What is silk? How is it produced?
Silk is a natural fiber produced by silkworms. The worm creates a cocoon into which it hibernates while it progresses from a pupa to a worm. this cocoon forms the basis of silk fibres. The most common type of silk is produced by the Bombyx mori silkworm, which spins a protective cocoon around itself using a fluid that solidifies into fibers.
Why is silk so expensive?
Silk fibers are made primarily of proteins, with the main one being fibroin. These fibers are extremely fine and can be spun into threads or yarns, which are then woven into fabric. Silk is soft, lightweight, and breathable, making it comfortable to wear in warm climates. Additionally, it has a natural sheen due to the triangular structure of its fibers, which reflects light in various ways.
Despite its immense tensile strength, silk is generally prized for other reasons. Silk’s softness has made it a hotly desired commodity throughout history, and this simple fiber has built legendary trade routes and transformed cultures throughout the Old World.
I Don't understand. There are so many types of silks!
Pure silk is generally a term given to fabrics with more than 95% natural silk content in the fibres. This is the finest form of silk, with any impurities or resins removed from the actual natural fibres. As a result, it is a dense, soft fibre, with very high tensile strength. Pure silk needs dry cleaning. Pure silks in India are primarily of 4 types- Mulberry silk, Tussar silk, Muga silk and Eri silk.
Mulberry silk is the name usually given to fibres produced by the species Bombyx Mori- these silkworms are usually fed Mulberry leaves.
Tussar silk is a coarser pure silk made from the coccoon fibres of a different species of silkworm moth- Antheraea, feeding on oak , jamun, as an trees.Its a natural golden in colour, and is produced primarily in Jharkhand, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh in India. A variant of tussar is kosa silk, produced in Chattisgarh, which is produced using the same process but is finer and softer.
Muga silk is smooth, glossy, papery silk, produced in Assam, using the cocoons of the moth- Antheraea Assamensis. It's a rare silk, and its glow is said to increase with age.
Matka and Gheecha Silks are both wild silks, with a textured appearance, but a key difference lies in their origin: Matka silk is made from leftover cocoons where the moth has already emerged, creating a naturally uneven texture, whereas Gheecha silk is essentially recycled silk waste leftover from the process of reeling regular Tussar silk, giving it a coarser, slightly nubby feel; both are considered lower-grade silk options compared to pure mulberry silk, making them more affordable
Mix silks are silks with a 60% -95% silk content in the fibres. Blended silks are silks that are blended with other fabric yarn and generally have low natural silk content in their fibres.
Art Silk is a term given to synthetic fibres made to resemble silk, but typically cost less to produce. Usually the term is a moniker for cellulose based fabrics, cellulose is the building block of most plants. If it is made from bamboo shoots, it is known as bamboo silk.
Organza or Kora silk is another silk fabric that is traditionally made from silk that has essential resins intact, making it crisper and less dense than pure silk.
Cotton Silk is silk blended with cotton- the term is interchangeably used with SiCo.( SiCo stands for Silk Cotton). Generally, SiCo is used for a high quality silk, woven with a high quality, pure cotton, giving a soft fabric that is suitable for daily wear. In speccific cases, (like gadwal sarees) SiCo may also mean a cotton body with pallav and borders in Silk. On this website, we use the term Cotton Silk for the blended fabric and SiCo (with an explanatory brief) for the latter.
What about Modal Silk?
Modal silk is a fabric made by processing wood pulp- made by spinning the cellulose (plant fibres) into yarn. It's breathable, stretchy, all natural and eco friendly as it's production required less water than cotton, but it's not related to silk worms or any natural silk.