The value of the quality

Silk

The morphological features of silk.

Raw silk, or Silk Noil, consists of two proteins. Fibrin (75%-77%) which confers the properties to react both with basic and acid substances. The remaining part is silk gum, soluble in hot water. The other components are fatty and waxy substances and mineral salts which are eliminated in a low temperature bath. Raw silk contains almost all the initial gum and so is rather rough and dull looking and is not good for dyeing.

Raw silk undergoes a very superficial kind of wash which attenuates gumminess, dullness and roughness. The gum is completely eliminated when the silk is cooked and the fibre is really shiny.

When sorting the products, reeling the silk as well as when spinning and weaving we have different waste, such as: the empty cocoons, the cocoon fluff (the first filaments of the silkworm which are normally left in the woods), the waste cocoons and the residues of unwound cocoons. Waste accounts for 50% of raw silk and consists of non continuous filaments, commonly called silk “schiappe”; this waste is reused in knitwear after being processed with machines similar to those used for wool.