How to refine silk

The silk consists of two monofilaments, the main body of which is silk protein, and the outer layer is wrapped with sericin. Most of the pigments, oils, waxes and inorganic salts are present in sericin. These impurities have a great influence on the effect of printing and dyeing, so they must be removed before dyeing. In long-term practice, people have mastered the characteristics of sericin that is easily dissolved in hot water under the action of chemical agents or enzymes, and take advantage of the weakness of sericin to put raw silk or raw silk into soap (or synthetic detergent) and The mixed solution of soda ash (sodium carbonate) is heated, and the sericin is heated and then hydrolyzed. After such refining, the sericin is removed and the silk protein is preserved, and impurities such as pigments, fats, and waxes are removed, so as to obtain silk products with a white color. Degumming is also called refining, and the raw silk after degumming is called cooked silk. The degree of raw silk degumming must be determined according to production requirements.