Silk is perceived as the ultimate luxury fabric. Designer dresses and wedding gowns are made of it and so are upscale suits and ties. But silk moved from luxury to utility when garments such as sweaters, underwear, pajamas, hats, scarves, and socks became available in silk. We wondered whether this was just a gimmick. So we went looking for the story of one of the ultimate natural fibers- silk.
We found that silk is perhaps the best next-to-skin layer. It is extremely comfortable. The smoothness of the fabric makes it ideal for people with sensitive skin or skin conditions. Silk is light and it breathes. Try wearing it to sleep in. You will find you can turn in the bed much more easily and for this reason, it has been recommended as sleep wear for people with MS or other neuromuscular conditions. Silk does absorb some moisture so it is best worn as a base layer for low to moderate exercise such as walking, rather than high aerobic activities. Silk has great insulating characteristics in very thin fabrics. It is known to keep us warm when it is cool and cool when it is warm making it a natural performance fabric.
That makes sense because silk evolved over the millennia as protection for silk worms (the larval stage of the Bombyx mori moth). The worms weave silk cocoons to protect themselves and to maintain their environments while they pupate. Each silk fiber is about half a mile long which gives silk fabrics their smoothness and luster. Yet, a silk fiber is stronger than a similar sized steel fiber, making it a durable performance fabric, as well. Silk wicks away moisture and has a natural stretch. It is naturally mildew, mold, and even fire resistant- without the addition of manmade chemicals to achieve those effects. Silk readily absorbs dye and so it can be found in a wide range of fabulous colors.
It takes 3,000 silk worms to make a pound of silk. Most of them die (are killed) in the process of industrial silk farming or sericulture. The pupae are gassed or steamed before they break through the cocoon and emerge. The longest unbroken filaments make the finest silks. And those come from unbroken cocoons. Peace or Ahimsa (“without death”) silk comes from cocoons that the moths have been allowed to emerge and wild silks come from a variety of different silk worms not just the Bombyx. These varieties have a different look and feel.
A woman discovered silk. According to Chinese legend about 5,000 years ago the Empress Lei-tzu initiated silk making and weaving silk thread into fabric. For these discoveries she is sometimes called Hsi-Ling-Chi or Lady of the Silkworm. It is said that Lei-tzu was in her garden investigating what was eating the mulberry trees when a cocoon fell into her hot tea. She pulled it out and the cocoon unwound into one long filament. From this, she developed the silk reel for winding the filaments and her husband, the Emperor Huang-Ti, developed methods of domesticating the silk worm and making threads from its filaments. Only royalty wore the resulting fabrics. The secrets of silk making were closely guarded. The punishment for disclosure was death and so for over 2,000 years only the Chinese could make silk. Historically, by weight, silk was equal in value to gold. Trade and automated silk production methods have brought down the cost.
Most silk garments are washable- even in a machine. Gentle care will preserve the fabric’s softness and luster. This makes silk gentle on the environment, too, for it does not require as much soap and water in the cleaning process as synthetics do.
Silk is a natural fiber not derived from petroleum like synthetics such as nylon, polyester and spandex. It is dependent on petroleum for manufacturing and for transporting it from where it is produced. It is classified as a tropical product. China still leads the world in silk production with India second. It is important to source the silk from reputable factories that respect workers and the environment.