Laos Silk

All about Laos silk!

Not many people know that Laos has been producing silk for many centuries. Their production is not big scale, but just enough for their family members to have nice silk clothing to wear during important events like; That Luang festival, Boun Pimai and many other different kinds of Buddhist celebrations.

Lao Silk

Laos Silk

When I was a child, I remember seeing my mother picking the mulberry leaves to feed the silk worms. The worms looked scary to me but as soon as she covered all of them with the mulberry leaves, a piece of cloth on the trays and stacked them away I felt better and safe. A few months later, as the worms grew older they turned into yellow color.

Silkworms

Silkworms

At this stage my mom knew it was time to provide them with a place where they could build their cocoons. Just over a few days or so the cocoons were ready to unwind.

Cocoons

Cocoons

My mother told me she had to boil the cocoons and dip them into hot water to loosen the tightly woven filaments and then unwound them onto a spool. She then twisted these six or seven filaments together to make a thread and later on she worked on making a silk cloth.

Making Silk Cloth

Making Silk Cloth

Here are some facts about silkworms

Silkworms prefer a cool, dry, quiet place with plenty of fresh air and make sure you keep them away from direct sunlight and droughts. Silkworms will not try to escape provided they have plenty of fresh mulberry leaves but make sure you cover them properly to guard against predators such as ants and mice.

The cocoons

The thread from a single cocoon can measure 300 meters and only takes the silkworm a few days to spin. To produce an unbroken silk thread the pupa must be killed by boiling before it breaks through the cocoon. When the pupa breaks through the cocoon; it will become a silk-moth.

The silk-moths

Silk-worms Moths Mating

Silk Worms Moths Mating

The silk-moths cannot fly because their bodies are too heavy in relation to their wings. Males silk-moths die soon after mating while one single female silk-moth lays from 300 to 500 tiny eggs before she dies. The eggs hatch into the silkworms in spring time and the complete cycle takes approximately about two months.

For sure I has learned a lot from my mom but at that time, I did not know how these silkworms will have the economic benefit to many ordinary life of Lao people in the countryside. Today many organizations and weaving factories have been established and Laos silk are now very hot products and can sell well internationally. Here are some of products from Lao silk.

Finish Products

Silk Products

Silk Skirts

Silk Skirts

Below is a video clip Matt Lauer (America TV Presenter) interviewed Jo Smith about Lao silk when he was in Vientiane.

In 1976 when Kommaly Chanthavong, (today the director of three companies) Phontong Cooperative, CAMAcrafts and Lao Sericulture turned her interest into Laos silk production since then she has changed the lives of many ordinary Lao women. You can read more about her here...

Thought For The Day:"Turn Your Hobby into Revenue"

My hobby is to travel. I have visited many places in the world and I finally fell in love with Laos. Therefore, I created this web site using Site Build It! to let the world know about this country and earn extra income from it. You do not need any experience or web site programming to build a web site with Site Build It!
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