Uses of Silk
Man adores the natural fabrics from time immemorial. Silk had a prestigious place in the culture and commerce of India in the Pre-Vedic age. Silk term speaks about mulberry silk only. It is soft smooth, lustrous and holds a prestigious place among textile fibres and known as ‘Queen of Textiles’.
Raw silk is used for clothing such as shirts, suits, ties, blouses lingerie, pajamas, jackets,
Hand spun mulberry silk used for making comforters and sleeping bags. Other variety fabric materials like dupions, plain silk, deluxe, satin, chiffon, chinnons, crepe, broacades are made from mulberry silk. Carpet, furnishing, curtains, draperies, cushion covers and sofa covers wall hanging.
Knitted materials from silk fibres i.e. socks, stocking are very costly and possess good market.
The silk gut used in surgery for internal suturing is made from silk glands. The silk glands are dissected out and put in warm water and pulled at two ends to yield a fibre of uniform thickness. This protein is auto absorbable and need not be removed after wound healing. Silk grafts have been used successfully to replace cut arteries.
Silkworm can be reared in laboratory for genetic studies. This insect was proved as a good laboratory tool for any kind of experiment. Lot of research work is under progress on different lines of biotechnology, genetics using silkworms in Japan. Silkworm is very much useful for genetic experiments in biotechnology.
Reeling waste, bad cocoons are used to make spun silk fabrics. The waste silks are hand spun into matka, katan, feshua (jatan or Jatam, Jhut) and noil yarns. Articles made from waste silk also have a good export market.
Among vanya silks tasar silk fabrics in exotic designs are produced by handlooms. They are Gicha-noil, tasar plain, cotton-tasar blend, tasar-mulberry blend, peduncle fabric.
Muga silk cloth is very largely used by the Assamese women as mekhela, riha-sador sarees.
Eri spun silk is used for dress materials and the coarse variety for making scarves, chaddar, shawls and quilts.
Trimoulters silk yarn is used as package material in pencil industry and for making talcum powder puffs.
Silk has had many industrial and commercial uses. In France 22-24 denier silk is used in tyre manufacturing to have a longer life span than rubber tyres in bicycle tires, artillery gunpowder bags. Parachutes are made from 13-15 denier silk fiber. These parachutes were used in World War-II.
Silk is used as raw material for preparing sound-free gears for making precision machinery.