Silk Factory Visit

Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Tue 22 May 2018 22:47
A Visit to a Silk Factory
 
 
 
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Not far from our digs was this Silk House. As in previous visits to such establishments of manufacture, I had thought it may just be an exercise in avoiding having to buy (like Moroccan carpets and leather and countless other such encounters in many different countries).
 
 
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Inside, we were in a huge reception room that had a delightful series of models in glass cases showing the production of silk from cocoon to weaving.
 
 
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The traditional woven basket stand used in the business.
 
 
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A series of glass jars showing egg to cocoon.
 
A testimonial read (typos and all): Health Care Functions of Natural Silk Fiber. According to overseas reports, natural silk fiber contains a special element called sericin which has anti-allergy and skin protection effects. It has been acknowledged by Japanses bil-chemical circles through years of study that silk quilts made from natural silk fiber can help improve human health.
1. Promote sleep. Sericin has 18 types of amino-acids which can release micro-element callde hypnosis gene. It can compose human nerbes and make people sleep soundly. So silk quilts have magicfunctions of promoting sleep, enhancng vitality and slow down senescense.
2. It has good thermostatic control and protection against cold. Silk quilts have the best excellent space between fiber. It can reduce heat conductivity to keep warm in winter and exhaust excessive heat when in hot weather.
3, Silk Fiber Properties is anti-acarid, anti-bacterial and anti-allergy. Sericin in silk material can not only make human’s skin smooth but also prevent mites and bacterial growth. It is specifically effective for people of allergic condition.
4. Good MOISTURE absorption functions. Silk fiber contains affinity lateral chain amino acid in silk protein on the outer surface. It can effectively absorb moisture in the air and release it quickly to maintain a dry and comfortable condition inside the quilt. It is also curative for rheumatism patient. I would have loved to put the original picture on but as it had a pale blue background with white writing it was too hard to read even at its biggest.
 
 
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Then one of the ladies introduced us to the jars. Eggs hatch after fourteen days (the range is ten to twenty-five days depending on temperature), a few days old, a week old and ten days.
 
 
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We were shown a mulberry leaf covered in ten day olds.
 
 
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Twenty days, twenty-five days and after a fourth moult (twenty-two to thirty-three days) the worm will spin its cocoon, change colour and settle as a pupa for ten to fourteen days.
 
 
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The silkmoth lives for five to ten days. The silkmoth after five thousand years of domestication cannot fly. If they are allowed to emerge produce saliva to ‘dissolve’ a hole through the cocoon making it impossible to use as it would no longer be a single run of thread. A jar of cocoons. Each cocoon is made of very fine raw silk and when unwound would measure anything between three hundred and nine hundred metres.
 
 
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We were then shown in to a room filled by an enormous machine. Sericulture is the breeding of silkworms for the production of raw silk. The cocoons are soaked in water and when ready a lady with lightning quick fingers finds the end of the silk strand and winds four or five ends together with a swift rub between thumb and forefinger and does the same to attach it to the end of the length on its way to the spool. It is her job, all day, to watch and act as needed, constantly finding ends, joining together and winding on. 
 
 
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The machine made quite a clatter. Silk is stronger than its equivalent thickness than steel. It takes between two and three thousand cocoons to produce one pound of silk, so as around seventy million pounds are produced globally each year, this would mean ten billion silkworms are ‘sacrificed’. No wonder Mahatma Gandhi was against the trade and strongly advocated cotton instead. Several Asian cultures have silkworms in their cuisine and indeed we have seen many pupas fried on sticks. Of course they are used in Chinese medicine.............but only worms who have died of a fatal fungal disease.............these are believed to prevent flatulence, dissolve phlegm and relieve spasms........
However, silk is used in traditional medicine, silk sponges in reconstructive surgery where damaged ligaments and tendons need to heal, also in silk sponge implants are used as a delivery system for slow-release medicines.
 
 
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In a massive room, also the bedding shop floor we were introduced to a lady in charge of soaking cocoons that hold two pupas (not twins just as it is). First, she makes a small tear in the end of the cocoon and teases out the silkworms that are put in a dish to be later thrown out.
 
 
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The cocoon is then pulled over a bamboo frame and we watched in amazement as it was pulled to completely cover the frame.
 
 
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The lady then puts the stretch cocoon on top of many others on a drying frame. I suppose Bear trying one on as a hat makes a change from the trigger finger coming out... It did make the awaiting ladies laugh their heads off though.
 
 
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The awaiting ladies were a team of four who took a ‘corner’ of cocoon each and stretched it into a huge square and added it to the growing pile to become a quilt. Behind the ladies, masses of made quilts ready for sale or shipment. A king-sized quilt was just over a hundred pounds and a pillow around twenty.
 
 
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The next two areas showcased quilt covers and bedding.
 
 
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Through a door in the corner we were in the shop ‘proper’. I did look for some silver cushion covers but one side was too plain, the other too garish and they were around twenty pounds each..... Bales of silk were piled on a couple of tables for sale by the yard (couldn’t see a price). Men’s shirt were about a hundred pounds and jackets were in our book silly money. And let’s face it you would have to be in love with silk to want to clothe yourself in it. I have to admit, in the past, to having bought Bear a few silk ties, but personally I really don’t like the feel of it. So after an interesting visit it was time to move on.
 
 
 
 
ALL IN ALL MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE THAN I HAD THOUGHT POSSIBLE
                     INTERESTING AND WELL PRESENTED