How Silk Is Extracted?

Introduction to Silk
The ancient Chinese were credited with the discovery of silk and the
cultivation of silk worm.
They were able to guard the secret of sericulture and it took about
3,000 years for the outside world to know anything about it. The
origin of silk is shrouded in myths and legends. According to one
legend, a little Chinese princess accidentally dropped a cocoon into
a cup of tea. Later her mother was started to find that a fine strand
could be unwound from softened cocoon.
In the third century A.D., some Chinese maidens, who were
sericulture experts, were mysteriously kidnapped and carried
through Korea and Japan, where they instructed the people of the
court and later Japanese craftsmen who soon produced silk quickly
and scientifically.
Silk is continuous protein filament extruded by silk worm. It
possesses all the desirable properties of a textile fibre. It is solidified
protein produced by certain caterpillars which will encase
themselves in the form of cocoon.

Method Of Extraction Of Silk From Cocoon And

Process Of Preparing Filature Silk
SILK REELING

Silk is quite different from other natural fibers which are

produced in relatively short length. Silk worm makes its
cocoon from a twin filament that extruded from its spinneret
in a continuous strand. This filament may be as a mile in
length. The production of a thread or yarn of silk suitable
for weaving is therefore a process different from that which
is used in the case of shorter fibers. All that is necessary in
principle is to unwind the long continuous filaments from the
cocoons and then twist a number of these together to form a
thread of useful thickness.
The unwinding of the fine silk filaments from the cocoons is
called reeling. Since a single filament is very thin a finite
number of cocoons are reeled together and combined in the
form of thread without twist. Reeling consists of the following
operations.

Method Of Extraction Of Silk From Cocoon And

Process Of Preparing Filature Silk
STIFLING

Here, the moths inside the cocoons are killed by steam or

hot water.
GRADING OR SORTING
To obtain uniform and good quality yarn, silk grading is
done. Cocoons of different sizes are grouped together;
damaged and ill-developed cocoons are rejected and used
in the waste industry.
COOKING
The sorted cocoons are placed in 1% hot soap solution at
90C in a vat to soften the sericin gum and to enable the
filaments to be drawn out easily as one continuous thread.
Good cooking is essential for the success of subsequent
operation and it is done for a few minutes.

Method Of Extraction Of Silk From Cocoon And

Process Of Preparing Filature Silk
STIFLING

BRUSHING
After cooking, the unreelable discontinuous and rough mass of fibers
called floss, is removed with a brush until the free end from which the
continuous length is found Floss is used in the waste industry.
Cocoons, after brushing are transferred to a basin containing water kept
at 60C. Reeling requires great skill, as the operator must produce
uniform thread by combining the silk filaments in suitable fashion. Each
filament is narrower towards the beginning and the end than it is in the
middle. The denier may also vary from cocoon to cocoon. The reeler
must so manipulate that the cocoons are so adjusted as to produce a
uniform yarn.
To produce a silk thread of 28 to 30 denier, 15 to 18 filaments are
combined. The required number of filament are brought together to form
a thread by drawing them over a glass roller and then through a
porcelain guide, drilled with vertical hole gauge to denier required.

Method Of Extraction Of Silk From Cocoon And

Process Of Preparing Filature Silk
STIFLING

CROISSURE
If the silk filaments are simply drawn together the results would be
ribbon or a tape. So to obtain a cylindrical thread it is necessary to have
a device called croissure, which causes crossing of the threads several
times with itself to dissipate water and to assist cohesion of silk
filaments.
If the temperature of the reeling bath is hot, the silk comes off very
quickly. If it is too cold, it comes off with difficulty and cause breakage,
so the temperature must be kept in moderate condition.
The silk filaments after passing through the croissure device passes
through guide eye set on sliding rod having to and fro motion across the
direction of the thread. Then the filaments are wound on the rotating six
armed winding reeler in the form of skeins. These are made up into
bundles of about 6 lbs called books. The books are then packed into
bales for shipment.

Method Of Extraction Of Silk From Cocoon And

Process Of Preparing Filature Silk
STIFLING

DEGUMMED SILK
The natural gum sericin is normally left on the silk during reeling,
throwing and weaving. It acts as a size which protects the fibres from
mechanical injury. The gum is removed from the finished yarns or
fabrics, usually by boiling with soap and water.
Silk fabrics, woven with the sericin still on the yarn, have a characteristic
stiffness of handle; they are also dull in appearance. After degumming,
the silk acquires its beautiful luster and becomes soft. As much as onethird of the weight of the fabric may be lost when the gum is removed in
this way.
Raw silk with the gum still on the filaments is called hard silk.
Degummed silk is called soft silk.
Georgette, chiffon and crepe fabrics are woven from hard silk which is
afterwards degummed.

Method Of Extraction Of Silk From Cocoon And

Process Of Preparing Filature Silk
THROWING OF SILK

This is the operation of twisting of long filaments of silk into

a yarn. Reeled silk is transformed into silk yarn by this
process called silk throwing. Twist gives cohesion to the
thin filaments which are combined together. In throwing the
number of TPI (Twist per Inch) inserted and the direction of
twist (S or Z) are important.
The raw silk skeins are soaked in worm water with soap.
The softening of the sericin gum aids the easy handling of
the filament. After mechanical drying, the skeins are placed
on light reels from which the silk is wound on bobbins. The
thread is then inspected and packaged and is ready to be
shipped to manufacturers for construction of fabrics.