TYPES OF SILK YARN (TUSSAR SILK)

Types of silk yarn (Tussar silk):- 

It is alternatively spelled asTussah,.Tushar, and Tussor or Tusser , and also known as Kosa silk ( in Sanskrit,). It produced from leaves of several species of silk worm belonging to the moth genus Antheraes including A assamensis, A paphia , A pernyi, A royli, and a yamamas.

These silk worms live in the wild forest in  trees belonging to Teminslia species and shorea robusta , as well as other food plants such as jamun and oak found in South Asia, eating the leaves of the trees on which they live. Tussar silk is valued for its rich texture and natural deep gold color and variation are produced in many countries including China , India , Japan and Srilanka .

lmage of Tussar silk saree from Phulia India.

Process:-

To kill the silk worms , the cocoons are dried in the sun. A variation of the process exists in  which the silk worms are allowed to leave before the cocoons are soaked in boiling water to soften the silk, and then fibers are reeled . Single shelled, oval shape cocoons are collected and then boiled to extract the silk yarn . Boiling is very important part in the manufacturing of silk, as its soften the cocoon and makes the extraction of silk easier . In conventional sericulture, the cocoon is then called "non violent silk" or " Ahimsa silk" . In China the silk are given different names when silk worms are rear on different plants, as the diet of the silk worm has an effect on quality of the silk . For example silk from larvae on the wild mulberry called zhe, while those on the oak Quercus dentata produce hu.

Tussar silk is considered more textured then cultivated "Bombyx"or"Mulberry" silk. It has shorter fibers which makes it less durable. It has dull gold Sheen. As most of the cocoons are collected from the forest , it is considered by many as forest product.

USES:-

The saree is the most important Tussar silk product , although it is also used as the base material for handicrafts, furnishing fabric and stitched appareld.

With the introduction of chemical dyes , the range of available colors has increased significantly. Some fashion designers use Tussar silk in their creation . The precisely finished  and design garments produce from Tussar silk are known globally and are exported world wide.

Tussar silk is popular additive to soap. The short silk fibers are typically dissolved in lye water , which is then added to oils  to make soap. Soap made with the tussar silk has a slippery quality and is considered more luxurious-feeling than soap made without. Tussar silk roving can be bought at soap making stores.

AHIMSA SILK:-(Ahimsa , Sanskrit for non violent) is a method of non-violent silk breed in and harvesting. Wild silk moths are bred , rather then the domestic variety. It allows the completion of the metamorphosis of the silk worm to its moth stage whereas most silk harvesting requires the silk worm to be killed in their cocoons stage . No animal suffer or die got the silk to be produced, making it a favourable alternate to normal silk futher who object to harming animal.

PROCESS:-

image of A cut silk cocoon.

The pupa is allowed to hatch and left over cocoon is then used to create silk.

While Bombyx Mori (also called mulberry silk worms or mulberry silk moths) are the perfect species for creating Ahimsa silk, there are few other types of species that falls under the Ahimsa silk which is defined not necessarily by the species of the moth involved by the method for harvesting the cocoon. The other types of silk worm that are used for this process are a subspecies of the ailanthus silk moth and several types of tussah or tassar moth; and the muga moth 

The subspecies of the allanthus silk moth , same of cynthia ricin , eat the leaves of the caster been or cassava leaves. It is also known as the Eri silk moth . Eri silk is male from the cocoon of the particular insects and also produced using less violent methods than the normal heat treating , but the quality of eri silk often seen inferior to that of the silk created by the off spring of the Bombyx Mori moth.

QUALITIES:-

The main qualities of Ahimsa silk are derived from the idea surrounding the concept of non-violence. This allows the silk to be manufactured without harm to the beings that created it. These ideals appeal to religion like Jainism, Hiduism, Buddhism whose followers forego all enjury to other forms of life . Non-violent life style proponents have more recently found peace silk to be in keeping with their way of life . 

From a short-run economic stand point, it is difficult to make the argument for peace silk and it requires 10 extra days in process to let the larvae grow in the moths to hatch out of the cocoon . It contrast the  humanize process taken after 15 months. At the later stage the cocoon yield one-sixth of the filament. The infates the cost of non-violent silk which is priced at roughly 6,000 rupees (US$92) per kilogram-about twice the price of the regular kind.

Ref:-https://en.m.wikipedia.org.