The value of the quality

Silk properties

The molecular structure is important as it determines the properties and uses of the fibre.

These are the main exterior properties.
• Colour: raw silk has different colours, ranging from white to yellow, green and brown. Cooked silk is white and shiny.
• Shininess: characteristic of silk fibres. How the silkworm is raised greatly influences this property as too do the choice of the silkworms and their processing.
• Fineness: when silk is unwound it does not have a regular cross section. It is finer at the beginning, gradually getting thicker in the last layers of the cocoon.
• Length: a single continuous thread from one silkworm can be as long as 1,000 metres!
• The hand of the fibre: the hand is quite substantial for raw silk but far softer for cooked silk.

Some of the mechanical properties that are worthy of note:
• tenacity: superior to that of wool, coming close to that of cotton. It is between 2.8 and 5.2 g/den at the conditioned state whereas it drops to between 2.4 and 4.9 g/den at the wet state.
• creasability: silk creases easily even if the creases fall out on their own if they did not form in a hot, humid environment.
• resistance to wear: intermediate, between wool and cotton.