Eri Silk (white) Combed Top/Sliver (A1 Grade) Wild Silk - 200g
The eri wild silk top, from India, is a lustrous white with a 3.5 to 4 inch fiber length, 13.5 to 17 microns. Our eri silk is as soft to the touch as a baby kitten!
There are studies that show pets help lower blood pressure. I think “petting” the eri silk fiber could do the same thing! Everyone has the same reaction--one touch, then “aahhh” followed by a wonderfully relaxed feeling. Keep a package with you as your personal ‘”stress-buster!”
The Philosamia ricini silkworm produces eri silk. This caterpillar eats the leaves of the Castor plan (ricinus communis) or Kesseru (heteropanax fragrans). This caterpillar is mostly reared in the Assam region of India.
Unlike the other silk worms that produce one continuous strand of silk while creating its cocoon, the eri silk worm starts and stops during the three day process. This causes breaks in the silk strand, making it undesirable to reel the silk.
Eri silk has less sericin (the protein ‘glue’ that protects the silk and holds the silk together in its cocoon shape) than other types of silk, so the eri cocoon has a fuzzy texture. Click here to see eri cocoons.
To process eri silk (or any type of silk) into combed top/sliver, the sericin must first be reduced or removed—called 'degumming'.
Eri silk is less lustrous than bombyx mori silk, making it less popular with people seeking the traditional high-sheen of silk.
The shorter fiber length means it is slightly more difficult to spin than our other silks. The effort is worth it, as the yarn has a wonderful “hide-and-seek” shine-to-flat finish.
Treenway Silks has used the same silk supplier in India for over 15 years and he consistently delivers top quality.
200 Gram (7oz) packages
Color: natural soft-white
Silk handspun and handknitted by Diane de Souza
Purchase $150 of 'bulk' undyed yarns or fibers and receive a 10% discount on those items. The discount will be applied manually before finalizing your credit card charge.
PEACE SILK? not really.
Silk is an eco-friendly product.
- Ahimsa silk is a patented term referring to an eco-friendly method of manufacturing spun mulberry silk
- Eri silk could be peace silk, but most likely it is not, as almost always the pupa is removed for feeding people or other animals
- Don't assume that because tussah, muga and eri silk are wild silks they are peace silks--muga and tussah are also reeled and the eri pupae are used for food--so check your sources.
- The only true peace silk is made from cocoons in which the pupa has matured into a moth. Most often this is for breeding purposes, and the quantity of this type of silk is very small.
- The caterpillars produced from the eggs resulting from all the matings from unstilfed cocoons (200 to 500 eggs per moth) would not have enough food and they would die from starvation and neglect.
- Sericulture is a sustainable, renewable, environmentally friendly resource that gives million of rural people a healthy, family-oriented lifestyle.