Research - Cocoons

Because of the notion of wrapping and containing something, I began to think about forms that involved this process, and I started looking into 'cocoons' and how they were made. There are many types and forms of cocoons, but I looked into the silkworm cocoons. This was the most interesting because of the man-made process that transpires from it. Silk worms use two saliva glands in their head that are glue-like to begin with but then become harder once they are in contact with air, and wrap this secretion around their bodies to make the protection of a cocoon, ironically this is the reason these silk worms are wanted and killed. There are silk worm farms around the world, mostly in Japan, as this is one of the main places silk was first made. Once the cocoons get to the cocoon stage they are collected and boiled, unfortunately ending the natural transformation of the silk worm. A dissecting needle is used to find the threads of the silk and once a single thread is found the silk will come off and be wound round a pencil, this loosens the thread and can then be unwound in one singular thread, this process is called reeling. It takes 3,000 silk worm cocoons to make one pound of reeled silk.