Recognizing quality
Our products are making a name for themselves as some of the finest silk products being produced in Cambodia. The original designs and non-mechanical production of fabric has won them the UNESCO Seal of Excellence award for two years running.
Being completely handmade, each piece of silk Each piece of silk is a timeless, unique work of art. Each piece eternally reflects an imprint of the emotions, thoughts and spirit of of the weaver at the time. Its is silk with soul.
We monitor the quality of our silk by considering three factors: the purity, momme weight, the weave.
100% pure silk
Our products are 100% pure silk, seen in the "imperfections" of the thread. The filament is a natural fiber with clearly visible small "flaws" and joins in the thread (as opposed to the perfect surface of pployester fabrics). I am sure you will agree that these "imprefections" add to the beauty of raw silk.
The "burn test" is a simple test to test the purity of silk. If you burn a thread of pure silk it immediately turns into a fragile, black ash smells like burning hair. When you take the flame away it stops burning. If you burn nylon or imitation silk, it drips, burns with a black smoke, and continues to burn after the flame is removed.
Know your momme
Because silk is such a fine fabric it is not possible to know the "thread count" so the quality is measured by “momme" weight.
Momme (pronounced “mommy”) is a unit of weight that originated in Japan. It is used to measure the density of the fabric. Mommes express the weight in pounds of a piece of material of size 45 inches by 100 yards. The higher the momme, the heavier and stronger the fabric. Anything above 28 momme is considered heavy-weight and generally used for curtains or heavier outer-garments. Silk under 20 momme is considered lightweight, and generally used for light blouses with a chiffon feel. Medium-weight silk (20 to 28 momme) is excellent for silk scarves, furnishings, wedding dresses and the ultimate luxury of silk sheets.
The weave
Our silk is completely hand spun and woven. There are no mechanical devises employed, allowing the women full control over the weave. Weaving is also controlled by the use of heddles.
A heddle is a device used in hand-operated looms that deflects the warp threads to either side of the main sheet of fabric for the passage of the weft. The heddle is considered to be the most important single advance in the evolution of looms in general, and are normally suspended above the loom. The weaver operates them by pedals and works while seated.
Using more than one heddle results in a much finer weave. Our products are woven using three or four heddles. We recommend a three-heddle weave for clothing and four-heddle weaves for bedding and furnishings.