Silkworms are caterpillars that make thread and yarn. They make, well, silk. This product is extremely soft and super smooth. It keeps you warm during the cold months and cools during the warm months. Another great thing is that soaks up dye marvelously. Some people wonder if they are a type of bed bug or pest, but there is no reason to call Austin pest control. There are many great features to silk because of silk worms.
Qualities of Thread
These bugs produce a great little thread that is durable and has many qualities. For starters, it soaks up dye fabulously. It is a rather absorbent thread that will hold against anything with durability. Silk is almost like a sponge. It is rather strong because of the protein structure of silk’s fibers. They are even used as surgical sutures for this very reason.
How Does Silk Come from These Bugs?
The silkworm goes into a cocoon eventually to become a butterfly or moth. The cocoon is made by spinning a long thread that has all of the properties listed previously. These cocoons are about one inch long and are oval in shape. The butterfly or moth leaves the cocoon with a small hole in it behind. This cocoon can then be collected. The thread is now shredded into more threads because of the bug’s emergence from the spindle. In the past, these were gathered and boiled. Now, they are irradiated, which kills the caterpillar.
Into the Fire
These cocoons are placed in water or chemicals to loosen the gum surrounding it. The thread is then plucked apart and spun together with other threads to make a larger, thicker thread of a workable size. This process happens quickly as one spindle has thousands of yards of thread in one little cocoon. It can take up to 1500 cocoons for a blouse.
Conclusion
Is silk thread or yarn? It ends up being more like a thread because of the thing nature of the products from the cocoon’s spindle. Silkworms work to make these little cocoons once in their lifetime, so they are rather special. Today’s processes do not take as long as the traditional method, but it is still a faster way to get more thread together. Therefore, the price of silk has come down in recent years to what it is now for a reason. However, is the cost worth it?