National Baptist world., 1894-10-26
ABOUT BLACK SILK.
How to Distinguish Good Article fror
Inferior Grades.

Inferior Grades.
There are really very few women
who can distinguish between a good,
blac,fsilk and an inferior one, and a
few hints given by an expert and re-
ported in the Delineator will doubtless
be acceptable to many shoppers:
In the first place never be beguiled
into buying cheap silk. Very often a
pre- ext of its cheapness suggests a
genuine bargain, but the wise woman,
unless she knows of good reason for the
reduction, Will choose some other ma
terial if she cannot afford to purchase
silk at an adequate price. Costliness
IS Of course no guarantee of real value,
SO the shopper is advised to purchase
an eighth of yard of an admired
fabric and test it at leisure when she
reaches home. This may seem like
waste to the Over-economical mind. but
1t will prove a good investment if it
prevents bad bargain in the end.
In testing piece of silk first try to
teal it both lengthwise and crosswise.
1t it gives way readily in either direc-
ton you may be sure either that the
U.p 4 AAebo 1NoUA CJC GU LllS ADCIS VI UlldG CI16
thread is made up of what is known as
waste silk" Pure silk properly dyed
Is the strongest textile known, but
nearly all the cheaper dyes, and par
ticularly the dark colors and black, are
made with such basis that they eat
into and weaken the fabric
The frmness of the weave may be
proved by scraping diagonally across
the silk with the thumb nail. If the
material is strong and pure, any
amount Of manipulation will not make
the threads slip, and if the nail makes
space as wide as it's own thickness be-
tween the threads the silk is certainly
OF inferior quality. The next test is ap-
piled by raveling bit of the silk and
carefully examining both warp and
wOOf. Often pure silk warp has a
heavily loaded woof, and in other
cases. especially in satin weaves, the
woof has an inferior backing, the sur
face being Of good silk. Pure silk has
good luster and is very soft, but if
the gloss is artificial the fabric will be
hard and brittle. When a pure silk has
been dyed improperly it looks very
much like cotton, but it is somewhat
softer.
Another excellent test consists in
pulling out the threads both ways and
trying their strength. Catch them with
both hands an inch apart, give quick
jerk and note the force needed to break
them. If they part easily the silk is
not good. Tear the silk along the
lines from which the threads have been
taken, and if there are Fuckers along
the tear they may be regarded as indi-
eating strong texture A method Of
testing that is considered conclusive is
to burn a fragment of the silk and also
some of the ravelings IF the silk is
pure and well dyed it will take fire
slowly, even when held directly in the
flame, and the fire will go out almost
as soon as the silk is withdrawn, leav-
ing ashes that are nearly jet black.
Weighted and improperly dyed silk is
highly infammable. It quickly takes
fire, and the fire is difficult to extin-
guish, snoldering after the silk is re-
moved from the flame and leaving
ashes that keep the shape Of the cloth
and are of a light yellowish red tint.
Cotton in the fabric can be readily de-
tected by the odor Of the smoke Ev-
cry woman should remember that the
requisite qualities of good silk are
strength, smoothness, luster, richness
and lightneSs, no matter how thick the
material.