How to Determine if Silk is Genuine
Do a Touch test., Perform a Wedding Ring Test., Consider the price., Examine the Lustre of the material., Look at the Weave., See if you can perform a Burn Test., If you really need to know, consider a Chemical Test., Remember that Old is Gold.
Step-by-Step Guide
-
Step 1: Do a Touch test.
This is a quick spot test that one can do especially before buying a silk saree.
The idea is to rub the silk with your hands.
If you feel warmth on rubbing it, go buy it! It’s real.
With artificial or synthetic silk, it is impossible to experience warmth on rubbing.
One more thing, real silk sounds like walking on fresh snow.
If you don’t know how that is supposed to sound like, go figure! -
Step 2: Perform a Wedding Ring Test.
If the silk that you are planning to buy is not very heavy, this test is perfect! Genuine silk of lower ply can be easily threaded and pulled through a wedding ring because silk is naturally flexible and smooth.
On the other hand, artificial silks would scrunch up and would be impossible to pull through. , Of course, genuine silk is almost ten times costlier than the synthetic ones.
Sometimes the synthetic silk is priced much higher and looks like silk to an untrained eye but mostly low price is a very good indication of its poor quality. , Silk is especially known for its lustre.
The lustre is usually because of the combination of threads which gives a particular sheen to the material.
The colour on the surface appears to change as the angle of the light changes.
Artificial silks, however, gives a white sheen no matter what the angle of light falling on it. , Hand woven silk boasts of uniqueness.
There are minor variations in the evenness of the texture which is quite noticeable.
But fret not! These are natural and expected.
These imperfections are what lend distinction to the product.
Machine woven silks look perfect.
They are flawlessly even in texture and hence… lacks character! Synthetic fibres look perfect too even though sometimes slight imperfections are deliberately included so that they could pass off as real silk. , This is perhaps the best and most definitive test to find genuine silk.
You can take a few threads from the material and burn it with a flame.
Genuine silk burns with smell of burnt hair.
When you burn the edge of real silk fabric, the flame is invisible and it will stop burning as soon as the flame is removed.
The ash produced hence, is black, crispy and brittle.
It turns to powder when twisted in fingers.With the artificial silk, it is quite the opposite.
When synthetic silk is burnt, there is a flame and smell of plastic.
No ash is produced.
Needless to say, you might need to exercise caution with this step.
You don’t want to end up setting fire to the silk saree showroom.
Right? , If you have a lab with necessary chemicals on the standby, ready for some experimentation, what’s stopping you? For starters, you need:
Mix all the below and dip a small piece of silk that you want to test into the solution.
Real silk dissolves in a few minutes while artificial silk would not dissolve. 16 grams Copper Sulphate 8 grams Glycerine 1 tablespoon caustic soda 150 cc of water , The older the silk gets, the more beautiful it becomes.
With the fake silk, it is quite the opposite.
The fake silk tends to fade with time.
But again, it is a better idea to buy a genuine silk rather than end up with a fake one.Now that you are armed with some really good tips for the next silk shopping spree, sleep easy.
You are going to get the silk saree you so rightly deserve.
And yeah… Don’t forget to take along that lighter as well.
Who knows when it might come in handy! -
Step 3: Consider the price.
-
Step 4: Examine the Lustre of the material.
-
Step 5: Look at the Weave.
-
Step 6: See if you can perform a Burn Test.
-
Step 7: If you really need to know
-
Step 8: consider a Chemical Test.
-
Step 9: Remember that Old is Gold.
Detailed Guide
This is a quick spot test that one can do especially before buying a silk saree.
The idea is to rub the silk with your hands.
If you feel warmth on rubbing it, go buy it! It’s real.
With artificial or synthetic silk, it is impossible to experience warmth on rubbing.
One more thing, real silk sounds like walking on fresh snow.
If you don’t know how that is supposed to sound like, go figure!
If the silk that you are planning to buy is not very heavy, this test is perfect! Genuine silk of lower ply can be easily threaded and pulled through a wedding ring because silk is naturally flexible and smooth.
On the other hand, artificial silks would scrunch up and would be impossible to pull through. , Of course, genuine silk is almost ten times costlier than the synthetic ones.
Sometimes the synthetic silk is priced much higher and looks like silk to an untrained eye but mostly low price is a very good indication of its poor quality. , Silk is especially known for its lustre.
The lustre is usually because of the combination of threads which gives a particular sheen to the material.
The colour on the surface appears to change as the angle of the light changes.
Artificial silks, however, gives a white sheen no matter what the angle of light falling on it. , Hand woven silk boasts of uniqueness.
There are minor variations in the evenness of the texture which is quite noticeable.
But fret not! These are natural and expected.
These imperfections are what lend distinction to the product.
Machine woven silks look perfect.
They are flawlessly even in texture and hence… lacks character! Synthetic fibres look perfect too even though sometimes slight imperfections are deliberately included so that they could pass off as real silk. , This is perhaps the best and most definitive test to find genuine silk.
You can take a few threads from the material and burn it with a flame.
Genuine silk burns with smell of burnt hair.
When you burn the edge of real silk fabric, the flame is invisible and it will stop burning as soon as the flame is removed.
The ash produced hence, is black, crispy and brittle.
It turns to powder when twisted in fingers.With the artificial silk, it is quite the opposite.
When synthetic silk is burnt, there is a flame and smell of plastic.
No ash is produced.
Needless to say, you might need to exercise caution with this step.
You don’t want to end up setting fire to the silk saree showroom.
Right? , If you have a lab with necessary chemicals on the standby, ready for some experimentation, what’s stopping you? For starters, you need:
Mix all the below and dip a small piece of silk that you want to test into the solution.
Real silk dissolves in a few minutes while artificial silk would not dissolve. 16 grams Copper Sulphate 8 grams Glycerine 1 tablespoon caustic soda 150 cc of water , The older the silk gets, the more beautiful it becomes.
With the fake silk, it is quite the opposite.
The fake silk tends to fade with time.
But again, it is a better idea to buy a genuine silk rather than end up with a fake one.Now that you are armed with some really good tips for the next silk shopping spree, sleep easy.
You are going to get the silk saree you so rightly deserve.
And yeah… Don’t forget to take along that lighter as well.
Who knows when it might come in handy!
About the Author
Frances Parker
Enthusiastic about teaching hobbies techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
Rate This Guide
How helpful was this guide? Click to rate: