We receive questions often about our silk ribbon and silk
ribbon in general. Here we have compiled many of these most
common questions for you. Hope they help!
Yes, our hand dyed silk
ribbon is washable, but gentle hand washing with a mild
soap is recommended. There will be some initial bleeding
with very dark colors. We recommend that you pre rinse
dark colors in vinegar before applying them to light
colored clothing or other washables.
No, it is easy and fun
to dye your own silk ribbon! Silk accepts dye more readily
and beautifully than any other natural fibre. It is
not allot different than dying easter eggs. Helpful
items include a microwave or stove to heat the water,
small glass bowls to hold they dye (bowls should be
reserved for dye use only), vinegar and paper towels
and your dyes. Most of these are already in our homes.
There are lots of great silk dyes on the market
at different price ranges, so it is really a matter
of personal taste and what type of results you are
looking for. My personal favorite is Jacquard Acid
dyes. Acid dyes produce the most vibrant colors
with silk. Jacquard does not sell directly to the
public, but they have a store locater on their website
to help you find where to get their products: http://www.jacquardproducts.com/
Rit dye (found at most Drug, Discount and Craft
stores) also works nicely. Another great silk dye
for small quantity dying is Colorhue, sold by Things
Japanese. Colorhue is nice and convenient because
there is not heat required, they are a type of fiber
reactive dye that sets instantly.
Dyes can get expensive, so for an inexpensive method
that works great, try good old Kool Aid. It is also
an acid dye and believe it or not works great, especially
for small quantity dying. Below are a couple of
links for great sites with instructions on how to
dye using Kool Aid:
There are several reasons for this. Chinese silk is
generally not as good a quality as Japanese silk. Not
because of inferiority in silk worms, but rather because
of the methods of handling, inconsistency, and because
standards have not been insisted upon by the Chinese government.
By contrast, Japanese silk production has increased in
quality and reputation over the years. The government
has carefully promoted the industry, insisting on honesty,
consistency and on scientific care in handling the fibre.
That is not to say that chinese silk is not a good product,
some of the finest silk in the world comes from China,
but Japanese silk ribbon is generally a better product.
A second reason for the huge difference in price is the
comparison of the value of the japanese yen to the US
dollar. The third and final is the fact that there is
only one major silk mills in Japan that produces the this
silk ribbon your are familiar with packaged and sold under
the brand names YLI and United Ribbons. One company has
exclusive import/export rights to the product in North
America, which in turn eliminates the possibility of any
other companies importing the ribbon, thus eliminating
room for price negotiation. It is also important to note
that some sellers, particularly on auction sites sell
Chinese ribbon and ribbon products marketed as being Japanese
ribbon. If you are purchasing silk ribbon that is marketed
as Japanese ribbon, but the price is considerably lower
than what you expect, this is a red flag that it probably
is not.
This is really a matter of personal preference. Japanese
silk ribbon has some very loyal users who will use nothing
else, and by contrast Chinese silk ribbon has it's own
loyal users who feel it is much more affordable and suits
their needs and budget perfectly well. Our personal opinion
is that Chinese ribbon is very well suited for our projects
and a good product and value for the price. We do not
see allot of difference ourselves between the appearance
and workability between two until you start working with
the wider ribbons, 13mm and 32mm especially, and to a
smaller degree 7mm. The two wider sizes, 13mm and 32mm
in the Chinese ribbon also seem to have some type of softener
added that makes dying slightly more difficult thank the
Japanese. In conclusion, whether or not you should spend
the extra cost on Japanese ribbon for your project is
a matter of personal choice and if you are not sure, try
purchasing a small amount (say one yard) of each from
our natural white silk ribbon page, and make your decision
based on comparing the two in hand.
Yes,
rest assured that if we advertise a product as silk,
it really is silk. Occasionally we carry products that
are silk blends and we always specify that content.
We have been importing silk from china for 12 years
now and many of the silk products we carry are
made by the same companies that make our silk ribbon.
Silk has become a loosely used term over the years and
products are sometimes referred to as being silk when
they actually are polyester or some other fibre. This
is not to say that dishonesty is necessarily involved,
but in many cases is simply unintentional Ignorance
This is especially prevalent on auction sites, so once
again ask questions to be sure you are getting what
you are paying for.
