Ahimsa Silk, also known as peace silk, cruelty-free silk and non-violent silk, refers to any type of silk that is produced without harming or killing the silk worms. (It is also, erroneously, called vegan silk.
Unlike traditional silk production, which involves boiling silkworms alive within their cocoons to obtain the silk fibers, Peace Silk is made by allowing the silkworms to complete their metamorphosis into moths before harvesting their cocoons. Ahimsa is a Sanskrit term that means 'non-violence' or 'non-harming'.
What is cruelty-free silk and how is it produced? Peace silk, also known as Ahimsa silk is a process that allows the silkworm to emerge from their cocoon free and happy and complete their natural life cycle. The empty cocoons are then used to produce silk. Peace silk worms feed off of castor leaves.
You might not realise, but silk can be made from many varieties of silkworm - and sometimes no worms at all (as you'll discover in a minute)! Whatever the source, these moths and worms produce a protein “fibroin” that is the main element in silk.
Silk is derived from the cocoons of larvae, so most of the insects raised by the industry don't live past the pupal stage. Roughly 3,000 silkworms are killed to make a single pound of silk. That means that billions, if not trillions, of them are killed for this every year.
For silk garments, for one meter of fabric, 3000 to 15,000 silkworms are boiled alive. The silk production process starts with the female silkmoth laying eggs and being crushed and ground to pieces immediately after producing eggs to check for diseases.
Silkworms are vulnerable to touch, and that's when adults must supervise. Kids are always enthusiastic about taking care of silkworms, but they may accidentally bruise them, leading to their death. If you need to pick the silkworm, do it very gently. Try not to use your hands.
3. Is silk cruel to animals? Silk production is very cruel to animals as it destroys hundreds of thousands of sensitive silkworms every year to harvest silk from their cocoons. They are killed in boiling water during their pupal stage to preserve material quality, thread length, and value.
So is silk ethical? Silk is not an ethical fabric to wear. Not only it requires thousands of animals to die but silk is also produced by workers who are often paid below a living wage - and child labour exploitation is also involved.
The typical production process of mulberry silk is not cruelty-free. That's because the silkworms are boiled alive in their cocoons in order to prepare the cocoon's long silk thread for spooling. Most silk companies kill the worms.
There's one question we get a lot: “Is silk vegan?” and unfortunately, the answer is no. Because silk is made out of silkworms, even if it's with the fibron produced naturally by the insect in cruelty-free silk, it's still not considered vegan.
While it is legitimately a natural material, it's not animal-friendly at all as the process of silk production involves boiling the cocoons to kill the silkworms inside. When you think that it takes around 1700 to 2000 cocoons to make one silk dress, that's a lot of poor silkworms that have to suffer unnecessarily.
Cotton Sateen: the best alternative to silk.
The sateen fabric is made using mercerized cotton fibres that are woven in a satin weave. It can have organic and Fairtrade label as any cotton fabric and it can be easily dyed and printed. Soft and moderately shiny, it is used for cushion covers, curtains and bed sheets.
Ahimsa silk is more expensive than conventional silk, because of the additional cost of time and effort to get a product. often produced by hand and does not have the same uniformity like Mulberry silk, because oft he destroyed threats.
What happens to silkworms after silk is extracted? Peace silk is silk that has been farmed ethically. This means the silkworms will be permitted to mature into full-fledged Bombyx mori moths. They naturally emerge from their cocoons and die a natural death.
Tencel Vegan Silk
They are both plant-based fibres derived from wood pulp cellulose from certified sustainable forests. To minimise waste, they're also made using closed-loop technology, meaning that resources such as water and chemicals are re-used.
Is Silk Vegan? Silk fibers are produced by silkworms, which are actually not worms but caterpillars, for their cocoons. These cocoons—along with the metamorphosing caterpillar inside—are boiled and processed into silk threads and fabrics. Since it comes from caterpillars, silk is clearly not vegan.
Silk is a fabric that's made from fibre spun by worms. These so-called 'silkworms' are moths, but they aren't given the chance to metamorphose when used in the silk industry. They are instead raised on farms, and often boiled alive and killed on an unimaginable scale as part of the silk-making process.
Satin: the more humane alternative
Luckily there are lots of ethical options to silk to choose from. These include nylon, silk-cotton tree and ceiba tree filaments, polyester, and rayon. Satin is our choice as it's completely sustainable to produce, easy to source and not that expensive.
Is the mulberry silk vegan? No. The silkworms are farmed to produce the cocoons for the silk yarn, wild mulberry silk is not available as the silk worms are domesticated.
Always wash your hands thoroughly after you handle your organism. Silkworms do not bite, sting, or do anything harmful if held.
According to PETA, 3,000 silk worms are killed to produce one pound of silk; 10,000 silk worms are killed to produce one silk sari.
Australia has stocks of silkworm and mulberry varieties that are well adapted to our climatic range. These stocks need to be assessed for their suitability for producing the type of silk required by world markets.
Yes, it is now accepted that worms feel pain – and that includes when they are cut in half. They do not anticipate pain or feel pain as an emotional response, however. They simply move in response to pain as a reflex response.
Boiling makes the silk strands longer. Boiling breaks the long threads into more manageable lengths. Pupa dies by boiling and silk fibre becomes loose. Boiling helps incubate the cocoon.