine Empire , also known as the Eastern Roman Empire was an emperor named Justinian who devised a plan. Around the year 550 , he sent two monks to China on a secret mission and returned home two years later. In some hollow bamboo sticks they had saved the emperor wanted treasures : the silkworm . Now, the secret of silk and silk revealed monopoly was thus broken.

The start of silk

It is silkworm silk or caterpillars , producing silk . There are hundreds of different worm , but the worm that makes the finest silk , the scientific navnBombyx mori . It takes a lot of silkworms to make silk fabric , and it has led to the development of sericulture , rearing of silkworms . There are 5 cocoon to 1 gram of silk (used ca.9000 cocoon into a kimono , approximately 140 cocoon to silk ties and about 100 cocoon of a silk scarf !)

Silk Butterflies female lays up to 500 eggs, each the size of a pin - head. Once that has gone around 20 days the eggs hatch . The small worm has an insatiable appetite and eat mulberry leaves and mulberry leaves only , day and night . In just 18 days, the silkworms were 70 times greater than when they came out of the eggs , and they have changed their skin four times. A worm that has reached its full size , has achieved multiplying its weight by 10,000 ! Now it is ready to spin a cocoon .

Super spinners

An adult worm is transparent and it is a sign of the soon will begin to spin a cocoon . When the time comes will silkworms placed in square boxes which are divided into many small rooms . Inside these small spaces spewing silkworms their fine white strands and covering themselves with silk. The boxes with silk worms need soil tare up in a cool, well-ventilated room.

Now there's about to happen an amazing transformation within the silkworms . The digested mulberry leaves have to fibroin , a kind of protein which is stored in a pair of glands located along the inside of the silkworm body . As this fibroin is pushed through the glands , it is coated with a sticky substance called sericin . Before they come out of the spinneret , which sits at the mouth of the silkworm , glued two fibroinfibre with sericin . When the liquid silk comes into contact with the air, it solidifies , and the two strands become one .

Are silk worm first started to secrete silk , nothing can stop it. The spins between 25 and 40 centimeters silk per minute while it moves the head around in circles . One source estimates that a worm has moved her head around 150,000 times before it has finished its cocoon . After spun for two full days , the silkworm made a thread of up to 1500 meters. This is equivalent to four times the height of the Empire State Building in New York.

The silk fabric becomes

The process of updrafts from silk cocoon on to a spool called reeling. There are numerous myths and legends about how it started . One legend says that the Chinese Empress Xi Ling Shi noticed that a cocoon fell from a mulberry tree and landed in her teacup . When she tried to fish it out , so she hung a fine silk thread from it. It was the beginning of reeling, a process currently carried out by machine.

For the cocoons to have commercial value , the pupae inside are killed before they can be hatched. This grim task is performed by means of heat . Defective cocooner are discarded and the remaining will be further processed. First get cocoonerne in hot water or steam them so the wires loose. Thereafter, one end of the thread caught cocoonens with rotating brushes . The wires from two or more cocooner put together, depending on how thick yarn you want. Drying the yarn while it is being wound onto a spool . The raw silk rewound . This time, be it on a larger coil until you have a roll of twine to the desired length and weight .

There is also a silk which is made in a humane way in which the larva first leave the silk before you begin processing , it is called Ahimsa ( Peace ) Silk. (read about it here http://www.wormspit.com/peacesilk.htm ) why it is not used for anything silk is probably because the larvae urinate in cocoonen and many cocoons are wasted. It will not be possible for all of these larvae to survive in the wild. When they get out into the countryside must be fed immediately or else they will die of starvation or dehydration.

Silk quality

An important factor is that the glue or sericinet on fibrointrådene will be removed. Silk from which the adhesive is not removed , it feels rough and difficult to dye . Chiffon , for example, a straight grain texture since there are still some remaining in the sericin .

Something else that is important for the silk quality, the strength of the yarn are twisted or twined . The Japanese habotai fabric feels soft and smooth as silk almost not twisted. Crêpes , by contrast, has a frizzy texture because the silk is severely twisted.

Staining is also a significant factor. Silk is easy to dye . Because of the structure of fibroin can dyes penetrate deep into the fabric and give it a neat and durable suit. Unlike synthetic silk fibers have both positive and negative ions . That is, it can be dyed with almost any dye. You can dye the silk as yarn before weaving or when it is made into fabric after weaving . Various techniques , such as " Yuzen " dyeing, used to paint decorations and designs directly on the woven silk fabric . http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimono

Most silk is produced in countries like China and India. Today, there are many cheap fabrics like rayon and nylon but no fabrics can compare with silk. Though known today for silk molecular formula has not yet been possible to replicate it.

Silk benefits

Silk is as strong as steel in the wire thickness. Silk has a beautiful sheen reminiscent of beads is . This is due to the many layers of fibroin has a prism-like structure which diffuses light .

The amino acids which silk is made up of , are gentle to the skin. It is said that silk can protect against various skin diseases. Some cosmetic products are made of powdered silk.

The amino acids and the tiny cavities in the silk fibers can absorb and dissipate quite a bit of sweat , so you may feel dry and cool even on the hottest time of the year.

Silk does not burn easily , and it produces no toxic gases when there is a fire.

Silk intercepts ultraviolet rays and thus protects the skin.

Since silk is both positive and negative ions and absorbs moisture , it produces not as easy static electricity as certain other substances.

Silk conservation

Wash : Wash with enzyme -free detergent in lukewarm water ( about 30 degrees). Be gentle . Rub or flex fabric. Let it air dry. If in doubt please send silk clothes for dry cleaning .

Ironing: Place a piece of cloth between the iron and the silk. Try to strike in the same direction as the silk threads with an ironing temperature of about 130 degrees. Use little or no steam.

Removing stains: In an emergency you can put silk fabric on a dry piece of fabric face down and turn , do not rub on the back of silk fabric with a damp cloth. The clothes can then be sent for cleaning .

Storage: Do not expose silk to moisture and light, and protect it from moths. Hang garments on padded hangers, or fold it in as few folds as possible.

http://www.wormspit.com/peacesilk.htm 

http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimono