Silk-duvet for better sleep

The myth and the facts about Silk-duvet.

Why choose silk? Choose it for its lightweight. Silk is one of the lightest and strongest natural fibers. Choose it for its very high degree of heat retention capability, more so than down. Silk also absorbs moisture well and quickly releases it.

A silk-duvet meant that a duvet cover (a larger pouch) often made of cotton and filled with silk fibers.

Silk-duvet constantly equalizes temperature, making it a perfect year round comforter. Because Silk-duvet is very tolerant of changes in the ambient temperature, it creates a unique sleeping environment. Which means that while it keeps you warm when required, you are much less likely to be overheated or leave you shivering.

This means that Silk duvet naturally control the temperature and provides you with a good sleeping environment and resulting in a comfortable and restful sleep.

Now comes the sceptic and that is I.

My wife and I came across this silk duvet on an exhibition. Would I buy this THIN THING to cover myself and discard my well-proven down duvet? No way. Look and I pointed to the THIN duvet. It is less than 3/4 inch thick. The down comforters we have are almost 6 inches thick.

At the end she bought one for herself. At home she graciously LENDS me the silk duvet for one night. Boy, was I impressed. Next morning, you should have seen me call the store in posthaste.

That was two years ago. Am I happy with it? Yes I am. As an ex-insomniac, I need all the comfort I can get to secure a good night sleep. Was it expensive? It cost us about $150.00 An ex-insomniac is like an ex-alcoholic. I’ll do everything in my power not to fall back.

Let’s see where this all begins. There was a mythical Chinese princess by name of either Si-Ling-Chi or Leizu wife of China’s mythical Emperor. She was having tea beneath a mulberry tree in the palace gardens when a silk cocoon fell into her tea. The cocoon unraveled in the hot tea revealing a long delicate thread.

It is said that she collected lots of cocoons and wove the thread into a robe for the Emperor. Her name is attributed with inventing the silk reel, which joins fine filaments into a thread strong enough for weaving.

More concrete evidence is the recent archeological find - a small ivory cup carved with a silkworm design and thought to originate around 6,000 to7,000 years.

This is how the Mulberry Silk was born! If it happened it did 3,000 years ago or was it 6,000? Well, let's skip over this because our goal is to sleep well.

However, the fact remains, China maintained a monopoly on silk for centuries until it was smuggled into Japan around 300 AD At one point only the Emperor could wear it. In time, high officials at court were given the privilege to wear silk. Eventually commerce took over for fine Mulberry silk fabric which created the Silk Road. One of which is the 4,000 mile caravan tract that biggen in Sian, followed the Great Wall of China and ended in Damascus.

Today Mulberry Silk is still coveted. Silk is stronger than cotton or wool. Silk is lower in density than cotton, wool or nylon, making silk highly moisture absorbent.

Mulberry Silk is Mother Natures Gift to Sleep well.

Silk-duvet is not only the ultimate in luxury but the material contains amazing qualities not found in traditional duvets. Silk is composed of amino acids, which is a polymer chains called peptides which in turn create a structure called proteins. The proteins secreted in the fluid state by a caterpillar, popularly known as silkworm. These silkworms feed on Mulberry leafs or on other trees and spin cocoons as a protective shell to perpetuate their life.

Depending on the temperature, the silk either draws heat away from the body or traps in the warmth. In the winter the large fibers reduce heat loss from the body, but in the summer the silk sheds surplus heat by wick away moisture from your body, keeping you cool and comfortable.

Silk account for only 0.2 % of worlds’ total textile production. Silk production is regarded as an important tool for economic development of a country as it is a labour intensive and high income generating industry. Asia is the main producer of silk in the world. There are more than 40 country produce silks, but bulk of it is produced in China, India, Japan, Brazil and Korea.

China is the largest and India is the second largest producer of silk. There are five types of commercial silk available.

Mulberry: The bulk of the commercial silk produced in the world comes from this variety of silk. Produced by a silkworm which solely feeds on the leaves of mulberry plants. To make the cocoon the silkworm lays the filament in a series of a figure 8 by moving its head from side to side, gradually building a wall around itself.

Tasar: It is a copper colour, coarse silk mainly used for furnishings and interiors. It is less lustrous than mulberry silk. The silkworm, mainly thrives on the food plants.

Oak Tasar: It is a finer variety of tasar generated by the silkworm Antheraea proyeli. In India it feeds on oak. China is the major producer of oak tasar.

Eri: is a silk spun from open-ended cocoons. Eri silk is the product of the domesticated silkworm, Philosamia ricini that feeds mainly on castor leaves.

Muga: This golden yellow colour silk is prerogative of India and the pride of Assam state. These silkworms feed on the aromatic leaves of Som and Soalu plants. The muga silk is used in products like sarees, (sari) mekhalas, chaddars, etc.

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