Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the change of the physical properties, bending and luster properties, which are related to the touch and appearance of silk fabrics modified by the degumming process. The silk has long been known as one of the most elegant and soft textile materials. The raw silk yarn, or cocoon bave, spun from the spinneret, is rather stiff due to the sericin covering the two fibroins together. The sericin can be removed during a degumming process. The removal of the sericin would result in remarkable change in the physical properties of the raw silk fabrics, including luster of the fabrics, which process parameters could possibly be utilized to adequately control the silk fabric properties. The KES(Kawabata Evaluation System) is a testing methodology that has been used with considerable success for predicting the hand and tailorability of apparel fabrics. This study uses one of the KES, bending tester, to measure the bending properties of the silk fabrics degummed for specified period to change the physical/mechanical properties of the fabric. The KES bending measurement revealed that the bending rigidity decreased for both the warp and weft direction of the silk fabrics with the increase of the degumming period. It has been shown in this study that the some of the hand-related physical properties, including the bending rigidity, drapability, and luster, could be modified with the change in the degumming period.