Tussah Silk

[krissy]

i use 100% silk material and the lye disoves it just fine. i cut up tiny peices and put it in the bottom of my water container, then i just add teh lye like normal. i let it sit for a few then stir again and it is gone.
maybe your silk isn't really all silk?

 

[Guest]

Re: Ok I tried, no luck

I had a silk scarf, and cut into teeny tiny pieces and added to lye solution, silk wouldnt dissolve, just floated around and around and around.

Now before everyone laughs their head off, was I way out on this one.

New to soaping, so give my a break eh!

Nancy

You weren't way out at all . I personally would never laugh at anyone trying to make soap , and that is how new techniques etc evolve, by someone trying something different
Did you add it right after your lye and water were mixed ? It seems the hotter the lye solution the better it dissolves.


Kitn

 

[Jamn!]

Re: Silk tag on scarf

The tag on the scarf said 100% silk, hmmm could it have been fake.

Send it to me!! I can do a test for you!! LOL JK! I am not laughing either! It is very hard to tell if some fabrics are silk. There are very many types of silk; some are soft and some not so soft!
Silk will smell like burnt hair if you burn it. Its called the "burn test." Also it will burn like a cigarette and will ash. You can tell its not silk if it melts.
You really just need a strand of the silk to test it.
There are also test kits you can buy.

 

[carebear]

Re: Ok I tried, no luck

I had a silk scarf, and cut into teeny tiny pieces and added to lye solution, silk wouldnt dissolve, just floated around and around and around.

Now before everyone laughs their head off, was I way out on this one.

New to soaping, so give my a break eh!

Nancy

not laughing...

I find that it's hard to get silk to dissolve if I add it when the solution has cooled at all - in fact I get my BEST results if I add it to the water - get it all sopping wet and then dump the lye in on top of the stuff. Then I stir and when I leave the solution to cool I use the spoon to anchor the silk to the bottom. That way it's pretty much dissolved when I'm ready to use the lye.

Otherwise, yea - it floats. Especially fabric.

 

[carebear]

Genuine tussah silk is cruelty free because it's from the discarded cocoon after the moths have emerged. They are supposed to be wild silkworms too.
Certainly the SW stuff isn't pretty enough to make me suspect other wise...

I typically get this stuff from co-ops http://lookchina.com/textile/homespin/s ... sliver.htm

 

[Stacykins]

Apparently, most tussah silk isn't as cruelty free as we'd expect it to be. http://www.spindlicity.com/fall_2008/tussah.html

That is one article that does into detail about it.

That said, the eBay seller that sells 2 oz bags for 7.99 is awesome! She shipped my silk out super fast. And I told her I was referred to her silk on a soap making forum, not weaving! She wanted to know how the soap I'll be making with it turns out

 

[Milla]

That said, the eBay seller that sells 2 oz bags for 7.99 is awesome! She shipped my silk out super fast. And I told her I was referred to her silk on a soap making forum, not weaving! She wanted to know how the soap I'll be making with it turns out

I wonder if that's the same person I used. Super fast shipping and I do love it! Was she from TX?

 

[Stacykins]

She sure was!

 

[carebear]

Apparently, most tussah silk isn't as cruelty free as we'd expect it to be. http://www.spindlicity.com/fall_2008/tussah.html

That is one article that does into detail about it.

drat

 

[melstan775]

That article won't load. Any idea if silk really is cruelty free or how to get it?

 

[paillo]

drat

i loved the idea of cruelty-free tussah silk too -- until i saw pics of some of the silk harvesters popping the little silkworms into their mouths -- apparently a tasty treat where they're farmed. gaaahhhhh!

 

[melstan775]

That's sad. Silk is sposed to be awesome but how worried do we get about grubs to justify the cost. Are silkworms endangered?

 

[sagehill]

Are silkworms endangered?

No, the Bombyx silkworms have been domesticated for thousands of years and eat only white mulberry leaves. They are bred and raised by the millions to spin pure white silk.

"Wild" silk moths are often commercially raised as well; since they eat various kinds of leaves, their fiber tends to be coarser and yellowish, what's called tussah silk.

I'm a spinner, and silk is one of my favorite fibers. I especially love spinning a cashmere and silk blend.... it's a whole lot cheaper than buying a silk and cashmere yarn!

 

[melstan775]

No, the Bombyx silkworms have been domesticated for thousands of years and eat only white mulberry leaves. They are bred and raised by the millions to spin pure white silk.

"Wild" silk moths are often commercially raised as well; since they eat various kinds of leaves, their fiber tends to be coarser and yellowish, what's called tussah silk.

I'm a spinner, and silk is one of my favorite fibers. I especially love spinning a cashmere and silk blend.... it's a whole lot cheaper than buying a silk and cashmere yarn!

You're right. I thought of this after. There's no danger in losing these beautiful moths. And while we would like everything to be pure and wild, it's not. In the end the moths we get the silk from are farm animals. Silk has ben made for thousands of years, so it's al good. Thanks so much!

 

[traderx101]

Save yourselves from this guy

I'm new here and this is my first post - I hope I do it right. I normally just "ghost" all of your advice - thank you for that - but felt it important for me to warn you about this vendor. Jaderyn, I'm happy that you actually received your order from this guy. I ordered Tussah Silk from him on 1/1/13 and have yet to receive it. I sent an email to him on 1/24/13 that he responded to - said he'd check it out, but I have not heard from him and still don't have my silk almost a month later. I tried to call him yesterday, but got no answer and his website was "down for routine maintenance". After further investigation I found that there are 3 complaints on this vendor with the Better Business Bureau - 1 resolved and 2 unresolved - all complaints were for the same issue - no delivery of product. Yesterday, I placed an order with http://www.paradisefibers.com/ and it was shipped out the same day. I hope this is helpful.

On it and buying some Thanks...Another thing to addict me..lol

Just got mine here:

http://www.littlebarninc.com/catalog.asp

Hope it helps

 

[ruby61]

I just ordered some today from paradisefibers as well. I was going to try it and went to scent works and idk charging me 11.00 for one ounce of silk??? So I saw your post and ordered 4 ounces with shipping and price is under ten bucks. I better put it in all my soaps because 4 ounces will probally last me til I am 90 and soaping with my grand children. LOL

 

[ruby61]

I just wanted to say Wow to this company, paradise fibers. I got my silk within 48 hours later by post office. I did not realize so much silk for 4 ounces but it will not go to waste. There are a little bit of particles like small leaves in the silk but otherwise nice and i strain anyways my lye so not a big deal.

 

[Badger]

Yeah, 4 ounces is a lot of silk. I have bought silk for my partner who does spinning and knitting. I am curious about how some of the other fibers would react in a soap also. There are some interesting fibers out there and if some people are not fond of silk because of it being an animal bi-product, I wonder if they could get similar results from bamboo fiber?

 

[paillo]

Wow, that's a great price from Paradise Fibers! Their LookChina tussah silk much cheaper than it is buying from LookChina itself!

 

[paillo]

Yeah, 4 ounces is a lot of silk. I have bought silk for my partner who does spinning and knitting. I am curious about how some of the other fibers would react in a soap also. There are some interesting fibers out there and if some people are not fond of silk because of it being an animal bi-product, I wonder if they could get similar results from bamboo fiber?

That's a really good question! I see that Paradise Fibers has a soy silk, guessing it's not animal derived? http://www.paradisefibers.com/louet-natural-white-soy-silk-spinning-fiber.html