Silk is a filament fiber that is created from the proteins that silkworms secrete. Despite being named silkworms, they are actually caterpillars. Silk has been known as a luxurious fabric that has been prized for its softness and strength, it comes with a bit of a price tag because it the fibers are a natural animal product.
Silk production originated in China where they managed to hold on to the secret for thousands of years. They exported the fabric to Europe via trade routes. Eggs from the silkworms were smuggled out of China and in the 13th century, Italy began production in the west. The cost of silk still remained the same as the amount of work required did not change.
The process begins when female silk-moths lay eggs. One moth can produce hundreds of teeny eggs which will be kept incubated until they hatch into larva. The larva are then kept warm and fed mulberry leaves until they have reached their peak in size, and have enough energy to pupate.
When the pupation stage is reached, the larva attaches to branches and beings to spin a shell around itself. This is how the silk is created. The larva secretes fluid that is high in proteins and it forms a long thread around themselves similar to a shell. The larva does this to create a pod for itself to mature in.
For silk producers, maturation is the stage that needs to be avoided in order to obtain the silk, as the next stage is emergence, as a moth. Only a few moths are released to allow the process to carry on to the next generation, but the rest are subjected to heat to kill them before they destroy the pod. The pods are then put into hot water to release the strands and then wound onto wheels.
After this step, the silk can be spun into different types of thread depending on what it is being used for.