Summary

SUMMARY

Silk comes from silkworms and wool from sheep, goat and yak. Hence, silk and wool are animal fibres.
The hairs of camel, llama and alpaca are also processed to yield wool.
In India, mostly sheep are reared for getting wool.
Sheep hair is sheared off from the body, scoured, sorted, dried, dyed, spun and woven to yield wool.
Silkworms are caterpillars of silk moth.
During their life cycle, the worms spin cocoons of silk fibres.
Silk fibres are made of a protein.
Silk fibres from cocoons are taken out and reeled into silk threads.
Weavers weave silk threads into silk cloth.
Clothes are manufactured from fabrics or clothing material which are woven from fibres.
Wool is obtained from the hair of sheep, camel, vicuna, llama, alpaca, goat, and even rabbits.
Shearing, scouring, grading, dyeing, and drying are the different stages in wool production. Silk is obtained from the cocoons of the silkworm.
The silkworm takes three to seven days to prepare the cocoon, formed by about 20-39 concentric layers of a single thread.
There are several health hazards associated with sericulture, respiratory problems and skin infections being the major ones.