Silk Bedding Direct

Instead of using Tussah silk, Silk Bedding Direct produce silk duvets with a superior and hypoallergenic mulberry silk interior. All silk-filled duvets are produced by ourselves, no middlemen and total quality assurance. Click one of the buttons below to find out more....

TUSSAH SILK DUVETS

There are two types of silk fibre from which silk duvets are made, mulberry silk and tussah silk (also known as tussar, tashar and tassar silk). These two types of silk are produced from two different types of silkworm, which eat different food and come from different environments. Mulberry silk is commercially produced from the one species of moth, Bombyx Mori, whilst tussah silk comes from a variety of moths of the Saturniidae family. Mulberry silk, as its name suggests is produced from silkworms fed entirely on mulberry leaves to ensure the fibre is pure. They are tended continually throughout their growth to maturity and the silk they produce is generally hand extracted to make it the finest and the best in the world.

Tussah silk, on the other hand, is also known as wild silk and is obtained from wild silk moths living naturally in tropical or sub-tropical forests. These moths feed on a mixed diet, depending on what they can find. Producers collect the cocoons from the wild after the silk moth has flown and the cocoon is cut open, thus making the threads much shorter and less springy than those produced by Bombyx mori, whose filaments are generally unwound in one continual thread. Tussah silk thread is courser and darker in colour than Mulberry silk. It has a natural sheen and is sometimes textured, making it ideal for fabrics for curtains or clothes.

Today, tussah silk is also produced commercially in both Japan and China. The silkworms are fed on a diet including oak and privet, which contain tannin and it is tannin which gives Tussah silk a darker colour.

Tussah silk is also made into silk duvets (sometimes called silk quilts or silk comforters) but does not give the same luxurious feel as a mulberry silk-filled duvet. As it is machine extracted, less air is trapped in the fibres so it is does not have the same thermal properties. Nor is it so soft so it does not drape around the body. Also, as it has to be treated with chemicals to remove any impurities, it does not have the same anti-allergy benefits either.

So when you are looking to buy a silk duvet, make sure you spend your money wisely and buy a mulberry silk duvet. You will almost certainly spend more but you will have a lifetime of warmth and comfort. There is a good reason why the ancient rulers of China kept the secret of mulberry silk to themselves for many centuries!

SBD does not sell tussah duvets - to find out about far superior duvets with a 100% natural mulberry silk interior click below.....