Red Eri – Is It Really Red?
Most Eri Silk is a creamy-white colour. However, Philosamia ricini silkworms, raised in the Goalpara District of Assam, India produce red-gold cocoons.
This red colour is the sericin, the slightly gluey substance that holds the cocoon together. And this colour is fugitive, which means that when it’s subject to the rigours of scouring (i.e. hot water, de-gumming methods), the colour disappears. This is why the cocoons are red, but the resulting fibres, yarns, and mawata are not. They are a soft ivory-white colour.
So, you may ask why we have fibre and yarns that are in this glorious deep orange-red colour. For many years we have been told by the mill that supplies this product that they were using a special process that left the colour intact during scouring. We have since been informed that this is not the case, and that the fibre and yarns have been dyed to match and coordinate with the beautiful red cocoons.
Although we’re disappointed to learn about this, and that information we’ve been disseminating in the past has turned out to be untrue, we’re commited to correcting this misinformation as soon as we’ve learned about it. Please be more correctly informed now of the following:
- Sanjo Silk’s Red Eri Cocoons are in their natural colour
- Our Red Eri yarns and fibres, that are in the deep Red-Orange colour have been dyed
- Our Red Eri fibres that are a soft ivory-white colour are the true colour of scoured and prepared Red Eri.
We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion caused by this earlier misinformation. Sanjo Silk makes every effort to provide accurate, complete and in-depth information about the products we offer.