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The mulberry feasting silkworms of Thailand grow primarily on the
Korat Plateau in the North-East region of the country, although
most of the silk production takes place around Chiang
Mai. The silk thread of the Thai worms is a natural gold colour
and often one cocoon can yield as much as 500 metres of silk.
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There are four main steps to the production of this lustrous textile.
The washing and bleaching of the fibres is required to remove a
natural glutinous substance that holds the cocoon together. Extraction
of this 'glue' allows the colours to be uniformly and permanently
absorbed during the dying process. Colour dyes come in varying levels
of quality and price. Often the silk is coloured using vegetable
dyes and so the chances of dying two batches of thread the same
colour, are minimal. This gives each piece of silk a uniqueness
that may be the delight of those in search of regular sized sheets
or despair for designers who wants large amounts of one colour.
High quality Thai silk absorbs and bonds with the colour in such
a way that even exposure to sunshine and repeated washing cannot
dull.
Machine-woven silk, which is dyed after weaving, tends to have
a flat appearance. Thai silk is woven on handlooms; the warp and
weft are not of the same colour and this is what gives Thai silk
its natural sheen and lustre. If you hold a piece of good quality
Thai silk to the light, the overall colour and tone will change
depending on the angle of the light; a defining characteristic that
inferior weaves do not posses.
The final step in the production of silk is a chemical soaking
process. The purpose of this very important step is four-fold. The
chemicals in the solution preserve the sheen of the fabric, add
weight to it, render the silk soft and smooth and add to wrinkle-resistance.
The differences in approaches to these four techniques are what
create the chasm between high and low grade
silk textiles. They also explain why prices differ so widely. A
gift of high calibre Thai silk is a lasting token of the grace of
Thailand.
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