We dont mean to be alarmist, however we sometimes see silk rugs which are made of something apart from genuine, natural man made fiber. This is not a problem knowing that the rug you are thinking about is made of artificial man made fiber, but sometimes carpet dealers neglect to spread this information.

We dont mean to be alarmist, but we sometimes see silk rugs that are manufactured from something other than authentic, natural silk. This isn't a problem if you know that the rug you are considering consists of artificial silk, yet sometimes rug retailers neglect to pass on this information! The problem happens frequently with just a few carpet types sold in vacationer markets in Turkey and India (and often in Pakistan).

Real silk is produced as the cocoon masking of the silkworm, the pupal form of the Asian or even mulberry silk moth, bombyx mori. The cocoon is actually spun by the silk moth caterpillar of a single silk soluble fiber that can be up to thousands of feet in length. To harvest the silk, accomplished cocoons are boiled or warmed up to kill the silkworms, after that laboriously unwound into single fibers which are plied together and also spun into twine or silk wool area rugs target.

Synthetic silk is everything billed as cotton that doesnt come from the silkworm cocoon. Most often this means mercerized cotton; it sometimes means a made fiber like rayon or a blend of chemically altered and/or manufactured fibers. Its not that artificial silk is intrinsically evil, its exactly that the whole point of employing artificial silk in a rug is to save the cost of real man made fiber. It is not nice when this cheaper, artificial silk rug is misrepresented and sold for that price of a real silk rugs.

The ripening cotton boll can easily contain as many as 5,000 separate cotton fibers, each dietary fiber growing from a very small seed and created as a hollow round sheath of as many as 30 layers of almost real cellulose. Cotton fiber is mercerized by being stretched below controlled tension from room temperature while being treated with a 21%-23% answer of caustic soda pop (NaOH). The effect is to swell the fiber to make its surface far more reflective, thus drastically increasing its shine (and also its tensile durability). After the chemical therapy, cotton yarn is usually singed to remove whatever little bit of fuzz remains on top of the fibers. At times cotton is calendered when you are passed between heated rollers. The effect is to increase the luster as well as sheen of the dietary fiber still more. However it is treated, cotton remains cellulose: C6H10O5.

Like cotton, rayon is made of almost pure celulose, but rather as compared to being grown, cotton is produced by first dissolving cellulose (obtained from cotton or woodpulp) to produce a thick yellowish liquid called viscose. The actual viscose is extruded through microscopic holes into a chemical bath that produces long filaments which is often spun into twine and yarn. Viscouse rayon was the first man-made fiber. In 1920, DuPont bought from french the technology for making viscose rayon. DuPont first called the material artificial silk, and formed a company (The DuPont Fibersilk Company) to manufacture it. Additional artificial fibers would certainly follow quickly: acetate (furthermore derived from cellulose) in 1924, plastic, (commonly, adipic acid reacted with hexamethylene diamine) in 1939, acrylic (from acrylonitrile, a petrochemical) in 1950, polyester in 1953, and triacetate in 1954.

With all these kinds of artificial fibers around, how can you identify a rug woven with organic silkFor example handmade carpets,silk rugs,persian rugs,oriental carpets,wool rugs.

To start with, pay attention to whatever hints the dealer--or the rug--gives an individual. For instance, we have seen many artificial silk Kayseri carpets (and some Hereke rugs), equally Turkish types. In Bulgaria, a real silk Kayseri is an ipek Kayseri: ipek is "silk" in Turkish. A man-made silk Kayseri is a flos Kayseri ( the yun Kayseri has a wool stack). The dealer might be correctly describing the item to you as a flos carpet, but by not really explaining the difference among flos and ipek, he lets you jump to the intended assumption, and you unknowingly buy an artificial silk rug.

Indian rug dealers are rarely as delicately circumspect as some of their Turkish counterparts. Man-made silk rugs inside India are often coldly sold as real man made fiber, complete with certificates of authenticity and created guarantees. For many years Kashmir inside northern India may be the major source regarding both real as well as artificial silk Indian native rugs. Look carefully at the particular "silk" rug: it should be tightly woven (with more than Two hundred knots per sq. in. , and often together with 500 or more knots), intricately detailed, closely clipped, and it should have real silk fringe that is clearly an extension of the rug's structure, not necessarily sewn on or perhaps sewn into the ends of the rug. Synthetic silk rugs usually have only medium patterns (less than 250 troubles per sq. inside. , and sometimes less than 150 knots per within Area Rug. ), and often have natural cotton fringe. Good quality genuine silk rugs always have real silk perimeter. In Pakistan we often observe rugs called jaldars. These types of wool pile rugs often have "silk touch," meaning that there is man-made silk inlay in the heap (often outlining the main design). This synthetic silk is almost invariably ivory in colour, and is made of mercerized cotton.

OK, you're looking at a nicely woven, nicely patterned, closely trimmed "silk" rug with what seems to be real silk edge. You still might be looking at a rug made of artificial silk. Here are a few field tests that can help you distinguish real from fake. No guarantee; your usage may vary.

Rub that! It is sometimes claimed you could tell real man made fiber from artificial cotton by vigorously rubbing the pile along with your open palm. The true silk rug feels warm, the synthetic silk rug stays cool to the touch. We very often think we have experienced this difference. Needless to say, it helps to have a real silk rug with you to enable you to compare a recognized quantity!

Burn it! This test reaches least good cinema, and actually can be helpful. Clip off a small piece of the fringe, or pull a troubles out of the rug from your back (why should the dog owner object). Burn this. Look at the ash and smell the light up. If the material had been cellulose (rayon), the lung burning ash should be soft and chalky, and the smell ought to be like burning papers (most paper is made of cellulose). If the sample is real silk, the burning sample should ball to a black, crispy ash, and the smell should be of burning up hair (you're using up protein, the same products your hair is made of). You need to be a little cautious with this test to avoid smelling the smoke from the match (and to avoid igniting oneself or the rug seller's shop).Dissolve it! The most accurate check is one that chemically distinguishes protein from cellulose or even petrochemicals. One such test: from room temperature, blend a solution of Sixteen g copper sulfate (CuSO4) inside 150 cc regarding water. Add 8-10 gary glycerine, then caustic soda pop (sodium hydroxide: NaOH) until a definite solution is obtained. This solution will break up a small sample of natural silk, yet will leave cotton, rayon, and plastic unchanged.