Thai Silk

-Silk - History And Facts

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  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.

-Silk - A Hard Job For Everyone

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