We dont mean to be alarmist, but we sometimes see silk rugs that are made of something besides genuine, natural silk. 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 give this information.

We dont mean to be alarmist, but we very often see silk rugs that are made from something other than real, natural silk. This is simply not a problem if you know how the rug you are considering is made of artificial silk, however sometimes rug sellers neglect to pass on this information! The problem happens usually with just a few area rug types sold in vacationer markets in Poultry and India (and often in Pakistan) rugs on sale.

Real silk is actually produced as the cocoon addressing of the silkworm, the pupal type of the Asian or mulberry silk moth, bombyx mori. The cocoon is spun by the silk moth caterpillar of a single silk soluble fiber that can be up to several thousand feet in length. To harvest the silk, finished cocoons are boiled or warmed up to kill the silkworms, then laboriously unwound into single fibers which are plied together as well as spun into thread or silk wool.

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

The ripening cotton boll may contain as many as Five,000 separate natural cotton fibers, each dietary fiber growing from a small seed and shaped as a hollow cylindrical sheath of as many as 30 layers of almost pure cellulose. Cotton fiber is actually mercerized by being stretched under controlled tension with room temperature whilst being treated with a 21%-23% solution of caustic soft drinks (NaOH). The effect is to enlarge the fiber to make its surface a lot more reflective, thus drastically increasing its shine (and also its tensile power). After the chemical therapy, cotton yarn is frequently singed to remove whatever tiny amount of fuzz remains on top of the fibers. At times cotton is calendered when you are passed between warmed up rollers. The effect is always 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 nearly pure celulose, but rather as compared to being grown, cotton is produced by initial dissolving cellulose (obtained from cotton or woodpulp) to produce a thick yellowish liquid called viscose. The particular viscose is extruded through skin pores into a chemical bathtub that produces long filaments which can be spun into thread and yarn. Viscouse rayon was the first man-made soluble fiber. In 1920, DuPont bought from in france they the technology to make viscose rayon. DuPont first referred to as material artificial silk, and created a company (The DuPont Fibersilk Company) to manufacture it. Other artificial fibers might follow quickly: acetate (furthermore derived from cellulose) in 1924, plastic, (commonly, adipic acid responded with hexamethylene diamine) in 1939, polymer-bonded (from acrylonitrile, a petrochemical) in 1950, polyester in 1953, and also triacetate in 1954.

With all these types of artificial fibers close to, how can you identify an area rug woven with normal silkFor example handmade area rugs,silk rugs,persian rugs,oriental carpets,wool rugs.

First of all, pay attention to whatever clues the dealer--or the rug--gives you. For instance, we have seen many artificial silk Kayseri carpets (and some Hereke rugs), both Turkish types. In Turkey, a real silk Kayseri is definitely an ipek Kayseri: ipek is "silk" in Turkish. A man-made silk Kayseri is a flos Kayseri ( the yun Kayseri has a wool pile). The dealer might be correctly describing the item to you as a flos rug, but by not really explaining the difference in between flos and ipek, he enables you to jump to the intended assumption, and you unwittingly buy an artificial man made fiber rug.

Indian area rug dealers are hardly ever as delicately circumspect since some of their Turkish counterparts. Synthetic silk rugs inside India are often coldly sold as real cotton, complete with certificates of authenticity and composed guarantees. For many years Kashmir inside northern India has been the major source with regard to both real and also artificial silk Indian native rugs. Look carefully at the actual "silk" rug: it should be securely woven (with more than Two hundred knots per sq. in., and often with 500 or more knots), intricately detailed, strongly clipped, and it needs to have real silk fringe that is clearly extra time of the rug's structure, not necessarily sewn on or even sewn into the ends of the rug. Artificial silk rugs frequently have only medium patterns (less than 250 knot per sq. inside., and sometimes less than 150 knots per inside.), and often have 100 % cotton fringe. Good quality genuine silk rugs also have real silk edge. In Pakistan we often notice rugs called jaldars. These wool pile carpets often have "silk touch," meaning that there is synthetic silk inlay in the pile (often outlining part of the design). This synthetic silk is almost usually ivory in shade, and is made of mercerized natural cotton.

OK, you're looking in a nicely woven, properly patterned, closely clipped "silk" rug with what is apparently real silk fringe. You still might be taking a look at a rug made of synthetic silk. Here are a few field tests that can help you distinguish real from fake. No guarantee; your miles may vary.

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

Burn it! This test reaches least good theatre, and actually can be helpful. Cut off a small piece of the fringe, or pull a troubles out of the rug from the back (why should the dog owner object). Burn this. Look at the ash and also smell the smoke cigarettes. If the material has been cellulose (rayon), the ashes should be soft and also chalky, and the smell should be like burning papers (most paper consists of cellulose). If the sample will be real silk, the particular burning sample ought to ball to a african american, crispy ash, and the scent should be of burning hair (you're using up protein, the same things your hair is made of). You need to be a little cautious with this test to avoid smelling the light up from the match (and to avoid igniting your self or the rug seller's shop).Dissolve it! The most accurate check is one that chemically separates protein from cellulose or petrochemicals. One such test: at room temperature, combine a solution of Of sixteen g copper sulfate (CuSO4) within 150 cc regarding water. Add 8-10 gary glycerine, then caustic soda pop (sodium hydroxide: NaOH) until a definite solution is obtained. This particular solution will break down a small sample regarding natural silk, but will leave 100 % cotton, rayon, and nylon material unchanged.