silk fabric

Advantages in life of silk

Besides its luxurious softness and lustrous beauty, there are benefits of silk that other fabrics, whether natural or man-made, simply cannot match. These advantages of silk have rightly earned silk its reputation as the queen of fabrics. If “Why Silk?” is still a question in your mind, the following benefits of silk should remove any doubts. 

  • You may suffer from the Allergy and Asthma for a long time, with so much treatment, however, no effect. Anything can do? Definitely yes. Just silkbedding for you .

Because of its natural protein structure, silk is the most hypoallergenic of all fabrics

  • Silk is warm and cozy in winter and comfortably cool when temperatures rise. Its natural temperature-regulating properties give silk this paradoxical ability to cool and warm simultaneously. Silk garments thus outperform other fabrics in both summer and winter. Silk worn as a second layer warms without being bulky.

All-climate fabric

Silk is highly absorbent and dries quickly.

  • It can absorb up to 30% of its weight in moisture without feeling damp. Silk will absorb perspiration while letting your skin breathe.
  • In spite of its delicate appearance, silk is relatively robust and its smooth surface resists soil and odors well.
  • Silk takes color well, washes easily, and is easy to work with in spinning, weaving, knitting, and sewing .
  • Mixes well with other animal and vegetable fibers.
  • Silk is a natural heat regulator, able to maintain the air around you at a comfortable temperature when you sleep.The smooth surface of silk pajamas or beeding sets means there is little friction between your skin and your bedding linen, which is said to be the biggest cause for sleep wrinkles. The fact that your hair moves around freely as well basically means you will not wake up with a bedful of broken hair and your head looking like a mess.

Method of identification of silk

“I have a Liberty of London nightgown ready for my shop and really can’t decide whether it is silk or not. Anyone got any foolproof ways of identifying real silk? I’ve read a little about the burn test but before I see whether there’s a bit of fabric I can snip out has anyone got any other ways of telling? Thanks.”

A netizen asked for help online.Many enthusiastic netizens replied that best bet is the burn test.

Customers have big doubts about its purity when they want to buy 100% natural silk home. Therefore, there are a number of ways for reference which can be used together to try to determine if a fabric is genuine silk or a synthetic man-made fabric that looks like silk.

  • No doubt about it – genuine, Real silk usually costs at least ten times as much as synthetics to produce.
  • It is a result of the combination of threads of different single colours in each of the weft and warp. This “shot” effect gives a surface that “shines” and appears to change colour as the angle of light on it changes.
  • Silk can be hand-woven or machine-woven. Machine-woven silk will have a perfectly even weave with no flaws … and very little character. Hand-woven silk has its own individual characteristics. Each piece is unique.
  • In the final.Genuine silk with a woven pattern will have the pattern visible on both sides but the pattern on the reverse side may appear slightly “fuzzy”. Burn Test.This is not a standard test you should perform on silk! However, it is a fairly definitive test.

Genuine silk will burn with a smell like burnt hair and will produce a black, powdery ash. It will only burn while the flame is being applied – take the flame away and the threads will stop burning.

A synthetic fabric will burn with a smell like burning plastic and will drip, form a black ball of residue (not ash), and produce black smoke. It will continue to burn even after the flame is taken away.

Hope we can help you more or less.

Difference of Silk types.

How well do you know your silks?

We’re often asked by many of you about the qualities of the different silks we use and why some are more suitable for certain activities than others.
We’ve therefore provided a mini guide to help you with your shopping.

What’s Mulberry Silk？ Mulberry silk is the most common and widely used silk around the world, and accounts for about 90% of the world’s supply.

  • the bulk of silk produced around the world comes from the mulberry variety.  is produced by the Bombyx mori silkworm who feed on mulberry bushes.
  • he careful breeding for quality and the strict diet of mulberry leaves are what make the end product, mulberry silk, the very finest silk available today.
  • The disadvantage of using mulberry silk is that it requires extra care to maintain its smooth texture.

Charmeuse Silk (Satin Silk)

  • Used in everything from bedding to dresses to shirts.
  • Lightweight and has a natural elasticity, which makes it the ideal fabric for use in sheets, pillowcases and other kinds of bedding. 
  • The front of the fabric has a satin sheen to it while the back has a dull finish.


Tasar Silk

  • Made from wild silkworms which have not been bred. 
  • Not as soft or durable as cultivated silk. 
  •  Most wild silk comes from India and not China.

Eri Silk

  • A creamy white-colored silk.
  • Derived from two domesticated species of silkworms known as Samia ricini and Philosamia ricin. 

Muga Silk

  • Golden yellow in color.
  • Belongs to the same genus as the Tasar silkworm.

Spider Silk

  • A non-insect silk variety that is soft and fine in texture.
  • The most difficult silk to produce as spiders cannot be bred like silkworms and do not produce as much yarn as silkworms. 

Mussel Silk  

Obtained from bivalve found in shallow waters along the shores of the Italia and Dalmatia of Adriatic.

Anaphe Silk  

Commonly produced in the southern and central African countries. 

Coan Silk

Poduced from the larvae of the Pachypasa atus which is common in the Mediterranean region covering Italy, Greece, and Turkey.

  Have we missed anything?

How much do you know about silk?


Silk is a natural protein fiber produced by mulberry silkworm which is used for textile manufacturing. Silk fiber has a triangular prism-like structure which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles and with that to produce different colors.

Sericulture or silk production has a long and colorful history unknown to most people.

Modern sericulture

History of silk began in the 27th century BC in China where it remained in sole use until the commercial ways appeared from China to the Mediterranean Sea. During the latter half of the first millennium BC, Silk Road opens and silk starts to spread the world. Since silk was highly valued and appriciated outside China as well, lenghts of silk became a well-established trading commodity between China and foreign countries.It was this trade that made it possible for people in places located far away from any silk cultivation and silk weaving to wear and use silk. 

When silk was first discovered, it was reserved exclusively for the use of the ruler. It was permitted only to the emperor, his close relations and the very highest of his dignitaries. Within the palace, the emperor is believed to have worn a robe of white silk; outside, he, his principal wife, and the heir to the throne wore yellow, the color of the earth.

During the Han Dynasty, silk became somewhat of a currency. There are for instance documents from this era telling us about farmers who paid their taxes in grain and silk.  

Finally the silk threads are woven into cloth or used for embroidery work.

Clothes made from silk are not only beautiful and lightweight, they are also warm in cool weather and cool in hot weather. Today, People’s Republic of China is the world’s largest silk producer.

What is silk fabric?

Silk is an animal protein fibre produced by certain insects, like worms and spiders, to build their cocoons and webs. It is one of the popular fabrics for apparel because of its unique properties. Silk is most luxurious fabric, the most comfortable fabric, the most absorbent of fabrics (equal to wool), the best fabric for drape, the best fabric for color, capable of the greatest lustre, having the finest “hand” etc. These are some of the factors which make the fabric more popular. The fabric is cool in summer and warm in winter

Maintaining Silk

Unwashed silk chiffon may shrink up to 8% due to a relaxation of the fiber macrostructure, so silk should either be washed prior to garment construction, or dry cleaned. Dry cleaning may still shrink the chiffon up to 4%. Occasionally, this shrinkage can be reversed by a gentle steaming with a press cloth. There is almost no gradual shrinkage nor shrinkage due to molecular-level deformation.

Uses of Silk

Silk’s absorbency makes it comfortable to wear in warm weather and while active. Its low conductivity keeps warm air close to the skin during cold weather. It is often used for clothing such as shirts, ties, blouses, formal dresses, high fashion clothes, lining, lingerie, pajamas, robes, dress suits, sun dresses and Eastern folk costumes. For practical use, silk is excellent as clothing that protects from many biting insects that would ordinarily pierce clothing, such as mosquitoes and horseflies. Silk’s attractive lustre and drape makes it suitable for many furnishing applications. It is used for upholstery, wall coverings, window treatments (if blended with another fiber), rugs, bedding and wall hangings. While on the decline now, due to artificial fibers, silk has had many industrial and commercial uses, such as in parachutes, bicycle tires, comforter filling and artillery gunpowder bags

  • Home Decor, Furnishings

Silk fabric may be used to make silk sheets, silk pillow cases, table cloths, throw covers and other home items.

Silk fabrics can also be used for decorations and occasionally used as a high-end wall covering.

I looked it up because I knew that while silk has had many industrial and non-apparel uses in the past, it seems like most of those have been replaced by cheaper and more durable synthetics. They still make silk comforters in China, although they’re expensive. And once upon a time, silk underwear was de rigeur for serious winter campers and hikers, but now people use the cheaper and easier-to-wash polypropylene version.

What is Momme in silk fabric & What is thread count

What is Momme in silk fabric ?

Mommes (mm), is a unit traditionally used to measure the quality of silk fabrics. One momme = 4.340 grams per square meter; 8 mommes is approximately 1 ounce per square yard or 35 grams per square meter.
The usual range of momme weight for different weaves of silk are:

Gauze—3 to 5 mm
Organza—4 to 6 mm
Habotai—12 to 16 mm
Chiffon—6 to 8 mm (can be made in double thickness, i.e. 12 to 16 mm)
Crepe de Chine—12 to 16 mm
Raw silk—35 to 40 mm (heavier silks appear more ‘wooly’)
Charmeuse—12 to 30 mm

The higher momme weight the better?

Yes and no. It depends. Normally, the higher the momme weight, the more durable the weave, the more luxurious the fabric is, the more suitable it is for heavy-duty use, and the longer the shelf-life. Generally, all silks can be washed and the heavier ones can be washed repeatedly. The heavier the silk, the more opaque it becomes. This can vary even between the same kind of silk. For example, lightweight Charmeuse is translucent when used in clothing, but 30-momme charmeuse is opaque. Therefore, it does not mean that you must always buy silk products with higher momme weight. For instance, it would be too heavy to put on 25mm silk sleepwear for the night, but 19mm silk sleepwear is not that durable, though. In a word, it is a question of making proper choices according to your own needs.

What is the best momme weight of silk bedding ?

For bedding, the higher the weight in momme, the better the silk bedding is. Sheets between 19-25 momme are considered ideal. silk with momme weight lower than 19 are not suitable for the production of quality silk bedding linen. Beware of sellers trying to trick you into buying inferior quality sheets without declaring the momme weight. Always ask for this measurement before you buy.

Here at Lilysilk, we offer 3 different momme weight classes. Starting from the entry-level 19 momme, Lilysilk also offers intermediate 22 momme and luxury 25 momme weight classes for your choosing.

What is thread count?

Thread count or threads per inch (TPI) is a measure of the coarseness or fineness of certain fabrics, most notably cotton. While it is not the definitive measurement of the quality of silk fabrics, it is good for reference when you purchase silk online. It is measured by counting the number of threads contained in one square inch of fabric or one square centimeter, including both the length (warp) and width (weft) threads. The thread count is the number of threads counted along two sides (up and across) of the square inch, added together.

What are the thread counts of Freedomsilk’s bedding sets ?

Thread-count is not as important in silk products as it is for cotton, as in silk threads can vary greatly in terms of diameter and length. However, it is still something that should be noted when purchasing silk. For silk products with same momme weight, the one with higher thread count is usually considered to be better. Normally, the 19mm silk has a thread count of 300-350, Freedomsilk’s 19mm silk usually has a minimum thread-count of 400 which is already what some would refer to as “luxury”, our 22mm has a thread-count of 600 and our 25mm silk an even higher 750 which is why we insist that our products is truly the best on the market.