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pillow, history of Thai silk, Thai silk bag, silk tai chi,
Thai silk production. My impression of Thai silk is positive, such a nice
material, feels good - optically and on the body -.
In the last few years production on Thai silk was
expanded into huge sizes one could use as Thai silk curtain, Thai silk bedcover or Thai silk
whatever, this is mainly available at a Jim Thompson Thai silk outlet at
Suriwong Road in Bangkok. They are very expensive, I would
say too expensive because I even can buy for less price at similar shops
in Austria, Europe and this is already a high-priced country in Europe. But I must admit the patterns are very
attractive.
Silk - Silk Production by Michael
Russell
If you're wondering where most of your silk
comes from and the specialties of these countries, we're going to go
inside the silk industry itself in Thailand, Japan, and China to see
just what it is that they're making and how.
Silk production in Thailand is very specialized. The Thai silk moth is
most suited to tropical conditions. This moth is what is called
polyvoltine, meaning it can produce at least ten batches of eggs each
year. They hand reel the silk from the Thai moth from green cocoons.
These cocoons still contain the live pupae. The pupae from these cocoons
are not killed before being reeled because that would make reeling very
difficult. What they do is they place the green cocoons in hot, almost
boiling water. This process loosens the end of the thread. They only
have about 10 days to finish this process before the moths come out and
ruins the cocoon. Many times, the workers run out of time. This limits
the scale of the industry and partially explains why silk is so
expensive. The most experience workers usually only produce about 300 kg
per day.
Silk production in China and Japan is a little different. The moth that
is mostly used in these countries is monovoltine or bivoltine. These
moths produce one or sometimes two batches of eggs each year. These are
then put into a suspended environment so that they can induce hatching
at a more convenient time. These cocoons are very large so they are
better suited for machine reeling. They produce a filament that is
usually between one and two kilometers long. The adult moths that are
normally used for production are too fat to fly. The moths that can fly
don't produce enough silk to be worth cultivating.
The larvae farmed by the silk makers of China and Japan, unlike the ones
in Thailand that are very sturdy, are very fragile and need great care.
They are selectively bred and their purpose is strictly to get maximum
output with a minimum amount of work. In Thailand they get about 26 kg
of raw silk per hectare. The production in Korea is about 80 kg per
hectare and in China it is 125 kg per hectare.
In 1995 a major silk producing factory was set up in Hanzhou, China.
This factory has the capacity to make over one million silk blouses
every year. Yes, silk production in these countries is big business and
makes up a large part of their economy.
While silk production in these countries may be big business, there are
those who, because of the nature of the industry, would just as soon see
it die a quick death. The reason is simple. In the making of these silk
products, living creatures die. While this isn't anything new (just take
a look at the fur coat industry) the activists against this industry are
probably one of the most vocal, staging rallies and marching in
protests. So far, however, their efforts have not even slowed down one
of the largest industries in that part of the world. But the fight
continues.
Silk -
History And Facts by Michael Russell
Silk may be just another fabric to most of
us. But the truth is, silk is a very unique fabric that has many
activists up in arms. We're going to take a look at a brief history and
some facts about silk in order to give you a little education on the
subject.
The actual discovery of silk, from the silkworm species Bombyx mori
happened around 2700 BC. Yes, silk has been around a long time.
According to Chinese tradition, and you have to take this with a grain
of salt, it was a 14 year old girl by the name of Hsi Ling Shi who
discovered the invention of the first silk reel. Silk became a very
valuable commodity and was sought after by many other countries. But it
wasn't until 139 BC that the world's longest trade route was opened from
China to The Mediterranean Sea. This route was named the Silk Road for
obvious reasons. By 300 AD the production of silk had also reached India
and Japan.
The manufacture of silk gradually made its way to Europe and America.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, around the time of the Industrial
Revolution, Europeans had made some great advances in the production of
silk. In the 18th century, England became the leading manufacturer of
silk because of the advancements in technology the country was
responsible for. Some of the inventions were improved silk-weaving
looms, power looms and roller printing. In 1870, however, there was a
major setback in silk production. There was an epidemic called Pebrine
disease, which was caused by a small parasite. This epidemic spread like
wildfire through the industry, almost completely wiping out silk
production. However, it is because of this epidemic that much research
was done on the silkworm that ultimately led to more advances and more
modern techniques. Today's silk production is actually a combination of
old and new techniques.
The silkworm itself is actually a common name for the silk producing
larvae of many different types of moths. The larvae is not actually a
worm. It is technically a caterpillar. There are many species of
silkworm that are used in silk production but the most common of these
is Bombyx mori. This silkworm is native to China and was brought to
Europe and Western Asia around 600 AD. It wasn't until the 18th century
that it was brought to America.
The silk industry is the main industry in Thailand, Japan and China.
Most of the silk products you'll find in stores, especially in the
United States, most likely come from one of these three countries. There
are basically two methods of producing the silk. One is by hand reeling,
which is mostly done in Thailand, and machine reeling, which is done in
Japan and China.
The cost of silk products from these countries is very high because of
the technology involved, the difficulty of producing silk products due
to dealing with living creatures and the import taxes invoked on these
items. That is one of the reasons why silk is such a valued commodity,
especially in the United States.
In the next installment in this series on silk we'll pick up with a more
detailed look at silk production in the three main silk producing
countries.
Silk - A Hard Job For Everyone by
Michael Russell
Producing silk isn't as easy as it sounds.
We're going to examine some of what's involved including a look at what
typical mass production is in some of the more productive countries such
as Japan, China and Thailand.
Silk production is done in stages. The first stage is hatching the
silkworm egg in a controlled environment. This is usually done in an
aluminum box. The boxes first have to be examined to make sure they are
free of disease. The female silkworm usually lays about 300 to 400 eggs
at a time. In an area about the size of a piece of typing paper about 50
moths can lay over 20,000 eggs at one time. Each of these eggs is about
the size of a pinhead and virtually undetectable to the human eye. After
laying the eggs the female dies almost immediately. The male lives only
for a short while after this.
The eggs are then tested for disease. If they are disease free they are
then raised in a controlled environment. The eggs are fastened to a flat
surface by a substance that is secreted by the female. The larvae hatch
out of the eggs in about 10 days and are about a half a centimeter long.
After the larvae hatch they are placed under a layer of gauze.
Afterwards, they are fed a large amount of cut up mulberry leaves.
During this time they are left to shed their skin, which they do about
four times during the process. Sometimes they'll feed the larvae orange
juice or lettuce. The larvae that are fed the mulberry leaves are the
ones that produce the finest silk. Each larvae can eat over 50,000 times
its size in food.
After the larvae has reached its maximum length, which is about 7.5
centimeters, it stops eating. This takes about four to six weeks. After
this happens it changes color and attaches itself to some kind of object
like a frame, tree branch, twig or shrub. Once attached, they start
spinning their silk. This goes on for about three to eight days.
This is where the hard work by the silkworms comes in. Over the next few
days, the silkworm produces a thread by making a figure eight motion
over 300,000 times, during which time it is actually constructing a
cocoon. This is a non stop process. The cocoon is made because this is
where the silkworm plans to live during what is called its chrysalis
stage. During this stage it sleeps and sheds its skin. During this
stage, which lasts about sixteen days, the silkworm begins the next
process of turning into a moth. The problem, for the silk manufacturer,
is if the pupae remains alive it will secrete a substance that will
destroy the cocoon, thus ruining the silk threads. To prevent this from
happening the pupae are killed. This is why activists have such a
problem with the process.
The truth is, the percentage of silk that is actually saved in this
process is very small. Thousands of pupae die. It takes about 80 kg of
cocoons to produce just 1 kg of raw silk.
About the Author
Copyright by
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Silk
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