About the Uses of Silk

Silk is one of the most beautiful fabrics available, with a long and colorful history and changing applications in the world today. Be it for gowns, medical use, home decor and more, the uses of silk is a wide and varied topic.

History

Silk has been around for thousands of years; originally cultivated in ancient China, silk became one of the most highly prized trade items for Asian countries. Other countries than China learned to harvest silk threads, and slight differences in the silks can pinpoint the location. Thailand, India, and Japan all to this day have important silk trades. The silk trade was also introduced in colonial America. Silk played a hugely important role in the costs and power struggles of medieval Europe, arriving in Italy via trade and selling from there as a coveted resource.

Types

Silk has several uses in daily life. It is a common cloth used for high-end garments, including wedding gowns and blouses. It appears frequently in accessories like handbags and headbands and scarves. Because of it's luster and texture, it also is commonly used for home decoration, especially as sheets, bedding, curtains and cushions. It is also used for warmth and skiing garments because of it's remarkable ability to retain heat; paradoxically, it also is a popular summer cloth because it keeps the wearer cool in warmer weather. Silk also has a purpose as thread for sutures, the typical kind of stitches one would receive at a hospital.

Identification

Silk fabric is typically thin and has a very distinctive texture that is soft without depth or a profusion of fibers. It often has a characteristic shine and gorgeous luster that has long associated it with elegance and wealth. Silk has variations; raw silk, for example, is usually shiny but lacks the smooth, soft texture, creating instead a disrupted, irregularly chunky texture.

Considerations

Silk, when worn as a garment, is notoriously difficult to remove stains from. It is a very strong fiber naturally, but it loses that strength when wet. It also has significant problems with static electricity and thus static cling. As a fabric for home decor, one thing to consider is that silk is susceptible to sun damage; thus, if you have it in your home, avoid direct sunlight wherever possible.

Potential

Using silk in any of its capacities ensures a high quality product. Using it on your person and in your home engenders a beautiful, lustrous and elegant result.