Effect of hardness of water on degumming of silk

Degumming of silk was carried out in hard water and distilled water using different concentrations of an industrial grade detergent based on alpha olefin sulphonate. The optimum quantity of detergent was calculated and same was used for carrying out degumming with water having different levels of hardness. Degumming action has been found to be better in soft water. Correlation coefficient between degumming loss and hardness using this particular detergent has been found to be -0.989. Degummed samples were tested for degumming loss, tenacity and elongation. It has been found that the optimum degumming loss is obtained with 1 gpl detergent in soft water. The tenacity increases with the decrease in hardness of water, whereas no clear trend is observed in case of elongation.