Simple Tests to Help You Buy Thai Silk That's Genuine
Want to make sure you only buy Thai silk that is genuine?. Check out the easy tests to ensure your Thai silk fabric is not an imitation.
As pure or genuine Thai silk is so unique and has so many applications, like many other unique products, it has also attracted its share of imitation fabrics.
So anyone looking to buy Thai silk fabric should be aware that there are also imitation polyester silk fabrics available in the marketplace. One solution is to buy Thai silk online from a reputable source like Thai Silk Magic.
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The following are well known ways to check if the Thai silk fabric you are considering is genuine:
1. The Price
Pure Thai silk fabric is relatively expensive. It can cost up to 10 times more than imitation fabrics.
For pure Thai silk fabric you should expect a price of somewhere between US$15 (approx. 525 Thai baht) per yard and US$70 (approx. 2500 Thai baht) per yard.
For the imitation silk product the price will usually range from US$5 (approx. 175 Thai baht) per yard and US$10 (approx. 350 Thai baht) per yard.
2. The Weave
Being hand woven, each piece of pure Thai silk fabric is unique and cannot be duplicated with mechanical means.
The natural fiber of pure Thai silk weave will therefore have some small flaws or thread joins along the warp and weft. Please do not be at all concerned about these small flaws that you will see as they are an important part of its charm, beauty and romance.
However, an imitation machine made fabric will have a perfect surface with no such flaws or knots showing.
3. The Luster
The pure Thai silk fabric has a unique luster, with a sheen that has two unique blends. The pure Thai silk fabric
will have one color for the warp and another color for the weft which makes it unique in terms of color tones.
So if you hold a piece of pure Thai silk fabric up to the light, the overall color tone will change depending on the angle you hold it to the light. This feature of pure Thai silk fabric is quite amazing and an important part of its worldwide fame.
When you hold the imitation silk fabric up to the light it shines white, irrespective of the angle with which you hold it.
4. The Print
It's really easy to see if a fabric is genuine by looking carefully at the print. The pure Thai silk fabric piece will have the printed pattern on one side with only an outline of the print on the reverse side.
With an imitation silk fabric, the pattern print and colors can be seen on one side but there is only a plain color on the reverse side.
5. The Wedding Ring Test
Try pulling a yard or two of Thai silk fabric through a wedding ring. If it is pure silk fabric it will ease through and will show you just how smooth and flexible it is as a fabric.
However, the same cannot be said for the imitation fabric as it will crunch up and be very difficult or even impossible to pull through the ring.
6. The Burn Test
Now I do not want you to start burning every piece of silk fabric you see, just a few threads is enough. Light the pure Thai silk fabric threads and you will see that the burnt ash will be black, porous or powdery. It also smells like burning hair. As soon as the flame is taken away the threads will stop burning.
If you burn imitation silk it drips, burns with a black smoke color and leaves ash in the form of a hard ball. It will also smell like burning plastic and will continue to burn after you take the flame away.
Make sure you keep a copy handy of these tips for when you go shopping to buy Thai silk fabric. Please enjoy your silk and your friends and family will be so impressed with your choice of pure Thai silk fabric.
