VARIETYSILKS Dear friends,
For the past one week I am seeing in Malayalam TV Channelsadvertisement from Kalyansilks about varieties of silk sarees. At one time men used to wear silkjibbas. Silk dhoties were worn by mostiyers during festive occasions. Silk single dhoti is complimented to vatu towear during upanayanam. During marriage the bridegroom wears silk dhoti aspanchagachham and wear silk 2nd cloth called Uthareeyam. Duringvratham in an occasion, bridgegroom’s eyes are covered with a silk colourdhoti. Other than iyers I have seen goldsmiths men wearing silk dhoti. Wearing silk panchagachham is worn by priests of sabarimalai temple on specialoccasions. At one time palace men used to wear silk dhoties and sarees. The story of Aryankavu sastha isrelated to a Tamil Brahmin silk merchantwith family coming to Aryankavu and healone meeting Trivandrum Maharaja for supplying silk items. During sastha kalayalam arepresentative of kowdiar palace visit and attend it and contributes for thecelebrations at Aryankavu. Earlier I had searched for information about silks . Icould gather about some varieties of silk other than from the silk worm stored in my computer is summarised below. Sincerely, Gopala Krishnan dated 31-3-2021 1. Artsilk or Rayon Artificial silk or (as the term is used in the textileindustry) Art silk is a synthetic manufactured fibre which resembles silk butcosts less to produce. Frequently, art silk is just a synonym for RAYON. The first successful artificial silks were developed in the1890s of cellulose fibre and marketed as art silk or viscose, a trade name fora specific manufacturer. In 1924, the name ofthe fibre was officially changed in the U.S. to rayon, although the termviscose continued to be used in Europe. The material is commonly referred to inthe industry as viscoserayon. 2. Nylon In 1931, Henry Ford hired chemists Robert Boyer and FrankCalvert to produce artificial silk made with soybean fibres. They succeeded inmaking a textile fibre of spun soy protein fibres, hardened or tanned in aformaldehyde bath, which was given the name Azlon. It was usable in the makingof suits, felt hats, and overcoats. Though pilot production of Azlon reached2,300 kg per day in 1940, it never reached the commercial market; Du Pont'sNYLON was the winner in the quest to produce artificial silk. Although not sold under the name art silk initially, nylon,the first synthetic fibre, was developed in the United States in the late 1930sand used as a replacement for Japanese silk during World War II. Its properties are far superior to rayon and silk when wet,and so it was used for many military applications, such as parachutes. Although nylon is not a goodsubstitute for silk fabric in appearance, it is a successfulfunctional alternative. Du Pont's original plans for nylon to become a cheaperand superior replacement for silk stockings were soon realized, and thenredirected for military use just two years later during World War II. Nylonbecame a prominent industrial fibre in a short time frame, permanentlyreplacing silk in many applications. MY NOTE- Some where in 1970’s Nylon saris were fashion andvery popular in Kerala and Tamilnadu. Due to slightly transparent nature youngladies and girls used to wear it along with thick under skirts. Having a few nylon saris was a prestige. 3. Imitation silk In the present day,imitation silk may be made with rayon, mercerized cotton, polyester, a blend ofthese materials, or a blend of rayon and silk 4. Similarity of artsilk and genuine silk Despite a generallysimilar appearance, genuine silk has unique features that are distinguishablefrom artificial silk. However,in some cases art silk can be passed off as real silk to unwary buyers. A number of tests are available to determine a fabric'sbasic fibre makeup, some of which can be performed prior to purchasing a fabricwhose composition is questionable. Tests include rubbing the pile in your hand,burning a small piece of the fringe to smell the ash and smell the smoke anddissolving the pile by performing a chemical test. 5. Sea silk Sea silk is an extremely fine, rare, and valuable fabricthat is made from the long silky filaments or byssus secreted by a gland in thefoot of pen shells (inparticular Pinna nobilis). The byssus is used by the clam to attachitself to the sea bed. Sea silk was produced in the Mediterranean region from thelarge marine bivalve mollusc Pinna nobilis until early in the 20th century. Theshell, which is sometimes almost a metre long, adheres itself to rocks with atuft of very strong thin fibres, pointed end down, in the intertidal zone.These byssus or filaments (which can be up to 6 cm long) are spun and, whentreated with lemon juice, turn a golden colour, which never fades The cloth produced from these filaments can be woven evenfiner than silk, and is extremely light and warm; however, it attracts clothes moths, the larvae of whichwill eat it. In addition, Pinna nobilis is also sometimes gathered forits flesh (as food) and occasionally has pearls of fair quality. Unfortunately, in recent years, Pinna nobilis has becomethreatened with extinction, partly due to overfishing, the decline in seagrassfields, and pollution. As it has declined so dramatically, the once small butvibrant sea silk industry has almost disappeared, and the art is now preservedonly by a few women on the island of Sant'Antioco near Sardinia. The earliest usage of the English name sea silk remainsuncertain, but the Oxford English Dictionary defines sea-silkworm as "abivalve mollusc of the genus Pinna." 6. Silk waste Silk waste includesall kinds of raw silk which may be unwinnable, and therefore unsuited to thethrowing process. Before the introduction of machinery applicable to thespinning of silk waste, the refuse from cocoon reeling, and also from silkwinding, which is now usedin producing spun silk fabrics, was nearly all destroyed as beinguseless, with the exception of that which could be hand-combed and spun bymeans of the distaff and spinning wheel, a method which is still practised bysome of the peasantry in India and other countries in Asia. Stored in computeron 6-11-2013. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/1094701298.1628759.1617164399220%40mail.yahoo.com.
