Benefits Of Natural Silk & Peace Silk Fabrics

sustainable supply chain

Published on 21st Nov, 2023

Last Edited on 25th Mar, 2025

Reading Time: 2 Minute Read

Most Of Us Aware That Silk Is Popularly Known As The “Queen Of Fibres". But Do You Wonder Why Is It So Expensive? Do You Also Wonder What's The Difference Between Raw Silk Fabric, Natural Silk & Wild Silk?

Today, due to the uses of natural silk and its increasing demand, manmade silk is also available in the market, produced synthetically. Artificial silk may be cheaper than natural silk, but the latter is superior in myriad ways. Let's find out what makes natural silk so much better and about its multiple varieties. At Anuprerna, we firmly stand for the unmatched quality and authenticity of natural silk, advocating for its preservation amidst the rise of synthetic alternatives.

History of Silk:

There are some legends surrounding the silk origin. It is popularly believed that it was first discovered in China around 27th B.C by an empress in a garden.

In India, we can trace the existence of silk back to the Vedic period which is around 5000 B.C. But around the 17th century, the East India Company introduced an advanced variety of silk reeling in Bengal in the district of Murshidabad called Bengal Silk.

What is Natural Silk?

The natural silk fibre is obtained from silk cocoons produced by the larvae of certain insects like silkworms. Farming or cultivation of silkworms for the production of natural silks is called sericulture.
These fibres are then used to produce natural silk fabrics.

Classification:

India is the only country known for its wide variety of natural silks. These can be widely classified as-

Cultivated Silk – These are cultivated in a specified condition controlled by humans. Hence, the resulting fibre is of long length, smooth, more lustrous and white in colour, (silk characteristics that most associate silk with). e.g. Pure Mulberry Silk

Wild Silk – Here, the silkworms live semi-autonomously in forests and they are able to find their own food e.g. Tussar fabric. Hence, the resulting fibres are irregular, less lustrous and come in varied shades like brown, beige and gold.

There also exits Ahimsa Silk which can be both cultivated or wild variety. In the ahimsa silk process, the silkworms are allowed to hatch out of the cocoons to complete their metamorphosis into the moth stage. The remnants are the now empty broken cocoon. Hence, the resulting fibres are shorter in length and it is spun. Eg- Eri silk fabric, Ketya Peace Silk, Matka Peace Silk.

What is Raw Silk & How is it different from Natural Silk?

Raw Silk is simply every natural silk in the raw stage before the process of "degumming". The natural silk strand in this stage consists of two triangular silk filaments (fibroin) covered by a protein layer which is called sericin. The presence of sericin makes the raw silk uneven and gives a coarse handle. Hence, it is processed to remove the sericin. The process of removing the sericin from raw silk is called Degumming. It is also known as silk scouring. There are various ways to degum silk-like using soap, boiling water, enzyme, alkalines, acids etc. This not only helps with the texture but also helps to improve the dye uptake capability and lustre.

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Silk such as Tussar silk fabric, khadi Matka silk fabric or Ketya, even after processing/degumming, is often erroneously referred to as raw silk fabric in the local market because of its irregular surface texture slubby quality.

Different Variety of Natural Silk & Characteristics of Silk:

India is one of the major silk producers in the world and has the distinction of cultivating all commercially known varieties of silk- Mulberry, Tussar, Eri & Muga. Besides these, one can also find varieties like Ketya and Matka which are produced by upcycling waste from other silk. Here are some of the many properties of silk as per different varieties: