Silk
3:57 AM | Author: NOFT

Silk


Silk is, has been and will always be a luxury product. It is very soft and very comfortable to wear. Silk was originated in china where there where bugs that actually created it. To be more accurate, the bugs are moths that spin themselves into a cocoon made up of silk to protect them. When the cocoon was finished the Chinese women collected all the cocoons and boiled them in water so the moths died. When all the moths were dead they separated the silk from the moths and made it into strings.
Silk is white with a touch of grey that you never see because it has already been dyed into another colour.
There are two types of silk, natural and synthetic. Synthetic silk is made from lyocell which is a cellulose fibre. The difference between the both is hard to see and feel.
If you want to wash silk it is very important that you use non-alkaline soap and water. To dry the silk take a towel and roll it in, then take it out and let it lay on a flat surface.
One big disadvantage with silk is that it gets destroyed in high temperatures, so you can’t
Iron it in high temperatures.
Silk is used for many things like clothing, mats, and towels and so on.
 Silk Manufacturing Process
Silk is a natural protein fiber produced by certain caterpillars in order to encase themselves in the form of cocoons. The making of silk is different from that of other natural fibers. There are many steps involved in silk manufacturing
Kinds of Silk Yarns
Thrown Singles: Three to eight silk filaments are twisted together in only one direction to make 'Singles'.
Tram: A slight twist is given to two to four untwisted singles. Trams are used exclusively as filling yarns.
Crepe: Individual raw silk filaments are twisted together, one in S direction and the other in opposite Z direction. They are then twisted around each other in S direction.
Organzine: Two or more singles having twist in Z direction are combined by twisting them around each other in the opposite S direction. Organzine is mainly used for warp yarns.
Finishing of Silk Fabrics
Many finishing processes are applied to different silk fabrics in order to improve their appearance, durability and feel. Calendering and Cireing is done to enhance luster, singeing is done to make them smooth, and steaming is done for raising pile weaves. Pressing and lustering removes wrinkles from the finished fabric. It is done with heated rollers and then soaking in dilute acid to bring luster.
 One finish that is unique to silk fabric is 'Weighting'. The weight of silk is lost during the process of demugging. The manufacturer purchases silk by weight and to make up his loss, he does weighting of silk fabric with metallic substances such as stannic chloride, sodium phosphate, iron salt, logwood etc. Weighting is done during the dyeing process. Weighted silk is less compactly woven when compared to the unweighted silk and lesser silk is used in the fabric construction. Apart from lowering the cost of silk, weighting gives it crispness, luster and a firm feel.
 Fiber Spinning
Spinning is the twisting together of fibers to form yarn (or thread, rope, or cable). Earlier fiber was spun by hand using simple tools like spindle and distaff. Later the use of spinning wheel gained importance. Industrial spinning started in the 18th century with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Hand-spinning remains a popular handicraft.
 Industrial spinning
Fibers can not be used to make clothes in their raw form. For this purpose, they must be converted into yarns. The process used for yarn formation is spinning. Spinning by hand was a slow and laborious process. Thus, Many implements and methods were invented for making it faster and simple. Eventually, the techniques were refined and industrial spinning started manufacturing yarn in various ways. The methods selected depend upon the factors such as the manufacturer's preference of equipment, the economic implications, the fibers to be used and the desired properties of yarn to be produced. Ring method is the oldest and the most used technique. Open- end spinning is another important method. The basic manufacturing process of spinning includes carding, combing, drafting, twisting and winding. As the fibers pass through these processes, they are successively formed into lap, sliver, roving and finally yarn. A brief description of the journey from fibers to yarns will help in understanding industrial spinning in a better way.
 The raw fiber arrives at a spinning mill as compressed mass which goes through the processes of blending, opening and cleaning. Blending is done to obtain uniformity of fiber quality. Opening is done to loosen the hard lumps of fiber and disentangle them. Cleaning is required to remove the trash such as dirt, leaves, burrs and any remaining seeds. Carding is the initial straightening process which puts the fiber into a parallel lengthwise alignment. This makes the tangled mass of fiber ready to produce yarn. Now the fiber is called 'Lap' . The lap is treated for removing the remaining trash, disentangling and molding it into a round rope like mass called 'Sliver'. The sliver is then straighten again which is called Combing. In it, fine-toothed combs continue straightening the fibers until they are arranged in such a parallel manner that the short fibers are completely separated from the longer fibers. This procedure is not required for man made staple fiber because they are cut into predetermined uniform lengths. This process forms a 'comb sliver' made of the longest fibers. The combing process is identified with better quality because long staple yarn produces stronger, smoother and more serviceable fabrics.
 Drawing pulls the staple lengthwise over each other. As a result longer and thinner slivers are produced. After several stages of drawing out, the sliver is passed to the spindles where it is given its first twist and is then wound on bobbins. 'Roving' is the final product of the several drawing-out operations. It is the preparatory stage for the final insertion of twist. Till now, enough twist is given for holding the fibers together but it has no tensile strength. It can break apart easily with a slight pull. The roving, on bobbins, is placed in the spinning frame, where it passes through several sets of rollers running at high speed and finally the 'Yarn' is produced of the sizes desired.
 Spinning Machines Traditional v/s Modern Techniques
Hand spinning was replaced by powered spinning machines which was very fast. Initially it was done by water or steam power and then by electricity. The spinning jenny, a multi-spool spinning wheel significantly reduced the amount of work required to produce yarn. A single worker was now able to work eight or more spools at a time.
 Then came the spinning frame which produced a stronger thread than the spinning jenny. As it was too large to be operated by hand, a spinning frame powered by a waterwheel was invented. It was then called the water frame. The elements of the spinning jenny and water frame were combined to create the spinning mule.
 Then came the spinning frame which produced a stronger thread than the spinning jenny. As it was too large to be operated by hand, a spinning frame powered by a waterwheel was invented. It was then called the water frame. The elements of the spinning jenny and water frame were combined to create the spinning mule.


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