How to distinguish natural from artificial silk

Natural fabrics have always been considered a luxury item. Before, only top-class people could afford them. Today, due to the availability and improved welfare of society, products from natural fibers can be bought at a relatively low cost. The explicit representatives of luxurious fabrics include silk. They learned to carefully fake it, so the question becomes urgent: "How to identify falsification?" Let's talk about everything in order.

Silk features

Natural silk is a smooth fabric with a glossy surface. The material screams about wealth, skillful creation and a deep history of origin.

In order to get a silk thread, it is necessary to unwind a cocoon of a silkworm of a mulberry. This is a medium-sized light butterfly, feeding mainly on mulberry leaves.

Today, silk is used to make bedding, underwear, clothes, and household textiles. Such widespread popularity encourages unscrupulous manufacturers to supply counterfeit products to the market.

Material of a natural type is expensive when compared with synthetics or even cotton. But, nevertheless, silk is in an accessible area, almost everyone can buy it if desired.

Most often, artificial silk is made on the basis of synthetic fibers or viscose. Very often, a fake is no different from a natural fabric in appearance, but it is much inferior in its properties and quality.

To identify fake material, it is necessary to study all types of silk and their main differences. Then we will give an effective technique by which you can easily distinguish the original from the counterfeit.

Subspecies of natural silk

Velvet - it is also called silk velvet, because silkworm threads are included in the basis of the fabric. Velvet is a soft, fleecy surface to which everything usually sticks due to a certain texture. Natural silk is often included in velvet fabrics, which makes the fabric so unusual, iridescent. Already in the 18th century in our country it began to be produced precisely "natural" velvet with silk threads included.

Atlas - if you literally translate this word, the output will be “smooth”, “slippery”. The type of interweaving of satin and silk threads was first invented by the greatest minds of China. To this day, manufacturing technology is only being improved. There are several types of satin: patterned, with silk weave, heavy, moire and others. Most often, ties are made from satin, curtains, curtains, upholstery, shawls, church robes. Wedding designers prefer to sew dresses for brides from this fabric.

Silk veil - as the name implies, the material is made from light silk threads. The veil was first produced in France, then the technology spread throughout the world. Translucent material is often decorated with embroidery, ornament, on the basis of which a veil is made for the bride. The veil can be colored, bleached, printed, colorless.

Chiffon is light in appearance, but extremely heavy in weight, translucent material. Reminds a small grid which favorably emphasizes a wedding vestment of the bride. Silk threads are woven into chiffon to give the material shine, lightness, airiness and high cost. To the touch, the fabric is uneven, sandy, matte with periodic reflections in the sun. Chiffon is ideal for sewing light summer blouses, dresses and sundresses.

Taffeta is a dense fabric that holds its shape perfectly. The translucent fabric is starch before the final leave on the shelves.From taffeta, a bridal veil is made for brides and other types of products that require additional support in shape.

Batiste silk - the process is extremely difficult to describe. First, the thin silk threads are twisted into dense and fairly bulky tows, then, on the basis of the obtained raw materials, they begin to make a canvas. The cambric is very durable, but with all this transparent and light. It was first invented in the 13th century in France, the name of the fabric was due to its creator - Francois Baptiste. It is much easier to work with silk batiste than with natural 100% silk. Moreover, the price of a subspecies is several times lower.

Silk-dyed silk is the raw material of the highest quality. In the process of unwinding the threads it turns out to collect intact fibers, so that the final fabric comes out quite dense, but at the same time light. Of this type of silk are made women's sets, underwear, expensive bedding.

Brocade is matter that is additionally draped with metal threads with silver, gold or other imitating materials. The fibers have a silk base, most often used for decoration in the artistic sense. Previously, brocade was woven with silk and real gold threads, but now it is difficult to find a canvas with precious inserts.

How to distinguish silk from a fake

1. Focus on the price, in most cases, quality material can not be cheap. Natural silk is several times more expensive than synthetic fakes. This material is pleasant to the touch. It flows easily, soft and delicate.
2. As for the fake, it is much colder and tougher. Real silk is famous for its unique quality. In contact with a person, the material acquires the temperature of its body in a short time.
3. Also, real silk is very hygroscopic, so it can be distinguished from a fake. Synthetic fabric gets wet almost immediately. As for color, natural silk has a muted iridescent color. It is more natural.
4. Artificial fabric also shimmers, but at the same time it does not change colors. Almost all natural products wrinkle when squeezed, silk is no exception. Moreover, on this product soft folds are formed, which can be easily smoothed out.
5. Artificial silk is wrinkled much more noticeably; in the process of wearing clothes, it will not straighten out unlike the original. On the non-natural fabric there are creases, which are almost impossible to smooth even with an iron.
6. Products made of synthetic silk at the edges have a clear flowability of the material. When choosing a natural composition, you should rely on pleasant sensations. High-quality silk is famous for its unique softness and structure. She is pleasant to the body.
7. The natural material is delicate and in some ways warm with a flowing structure. Artificial products do not possess such features. Unnatural silk is always less soft and cold to the touch.
8. If you crush two materials in your hands, natural and artificial, then in the first case, a high-quality product is hardly remembered, unlike a fake. Also, real silk when breaking the thread has a smooth structure. Artificial material will fluff.
9. The naturalness of products can be checked for strength. To do this, you need to take 2 threads of different materials. Wet them and try to tear. Wet and dry threads of real silk are equally difficult to break. Artificial wet material breaks easily.
10. The naturalness of the material is checked by combustion. It may seem that this method is unacceptable, but on the other hand it is reliable. If you set fire to two types of materials, the flame and smell will be significantly different from each other.
11. Natural silk will fold into a tight lump. The thread goes out quickly and smells of burnt pile. The artificial product will burn to the end, and the smell of burnt synthetics will appear. Also, things made of artificial silk do not lose shape and size with prolonged wear.Quality material shrinks a bit.
12. Naturalness is checked by burning out in direct sunlight. Counterfeiting does not lend itself to such a factor. Real silk after a certain period begins to lose its original appearance.

The naturalness of silk can be checked in several reliable ways, which were described above. Before you buy silk, think carefully about whether you need it. Natural material requires meticulous care. If you can properly care for things, they will give a pleasant feeling. Also, when choosing such products, you need to consider your own budget.

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