This article continues from the one published yesterday. It is the second in a three part special series on the basics of silk.
What is Wild Silk?
In the wild there are wild caterpillars that spin a silk different in texture and colour from the domesticated Bombyx mori used in sericulture. Known as Wild Silk, the silk caterpillars are allowed to live complete and natural lives in the wild without human intervention. Cocoons are collected after the natural emergence of the silk moth and not harvested or induced.
Wild silk cocoon strands are shorter, more uneven, and less lustrous and has small slubs (lumps) because they are derived from cocoons broken through the natural process of the silk moth’s emergence. When a silk moth is ready to emerge from its cocoon, it secretes an alkali fluid that begins to dissolve a hole in the cocoon so that the moth can emerge.
Wild silk tend to have a darker shade of brown in comparison to sericulture silk because of the silkworms’ natural diet. In sericulture, mulberry leaves are fed to the worms and these would produce white silk. In the wild, the food source is usually oak or tannin rich trees, resulting in the brown silk.
Another noticeable difference is in the absorbency of silk fibers towards dye. Bombyx mori’s silk fibroin protein is exceptional absorbent of dyes; while the wild silk caterpillars which secrete a slightly different protein structure, produce silk fibers that are less accepting of dyes . However, wild silk tend to be stronger, likely due to its somewhat thicker fiber.
There are many kinds of wild silk. Just to name a few:
- Mopani silk from South Africa
- Saturniidae silk from Thailand
- Assam silks (Muga, Eri and Pat) from India
- Tussar Silk from China
- Tasar Silk from India
What’s Peace Silk, Vegetarian Silk, Ahimsa and Non-Violence Silk?
Basically when you hear any of the four terms mentioned above, they are referring to the same commercial process that would sit between the processes of sericulture and wild silk. This is because the production of peace/vegetarian/Ahinsa/Non-Violence Silk is also an agro-based industry that involves the commercial rearing of silkworms (usually the Bombyx Mori) similar in nature to sericulture. The only difference in the process is how the mulberry silkworms are allowed to leave the cocoon on their own accord (like it happens in wild silk) instead of being killed off through the ‘violent’ acts of steaming or boiling during harvest.
The resulting raw silk will possess the characteristics of being white and dye absorbent like sericulture mulberry silk but with short broken strands that require the raw silk to be spun (reeling is no longer possible due to the breaks in the length-now about 10-15cm) into yarn.
Continued in Part 3:
- Why isn’t Non-Violent Silk vegan friendly?
