The Many Uses of Silk

Last Thursday at our weekly Education department meeting, we noticed the first moth to emerge! These animals hatched from eggs on June 15th and grew large enough to spin cocoons by July 1. On Thursday July 28, almost 6 weeks later, some began emerging from cocoons and laying their eggs, starting a new cycle over again.

Silk cocoons provide the perfect protective environment for these animals while they pupate, or change into moths. The qualities that make the cocoon a perfect place for a silk moth to pupate are the same qualities that make silk so desirable to humans. Silk is durable, and is a good insulator against heat and cold. That means that silk is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Silk is also very strong, stronger than a thread of steel of the same size.

Silk’s many special qualities give it many uses - not just for silk worms or moths! Though we think of silk as a luxury fiber, it has uses in industry as well. It has been used to make parachutes, cigar bands, silk heart valves, and sutures for surgery. Around the late 18th century and early 19th century silk also had a range of uses from advertising banners, to cloth and trimmings used to make dresses, fans, bonnets, shawls and other accessories. The biggest use of silk in the early 20th century in America was to make silk stockings, which were eventually replaced by nylon pantyhose.