Chinese Farmer Wins Patents for Silk Production Techniques
A Chinese farmer in east China's Jiangsu Province has won three national patents for techniques to produce no-wrinkle, washable silk.
Using the new techniques, pure silk thread can be made that, unlike untreated silk, can be washed, won't wrinkle, and holds its shape, according to Yu Xianggen, the inventor.
Yu, a 59-year-old farmer in Qingyun township in Wujiang city, has spent six years analyzing the properties of pure silk thread, and eventually developed the treatments for pure silk fabric. Local spinning mills used his inventions to produce high-value added natural fabric, and their products have been exported to Japan in bulk.
The wash-and-wear problems accompanying pure silk fabric have long plagued the world's textile sector.