How Silk was Made in Ancient China
Making silk is a unique process, beginning with the worm, which in reality is not really a worm at all. Instead, it is a moth larva. These larvae do absolutely nothing except eat mulberry leaves for the first twenty-eight days after hatching from their eggs. When the larvae reach three-inches in length, their white “marshmallowy” bodies can be seen walking on the leaves of mulberry trees using a lot of little legs. Their mouth is used like a pair of strong scissors to cut through and eat the leaves. These caterpillar-like silkworms will continue to eat and grow, molting or growing a new layer of skin each time. Then, the silkworms spin cocoons. The cocoons are then taken and boiled in a pot. The boiling water helps to loosen the threads of the tightly twisted fibers of the cocoon. While in the pot, the threads are extracted from cocoons and twisted into one strong thread. This process is repeated until the desired amount of silk threads are made. After this the threads are woven together to create the luxurious fabric known as silk.
In the video below you will see a demonstration of the threads being extracted on a silk reel.