Como Silk Museum

Twisting

Physics laboratory

Chemistry laboratory

Screen printing

Children's area

Finishing

Video room

Silkworm room

Preparation for weaving

Interactive bug room

Hand print

Manual weaving

Dyeing

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Como Silk Museum

LOOMS Lurate Caccivio silk weaving

Piedmontese reeling

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Como Silk Museum

Como Silk Museum

LOOMS Lurate Caccivio silk weaving

LOOMS Lurate Caccivio silk weaving

Piedmontese reeling

Piedmontese reeling
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silkworm room          allevamento del baco to obtain the thread you need to unravel the cocoons. this operation took place in the spinning mills, where the work was entrusted almost exclusively to women and girls because they were paid less than men and because thin fingers and agile hands were needed to tie, if necessary, the weaver's knot (an "invisible" knot to attach two ends of a thread in case of breakage with a knot known as a flat knot, such as the one used in sailing). the spinning mill consists of a spinning basin and two reeling basins and a rear box in which the silk was wound into skeins. the first operation was the search for the leader, necessary to unravel the cocoon: the cocoons were immersed in the unraveling basin full of hot water which allowed the sericin to soften, then a vegetable brush was rotated inside the basin. the thread leader remained stuck between the bristles of the brush and in this way it could unravel. we then proceeded with the reeling operations: 7 "caps" were joined together to obtain a more consistent silk thread which was collected on the reels contained in the box behind the machinery. approximately 500g of silk was produced in 8 hours of work.       watch the video   Silkworm room interactive bug room                      silver breedingbombyx mori is the scientific name of the silkworm. to grow, the silkworm feeds exclusively on mulberry leaves. at the end of its growth the silkworm "goes to the woods": it climbs a branch on which it will carry out its final transformation by hanging from the branch with its hind legs. at this point a thin filament begins to emit from a gland which, in contact with the air, instantly congeals. the thread is made up of two proteins: fibroin, the actual thread, and sericin, a collagen that allows the threads to adhere to each other. in 2-3 days the silkworm produces an uninterrupted 2km thread which constitutes the cocoon in which it progressively encloses itself. inside the cocoon, in 15 days the silkworm transforms into a chrysalis and finally into a moth, which, at the right moment, secretes a liquid that allows it to open a gap between the filaments of the cocoon and escape. the breeding took place in the houses of the plains and hills of northern italy in a room of the house kept at a constant temperature and well ventilated. it was an economic subsidy activity carried out mainly by women and children. the newborn silkworms were placed on litter constructed with simple materials, such as marsh reeds or wooden slats. the silkworm cocoons were then harvested before the chrysalis transformed into a moth. a part of the cocoons was made to "flicker" (the moth emerged from the cocoon completing its transformation making the silk thread unusable for production purposes because it was broken into thousands of small pieces) to ensure the continuity of the species, the remaining part was instead stewed in dryers. this is the only processing phase that is no longer carried out in italy, but the cocoons are imported from countries such as vietnam, india and cambodia. all the so-called ennobling processing phases still take place in como: more than 70% of the silk that arrives in europe passes through here.                 watch the video     Interactive bug room twisting               twistingtwisting is a fundamental phase of the process because it gives greater cohesion and resistance to the thread and prevents the separation of the bavels. furthermore, by varying the number of twists or twisting more already twisted yarns, more or less soft or shinier yarns can be obtained. before twisting, the skeins pass through the winder: a machine used to transport the silk thread of the skeins obtained through reeling operations onto spools which were then positioned on the twisting machine. originally the twisting was carried out by hand, but in the middle ages in lucca a hydraulically powered machine capable of moving multiple threads at the same time was developed: for this reason the twisting machine is also known as the silk mill. according to sources, bonaventura da barga is credited with having transplanted the art of silk from lucca to bologna. since the manufacturing development of twisting required large quantities of wire already mounted on spools, the winder was also connected to the movement of a water wheel. the twisting machine exhibited in the museum is an outward-facing plant, characterized by a double-belly structure, different from the traditional circular model: thanks to the rotation imposed by the hydraulic force it was possible to simultaneously twist the 288 spools distributed over 3 levels called passes. once the yarn was obtained, we proceeded with vaporization, i.e. the exposure of the thread to moist heat which causes a slight softening of the sericin and, once returned to the dry state, keeps the coils generated by the twisting glued: in this way the twists imparted were fixed.      watch the video   Twisting preparation for weaving Preparation for weaving manual weaving       weaving  the weaving operation consists in the creation of a weave between threads arranged orthogonally (vertical = warp, horizontal = weft) obtained through the use of a loom. in the manual loom, for fabrics with simple weaves, the warp threads are arranged on a beam behind them and are passed through the heddle meshes so that during the weaving phase some threads can be raised and others not in order to create the mouth of the silk inside which the weft thread is passed. the opening of the silk mouth is controlled by a flap connected to the comb which, upon the return movement following the passage of the weft thread, tightens the weave and forms the fabric which is then wound onto a final beam. in the 19th century the jacquard system was introduced which allows us to obtain textured fabrics (called mechanical tapestries) with complex designs. in the jacquard loom, the processing of the fabric is controlled by a system of perforated cardboards which serve to control, via a binary code, the lifting of the warp threads. the presence of the hole on the cardboard allows the lifting of the needle with a hook that moves a single warp thread. the cards for the creation of the mechanical tapestry were drilled according to the instructions found on the paper (preparatory drawing) and sewn together. with the industrial revolution, already in the second half of the nineteenth century, the looms became mechanical and the role of the weaver became fundamental for the preparation operations (setting up the warping machine and preparing the reeds) and for controlling the functioning of the looms.     watch the video   Manual weaving mechanical weaving       weaving  the weaving operation consists in the creation of a weave between threads arranged orthogonally (vertical = warp, horizontal = weft) obtained through the use of a loom. in the manual loom, for fabrics with simple weaves, the warp threads are arranged on a beam behind them and are passed through the heddle meshes so that during the weaving phase some threads can be raised and others not in order to create the mouth of the silk inside which the weft thread is passed. the opening of the silk mouth is controlled by a flap connected to the comb which, upon the return movement following the passage of the weft thread, tightens the weave and forms the fabric which is then wound onto a final beam. in the 19th century the jacquard system was introduced which allows us to obtain textured fabrics (called mechanical tapestries) with complex designs. in the jacquard loom, the processing of the fabric is controlled by a system of perforated cardboards which serve to control, via a binary code, the lifting of the warp threads. the presence of the hole on the cardboard allows the lifting of the needle with a hook that moves a single warp thread. the cards for the creation of the mechanical tapestry were drilled according to the instructions found on the paper (preparatory drawing) and sewn together. with the industrial revolution, already in the second half of the nineteenth century, the looms became mechanical and the role of the weaver became fundamental for the preparation operations (setting up the warping machine and preparing the reeds) and for controlling the functioning of the looms.     watch the video   Mechanical weaving video room Video room physics laboratory           physique laboratory seriplane, dynamometer, burst meter: to test strength, traction and resistance. each silk thread must be checked: only in this way can we be sure that the silk produced has suitable and above all constant chemical-physical characteristics. for example, the skeins that had to be weighed with a regular moisture content to avoid fraud were stored in the large conditioning ovens. the burstometer, on the other hand, tested the resistance of the fabric and also had an incredible history: in the second world war in como, silk was used to make the parachutes of airborne troops and our burstometer was the instrument that certified its quality.        watch the video     Physics laboratory chemistry laboratory           chemical laboratory   silk is rarely used in its natural color, so it is subjected to the dyeing operation. originally fabrics were dyed with natural dyes, but it was impossible to always obtain the same shade of color. this is how artificial dyes were born and already in the era of industrial development in como at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century it was done almost exclusively with chemical substances, which were more resistant and easy to use. the preparation of these procedures took place in the laboratory (color kitchen - chemical laboratories) where the recipes to obtain the aniline-based dyes were created and the various dyeing procedures were tested on a small scale to control the quality.     watch the video     Chemistry laboratory dyeing       dyeing  before dyeing, the degumming operation is carried out which allows the sericin residues to be removed to make the yarn soft and shiny. the silk is immersed in boats filled with a solution of hot water and marseille soap, made from soda and olive oil. after several baths the yarn is washed and dried with centrifuges.  yarn dyeing for thread dyeing, the skeins of silk thread are suspended on wooden rods which are immersed in the dye bath contained in a copper dish and are continuously rotated (lysing) to ensure uniform dyeing of the thread. at the end of this operation the contents of the pirola were spilled onto the floor and the liquid was discharged into the waterways adjacent to the dyeing plant which flowed into the cosia river and lake como.  piece dyeing for piece dyeing, the fabric was sewn head to tail and placed on an elliptical reel (not circular to prevent the fabric from slipping) and immersed in the solution of hot water and chemical dye contained in the dyeing boat. also in this case the dyer constantly rotated the reel so that the fabric had a uniform colour.      watch the video   Dyeing hand print             tampographie  la manière la plus ancienne d'imprimer sur des tissus est l'impression sur bois dans laquelle sont utilisés des motifs en relief fixés sur des planches de bois, communément appelées planches. pour cette opération, la planche était trempée dans la couleur, posée sur le tissu et pressée avec un marteau (maillet). des impressions multicolores ont été obtenues en décomposant le motif en fonction du nombre de couleurs qu'il contient et une planche a été créée pour chaque couleur. le design a été réalisé grâce à la superposition des motifs de chaque pad. la technique, utilisée jusqu'à la fin du xixème siècle, est en réalité médiévale.  impression sur cylindreintroduite au xvie siècle, elle exploitait la même technique d'impression que les planches : la forme cylindrique de la matrice permettait, à l'aide de presses verticales, d'obtenir une impression sur tissu avec plus de facilité et de rapidité. c'est une technique encore utilisée aujourd'hui, mais uniquement pour les grands formats.     watch the video   Hand print screen printing  screen print  even in this printing method the drawing is broken down into the colors that compose it into many sheets of transparent acetate called "transparencies". the printing frame is then created: the tumbler, a fabric with a very dense weave, is stretched on a wooden or metal frame, on which a photosensitive gelatin is spread and a sheet of transparency is placed on top of the gelatin on which the hand of color reserves. the painting is then exposed to the light of a lamp, which causes the gelatin to react, hardening it only in the parts where it is not protected by the drawing. at this point the painting is washed and the unhardened gelatine dissolves in contact with water, leaving spaces through which the color passes. once the painting has been created, we move to the printing table, place the painting on a trolley that allows it to slide with regular movements, pour the color inside the painting and spread the color with the help of a squeegee. which passes through the tumbler and the print remains imprinted on the fabric. as in pad printing, the image is created by superimposing several paintings.     watch the video   Screen printing finishing        finishing   the finishing operations are used to give homogeneity to the semi-finished product before selling it and constitute the final stages of the production process. the palmer is a machine used to iron the fabric by sliding it through a system of rollers. the cylinders are filled with hot water and depending on the flow speed and pressure, different effects can be given to the fabric. pleating and marbling (moirè) are processes that can be performed to give particular optical and volume effects to silks.     watch the video   Finishing
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