Silk or Not - how do you determine?

[Levallois]

I've got several ties that are unmarked as to the material of which they are made. I've compared them to my two silk ties and they aren't as smooth but they are close. So how does one determine if something is silk if it isn't marked? Thanks for the help.

John

 

[LaMedicine]

Silk is protein. So is your hair. So, when they are burned, they essentially smell the same. If you can get a thread from the fabric loose, burn that and check how it smells. Synthetic fibers have chemical smells.

 

[Tomasso]

LaMed is spot on, as usual.

But I will add that specialized microscopes are often used to analyze museum quality textiles.
A nugget I picked up as a patron of The Field Museum

 

[LaMedicine]

But I will add that specialized microscopes are often used to analyze museum quality textiles.
A nugget I picked up as a patron of The Field Museum

In which case, if silk, then the the cross section of the fillaments are triangular, with two triangular fibers encased within. The outer fiber is sericin which acts as a kind of glue to keep two (inner) fibroin fibers together. This state is generally referred to as raw silk. Silk fabrics as we know, are generally woven from silk threads treated so the sericin is washed away. With both types of threads, the cross section is triangular, and it is this triangular shape that gives silk its particular delicate sheen.
Cross sections of synthetic fibers are usually circular unless arranged during production to form a different shape, cotton irregular, and wool also circular/oval (think hair). These shapes and the length of individual fibers make a difference in how the threads and fabrics reflect light, resulting with the colors differing in texture even when the same dyes are used.

 

[Corky]

Look for diagonal GOLD BARS or STRIPES on the buckram

The way that company tie buyers at major US department stores tell the quality of a silk tie is by counting the number of diagonal GOLD BARS or STRIPES on the buckram inside the tie.

This is how a tie salesman at someplace like Brooks Brothers can tell whether a silk tie belongs on the regular priced rack or the rack with the more expensive ties. Or how a tie buyer for a store can determine if he is getting the quality of tie that he has paid for.

First of all, get a good quality tie from a reputable manufacturer, let's say a Brooks Brothers silk tie for an example.

Put the tie on a table in front of you, face down. There is a small knot holding the silk fabric together at the bottom of the widest part of the tie. That knot is there so that one can undo the knot, inspect the diagonal GOLD BARS or STRIPES and put it back. But we are not going to undo the knot at this point, but the knot exists so that the tie stitching can be undone and redone with no damage.

Now take the inside of the tie at the bottom by the knot and turn it inside out for a little bit, just enough to get a look at the white stiffener material (called BUCKRAM) inside the tie.

If it is a silk tie, it will have a series of diagonal GOLD BARS or STRIPES on the buckram. The number of diagonal GOLD BARS or STRIPES will vary from one to four depending on the quality of the silk. One bar is silk, but of the lowest quality, and four indicates silk of the highest quality.

Sadly, one can find expensive silk ties on the shelves of major department stores of cities across the USA which do not carry gold bars on the buckram.

I don't know what to make of this development, but to observe that standards of quality and manufacture are diminishing daily.

Best of luck.

 

[MsStabby]

Thank you for this explanation Corky. One can't very well set fire to the tie section in the local thrift shop!

 

[BellyTank]

Even the cheapest, nastiest silk tie, will usually be marked as silk.
The only selling point such a tie has.


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