Wild silk fibers: Types, properties and utilization areas

Abstract

As being one of the most important textile fibers, silk has drawn attention of specialists for a long time. Fiber’s extraordinary features, due to its structure, are the reasons for this. This animal fiber, commonly known as silk, is the mulberry silk produced by the silkworm called Bombyx mori. In addition to this, there are also different silk types which are called as “wild silk” and obtained from the cocoons of the worms that they produce for completing their metamorphosis. Although their use is not as common as Mulberry silk, utilization of wild silk fibers - generally produced in India and China - in textiles have been increasing in recent years. There are various studies about wild silk fibers which have different types such as Eri, Muga, Tasar and Tussah. Moreover, spider silk can be categorized in wild silk fiber group. In this study, wild silk types, their properties and utilization in textiles are introduced.