- For hundreds of years silk has been produced from the threads of the Bombyx mori, a unique insect – blind and unable to fly.
- The Silkworm (Bombyx mori, Latin for “silkworm of the mulberry tree”) is, technically, not a worm. It is the larva or caterpillar of a moth in the family Bombicidae.
- In one month, a silkworm grows in size 10000 times despite the fact that manages to lose its weight 4 times during this period.
- A silkworm’s diet consists solely of mulberry leaves.
- 30000 silkworms eat almost one tons of mulberry leaves to reproduce only 5,5kg of raw silk, and in average, 5500 silkworms are required to get at least one kilogram of silk.
- The silkworm creates the cocoon around itself in 3-4 days. As a result, we have the silk thread that may reach huge sizes – from 600 to 900 meters in length. Now compare: we need around 2800-3300 cocoons to create only 1 meter of silk fabric. For one tie, we need about 110, 650 cocoons are needed for making one blouse and up to 12000 cocoons for a silk blanket.
- It takes silk from over 2000 cocoons to produce a single kimono.
- Strong as steel in strength, silk is the strongest natural fiber known to man. It was proved recently that 16 layers of silk can stand against a bullet from Magnum 357 (with leaden core).
- A highly versatile fabric, silk has proven to be ideal for a variety of uses – from formal wear to sleepwear, from parachutes to rugs, from medical sutures to prosthetic arteries.
- You will never get house dust mites in silk items. It is due to sericin (from Lat. Sericum – silk), that is a silk glue, viscous protein of natural silk. Its main part is washed while silk processing in hot water, but the amount that is left is enough to keep mites away.
- Thanks to this of its features, natural silk is hypoallergenic and is recommended to people suffering from allergic reactions for mites.
- It is easy to distinguish natural silk from non-natural one with the help of the “burning” test.
- Current world silk production is estimated to be around 125,000 metric tons. China produces about 80% of the world’s silk and India over 10%.
- Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and Uzbekistan also have a significant production of raw silk and silk yarn.