The secret of silk thread from silkworm eggs in Persian carpets made in Qom

Where do those lustrous threads come from? A magnificent story woven by tiny lives

Hello! You can't help but stare at silk Persian carpets. They sparkle and shine in the light, and change appearance as if they were alive. Their beautiful luster... When you touch them, they are cool and smooth, and feel so comfortable you'll be enchanted.

Where on earth does this beautiful thread come from?

Have you ever thought so? In fact, all of that brilliance starts from a very, very tiny "silkworm egg" that we don't usually see. It may be hard to believe that such a tiny grain is the source of such a magnificent work of art.

Today, let's take a peek at the secrets behind the birth of silk thread that supports the brilliance of "Qum" silk Persian carpets, which are hailed as the finest among silk Persian carpets, starting from the "silkworm eggs" that are its origin. We will guide you through a miraculous story spun by a tiny life.

The story of the little artist "silkworm" and the source of life "egg"

The main character is the silkworm. Yes, that tiny caterpillar. Silkworms are like partners that humans have carefully raised for thousands of years in order to obtain silk thread. Nowadays, they no longer exist in the wild, but live alongside humans.

Adult silkworms (a type of moth) do not fly or eat much, but during their short lives they lay around 300 to 500 tiny eggs, each about the size of a sesame seed, in order to pass on life to the next generation.

These tiny, fragile looking eggs are the "gems" that go into creating those gorgeous silk Persian carpets.

Silkworm farmers treat these eggs with great care. They store them carefully, as if they were jewels, always keeping the temperature (around 25°C) and humidity (around 70%) at optimal levels. This is because caring for these eggs is the first and most important step that greatly affects the quality of the silk that will come out later. If healthy, lively baby silkworms are not born, good cocoons cannot be made.

Munching on mulberry leaves and spinning miraculous thread

From the carefully cared for eggs, tiny larvae eventually hatch. Their job is to eat! They munch, munch, munch on their favorite mulberry leaves... They have a voracious appetite, and in just a month or so they grow rapidly. It's like watching magic.

Once fully grown, the silkworm finally begins the biggest task of its life: making a cocoon. It spits out super thin silk threads from its mouth and wraps itself around itself.

Here's an amazing fact. The length of silk thread that can be produced from one cocoon by a single silkworm can be as long as 1,000 to 1,500 meters ! Can you believe it? How can such a long, connected thread be produced from such a small body? It's truly a miracle created by nature, a great achievement by a small artist.

It is these cocoons that become the source of the beautiful threads that make up Persian silk carpets.

The magnificent carpet is born from a huge number of cocoons [Astonishing numbers!]

The thread spun by a single silkworm is indeed miraculously long and beautiful, but unfortunately, a single thread is too thin to weave a carpet, and there is not enough of it.

So how many cocoons are needed to make, say, one square meter of a silk Persian carpet like the ones we see?

The answer is... a whopping 400 to 600 cocoons are needed!

And the total length of the silk thread that can be extracted from the cocoon is... if you calculate it, it's about 40,000 to 60,000 meters! If you convert it to kilometers, it's 40 to 60 kilometers!

...It's a hard number to imagine, isn't it? To put it in perspective, that means that silk threads as long as the distance from Tokyo Station to the finish line of the Hakone Ekiden (Lake Ashi) are tightly packed into that one square meter carpet!

In particular, Qom carpets, known for their intricate designs, are made using extremely fine threads and woven tightly, so they require many more cocoons and threads. When you learn these astonishing figures, don't you begin to understand a little more about how luxurious and labor-intensive Qom carpets are, and why they have such a smooth, deep luster?

It all starts with the "best eggs" - the origin of Kumu quality

Why are Qom silk carpets acclaimed as the best by people all over the world? The reason is their breathtakingly intricate design and unrivaled deep, lustrous shine.

And to achieve this beauty, the most essential ingredient is the highest quality silk thread: thin, strong, uniform, and above all, with a beautiful luster.

So how do they produce the highest quality silk thread? You can probably guess by now. It all depends on the quality of the cocoons. And to make good cocoons, you have to raise healthy, vigorous silkworms. And to raise those vigorous silkworms...yes, thorough management is essential, right from the egg stage, where it all began.

It is true that "good carpets start with good eggs." The silkworm farmers who support the beauty of Qum select which eggs will produce healthy silkworms, incubate them in the best possible environment, feed them nutritious mulberry leaves, and raise them with the utmost care to prevent them from getting sick. It is only through this tireless effort and deep love, behind the scenes that we cannot see, that the finest cocoons and the finest silk threads are produced.

The brilliance of Qom silk carpets is not only the result of design and weaving techniques, but also the culmination of a long, long relay that begins with the egg, the "source of life."

Summary: A single carpet is filled with so much life and emotion

The enchanting beauty of silk Persian carpets. If you trace it back to its source, you will arrive at a tiny "silkworm egg"...it's a magnificent story, don't you think?

A single egg is carefully nurtured, the larvae feed on mulberry leaves and grow, spinning a cocoon of miraculously long threads. From that cocoon, shining silk threads are spun, and by the hands of artisans, they are slowly woven into carpets...

A single silk carpet is packed with the tiny lives of countless silkworms, the love of the silkworm farmers, and the skill and passion of the carpet maker.

The next time you see a silk Persian carpet, please remember that each and every one of its shining threads has such a background. You will surely find the carpet more precious and precious than ever before. It is not just a beautiful thing, but a living work of art , woven with many lives and people's feelings.

[Click here for advice on choosing a Persian carpet]

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