Silk History
Silk Health Benefits
Silk Care
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Silk History
Early Silk History
Silk was first developed in early China, possibly as early as 6000 BC and definitely by 3000 BC. Legend gives credit to a Chinese Empress Xi Ling Shi. Though first reserved for the Emperors of China, its use spread gradually through Chinese culture both geographically and socially. From there, silken garments began to reach regions throughout Asia. Silk rapidly became a popular luxury fabric in the many areas accessible to Chinese merchants, because of its texture and lustre. Because of the high demand for the fabric, silk was one of the staples of international trade prior to industrialization.
Silk trade
Perhaps the first evidence of the silk trade is that of an Egyptian mummy of 1070 BC. In subsequent centuries, the silk trade reached as far as the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa. This trade was so extensive that the major set of trade routes between Europe and Asia has become known as the Silk Road.
Silk Secret
The Emperors of China strove to keep the knowledge of sericulture secret from other nations, in order to maintain the Chinese monopoly on its production. This effort at secrecy had mixed success. Sericulture reached Korea around 200 BC with Chinese settlers, about the first half of the 1st century AD in Khotan, and by 300 AD the practice had been established in India. Although the Roman Empire knew of and traded in silk, the secret was only to reach Europe around AD 550, via the Byzantine Empire. Legend has it that the monks working for the emperor Justinian were the first to bring silkworm eggs to Constantinople in hollow canes. The Byzantines were equally secretive, and for many centuries the weaving and trading of silk fabric was a strict imperial monopoly; all top-quality looms and weavers were located inside the Palace complex in Constantinople and the cloth produced was used in imperial robes or in diplomacy, as gifts to foreign dignitaries. The remainder was sold at exorbitant prices.
[Source: WIKIPEDIA, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk]
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Silk Health Benefits
Chinese scientific study has found that silk has good health benefits.
Silk is protein fibre. Silk protein is one of the only few pure proteins. It contains 18 amino acids which are similar to those in human skin. Studies have shown that silk can help to maintain the metabolism on the surface membrane of the skin to keep the skin moist and smooth.
In addition, it has subsidiary cure for certain dermatitis. Silk fabric can also protect against the harm caused by ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
Silk is a kind of ecological non-pollutant natural fibre. It has unique features that are irreplacable by other fibres and artificial fibres. It is relatively resistant to ageing. Yarn-dyed silk fabric of different gorgeous clours has been made to all kinds of luxury garments, interior adornments, arts and crafts works, and tour souvenirs. No wonder silk has been acclaimed by customers as "Source of Beauty". So, what are the benefits of wearing garments made from silk fabric? Following are the four aspects to explain the benefits of wearing silk garments.
1 Silk is comfortable to wear. Silk fabric is composed of natural fabres. It is biologically consistent with human's body. Additionally, because of its smooth serface, its frictional coefficient is only 7.4% which is the lowest among other fibres. Therefore, when our tender skin meets with smooth and gentle silk, silk will keep close to your body's curve by its special soft quality to considerately look after every inch of your skin.
2 Silk is hygroscopic and readily absorbs moisture. Silk protein fibre is abundant in amidocyanogen (-CHNH, -NH2) hydrophile gene groups. Also because it is porous, it facilitates the pervasion of moisture. So, silk can absorb or pervade moisture from the air, and keep the moisture in it. At normal temperature, silk can keep the skin moisture. In summer time, wearing silk garments can immediately emit the perspiration and heat from your body to keep you cool. Just because of this special feature, it is more suitable for silk to directly contact human's skin. So, people are used to keep silk as one of the essential summer clothes in their wardrobe.
Silk not only has good thermal dissipation to keep you cool, but also to keep you warm. This benefit thanks to its porous porous structure. In one silk fibre, there are many very fine fibres, and these fine fibres are also composed of even finer fibres. So, 38% of one solid looking silk thread is hollow. There are a large amount of air among these hollow spaces. These air prevent the loss of the warmth from your body.
3 Silk can absorb sound, dirt, and is heat-resistant. Silk fabric has relatively higher interspacing ratio, so it has very good soud and inspiration absorbing capacity. Beside garments, silk can also be used for interior decoration, such as silk carpet, tapestry, curtains, etc. Using silk to decorate room not only making the room tidy and clean, but also to make the room quieter. Because of its ability of moisture absorption, moisture discharge, inspiration and porosity, silk can adjust humidity and temprature of the room, and absorb the harmful gas, dirt, and animalcule. In addition, silk fibre has little heat denaturation, so it is relatively more heat-resistant. When silk is heated to 100℃, only about 5~8% of it became crumblized. But other synthetic fibre has 4~5 times more heat denaturation than silk. Silk's burning temperature is between 300~400℃, it belongs to flame retardant fibre. Synthetic fibre's burning temperature is between 200~260℃ which is inflammable and solvent. Therefore, using silk fabric as interior decoration material can not only absorb sound, dirt, keep warm, but also can retard flame.
4 Silk is ultraviolet radiation resistant. The tryptophan and tyrosine in silk protein can absorb ultraviolet radiation. So, silk has good ultraviolet radiation resistant function. Ultraviolet radiation is very harmful to human's skin. Of course, after absorbing the ultraviolet radiation, it will cause chemical change in itself, so that silk fabric will become yellowish in the strong sunshine.
Silk has been called “Empress of Fibre”. She has been favoured by people all over the world for her special charm.
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Silk Care
Silk is protein fiber, more similar to wool than to cotton. It is very similar to human hair. Remembering this will help when you think about how to wash or clean it. Silk is extremely strong, but repeated exposure to the sun will erode the fiber. As a result, silk fabrics are poor choices for curtains and draperies.
In general, silk can stand heat (it is subjected to very high temperatures when the gum is removed, and most silk dyes are steam set), but does not do well in extreme changes of temperatures, or in overheating through excessive drying.
Some silk yardage and clothing can be hand washed if done carefully. For best results use a mild detergent (like Woolite, or even shampoo) and lukewarm water, then roll the fabric in a towel to absorb the water. Do not twist -- just as you wouldn't twist or pull your hair. Iron dry on a low setting. If you're unsure about washing, check with the manufacturer when possible. Many manufacturers will tell you to dry-clean because it is simpler and yields better results. Wherever possible, you may want to check a swatch first.
Structured silk garments and fragile fabrics should be dry-cleaned to prevent damage. Multi-color prints or hand-dyed garments and scarves may need to be dry-cleaned to prevent running. You may wish to dry-clean your garment the first time. The steaming process used at the dry-cleaners may also help to further set the dyes.
Moths will attack silk, as well as wool. Store your silk clothing appropriately. As with all fine fabrics, if you plan to store for a long time, you will do best to store in a cotton pillowcase or otherwise surround the silk with a fabric that can breathe. Avoid storing in plastic since this can trap moisture, which can lead to yellowing or the accumulation of mildew.
Never use chlorine bleach on silk. It will yellow the fiber and may cause it to breakdown more quickly.
The colors in your silk will undoubtedly fade over time, even when permanent dyes have been used and they have been professionally set. Reds are particularly sensitive to running and fading. Store your silk away from exposure to light, especially direct sunlight. Washing silk may also cause excess dye to discharge. When in doubt, dry-clean the garment or item.
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