A Foam Method for Degumming Raw Silk

Abstract

A foam method for degumming raw silk skeins is described. The yarn produced is free from tensile strength degradation and even after coning presents a clean cone free from hairiness or broken filaments. The winding efficiency of such yarn has been found to be quite superior to that of yarn degummed by the more usual methods. It is suggested that a large part of the variation in the published values for certain physical properties of fibroin— e.g., isoelectric-point pH—may be due to variation in the initial material which could arise from the use of different degumming procedures.