Fibre description of silk

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Silk

Silk accounts for only 0,2 % of the total fibre production. Nevertheless, this fibre is very important for specific “niche” articles such as ladies’ shirts, jackets and scarves.

Silk is derived from the silk worm, which spins a cocoon around itself. It is a protein fibre like wool and it is the only natural filament fibre to be used with success in the textile industry (the length of the thread is in the range of 700 to 1500 m).

The silk fibre is composed of fibroin filaments wrapped with sericine (silk gum), which has to be removed during the pretreatment.

Literature: BAT for the Textile Industry, July 2003

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