Editing Silk (section)

===Wild silk===
{{Main|Wild silk}}
[[File:Silk from Mawangdui 2.jpg|thumb|right|Woven silk textile from tomb no 1. at [[Mawangdui]] in [[Changsha]], [[Hunan]] province, [[China]], from the [[Han dynasty|Western Han dynasty]], 2nd century BC]]
[[File:Eri silk worm.jpg|thumb|Rearing of wild Eri silk worm, Assam]]
Several kinds of wild silk, produced by [[caterpillar]]s other than the [[mulberry]] silkworm, have been known and spun in [[China]], [[Indian subcontinent]], and [[Europe]] since ancient times. However, the scale of production was always far smaller than for cultivated silks. There are several reasons for this: first, they differ from the domesticated varieties in colour and [[wikt:texture|texture]] and are therefore less uniform; second, cocoons gathered in the wild have usually had the pupa emerge from them before being discovered so the silk thread that makes up the cocoon has been torn into shorter lengths; and third, many wild cocoons are covered in a mineral layer that prevents attempts to reel from them long strands of silk.<ref>{{cite news |title=Silk Production Takes a Walk on the Wild Side |author=Sindya N. Bhanoo |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/science/24obsilk.html?_r=3&emc=eta1 |newspaper=New York Times |date=20 May 2011 |access-date=26 May 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109043733/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/science/24obsilk.html?_r=3&emc=eta1 |archive-date=9 November 2012}}</ref> Thus, the only way to obtain silk suitable for spinning into textiles in areas where commercial silks are not cultivated was by tedious and labor-intensive [[carding]].

Some natural silk structures have been used without being unwound or spun.  Spider webs were used as a wound dressing in ancient Greece and Rome,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://phys.org/news/2017-01-chance-creation-antibiotic-spider-silk.html |title=Chance meeting leads to creation of antibiotic spider silk |website=phys.org |language=en-us |access-date=2019-09-13 |archive-date=26 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826104343/https://phys.org/news/2017-01-chance-creation-antibiotic-spider-silk.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and as a base for [[cobweb painting|painting]] from the 16th century.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2008/07/cobwebportraits.html |title=Cobweb Art a Triumph of Whimsy Over Practicality: Northwestern University News |website=www.northwestern.edu |language=en |access-date=2019-09-13 |archive-date=4 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704141405/https://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2008/07/cobwebportraits.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Butterfly caterpillar nests were pasted together to make a fabric in the [[Aztec Empire]].<ref name="Hogue-1993" />

Commercial silks originate from reared silkworm pupae, which are bred to produce a white-colored silk thread with no mineral on the surface. The pupae are killed by either dipping them in boiling water before the adult moths emerge or by piercing them with a needle. These factors all contribute to the ability of the whole cocoon to be unravelled as one continuous thread, permitting a much stronger cloth to be woven from the silk.
Wild silks also tend to be more difficult to dye than silk from the cultivated silkworm.<ref>Hill (2004). Appendix E.</ref><ref>Hill (2009). "Appendix C: Wild Silks", pp.477–480.</ref> A technique known as [[demineralizing (silk worm cocoon)|demineralizing]] allows the mineral layer around the cocoon of wild silk moths to be removed,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gheysens |first1=T |last2=Collins |first2=A |last3=Raina |first3=S |last4=Vollrath |first4=F |last5=Knight |first5=D |year=2011 |title=Demineralization enables reeling of Wild Silkmoth cocoons |journal=Biomacromolecules |volume=12 |issue=6 |pages=2257–66 |doi=10.1021/bm2003362 |pmid=21491856 |url=https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/2153669/file/2153676.pdf |hdl=1854/LU-2153669 |hdl-access=free |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922055410/https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/2153669/file/2153676.pdf |archive-date=22 September 2017}}</ref> leaving only variability in color as a barrier to creating a commercial silk industry based on wild silks in the parts of the world where wild silk moths thrive, such as in Africa and South America.