Silk
is a protein fiber like as Wool. Silk is not a staple fiber but it is an animal
fiber. Silk is a thread like form which is known as filament. Silk production
is known as sericulture. Bombay Mori is the most common cultivated which is one
used for sericulture.The main sources of Silk are Japan, France, Greece, Brazil, India, Austria, Spain, Turkey etc. The Composition of Silk fiber is Gum or sericin is 22-25%, Silk of fibroin is 62-67%, Water is 10-11% and Salt is 1-1.5%. The length of Silk is about 600m with the diameter of 12µm to 30 µm. The common color of Silk is Bright Yellow. Moisture regain of Silk fiber is 11%. And the tenacity of Silk fiber is 30-44 CN/Tex. To make a Silk fabric soft and glossy at first we must have to remove the sericin or gum by a treatment. This treatment is known as degumming. Basically this is a sourcing operation. At the temperature of 105º C Silk is treated with soap. When de-gumming is completed the weight of Silk fabric is decreased into one third. De-gumming Silk is known as soft Silk and with the gum or sericin Silk is known as hard Silk.
