Silk mill

Traditionally, silk mills were concentrated in Japan, England, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Italy and Switzerland.

Silk fibres from the Bombyx mori silkworm have a triangular cross section with rounded corners, 5–10 μm wide.

The cocoons were harvested and placed in troughs of hot water to dissolve the gum and allowed the single thread to be wound into a skein.

John Lombe had visited the successful silk throwing mill in Piedmont in 1716, an early example of industrial espionage.

[2] He designed the mill, and with his half-brother Thomas Lombe (born 1685) instructed George Sorocold to build it and fit it with the new machines.

The King of Sardinia reacted badly to the commercial challenge, placing an embargo on the export of raw silk.

Together with the single source of power (water), and the large size and organisation of the workforce for the period (200-400, according to contemporary sources), the total process of production from raw silk to fine quality thread has led the Lombes' silk mill to be described as the first successful use of the factory system in Britain.

[5] The history of industrial silk in the United States is largely tied to several smaller urban centres in the Northeast region.

[6] With the mulberry tree craze of that decade, other smaller producers began raising silkworms: this economy gained traction around Northampton, Massachusetts and Williamsburg, where a number of small firms and cooperatives emerged.