Raw silk from cocoons?

[Andee]

I don't think this belongs in the food section but if it ends up belonging there moving etc XD

So has anyone actually made their silkworm cocoons that the silkworms exited into raw silk? Do you guys do anything with it? I was thinking of cleaning them when I get a lot, doing what is necessary to make them usable and then selling them to someone who could use them? But I have no idea who knows how to work with silk in the US XD

 

[jajeanpierre]

@Andee It's gross. You steam the cocoon and then unravel it. Here's a video. I'm sure there are better videos.

 

[Virgil1972]

You could start your own sweatshop.

 

[Andee]

What I don't understand is why they use whole cocoons? With the pupae inside? Technically all you have to do is clip off the side that has cocoonase on it and just enough (mm) to make sure you get it. And then scoop out the pupae skin left inside. Your moths are healthy and happy breeding. And then you put the cocoons in a gently simmering solution, and then treat them with vinegar afterward. Why do they kill the entire worm/pupae inside?

 

[etclement]

What I don't understand is why they use whole cocoons? With the pupae inside? Technically all you have to do is clip off the side that has cocoonase on it and just enough (mm) to make sure you get it. And then scoop out the pupae skin left inside. Your moths are healthy and happy breeding. And then you put the cocoons in a gently simmering solution, and then treat them with vinegar afterward. Why do they kill the entire worm/pupae inside?

Ease of production probably. It would be interesting to see someone who sold off silk to feed their hobby

 

[bobcochran]

When silk worms are raised for silk they never let the moth emerge, because the cocoons are woven with a single thread. When they boil the cocoon they get an extremely long single thread, which is then woven with the other threads to make silk the wonderful texture it is. When the moth emerges from the cocoon it breaks the thread into a bunch of shorter unusable threads.

 

[Andee]

That's interesting I thought maybe if you just carded it like wool... it would be usable. But of course I don't know how silk works like that XD