What's so great about raw silk liners?

There is a lot of hype about raw silk liners in the world of modern cloth nappies at the moment. They are being advertised as a natural product to promote healing of nappy rash, and to soothe sensitive skin, due to the sericin protein left by the silkworms. Sure, silk may have healing and antibacterial properties, but as a vegan, I am strongly opposed using products from animals, especially silk. Let me explain.

Many of you may have had silkworms as children, or perhaps your own children have brought some home from school, and you will have seen their life cycle. When the silkmoths are ready to emerge from their cocoons, they release an alkali so they can break through the silk, which then spoils the silk threads. To make silk which can be used to create fabric, the cocoons (with the live silkmoths/worms inside) are plunged into boiling water, killing the insects just so we can have a tiny bit of silk. Around 1000 silk cocoons are needed to make 1 silk shirt - that's 1000 tiny lives that have been sacrificed. Only each female silkmoth who has successfully breeded can lay approximately 500 eggs, so only a few survivors are needed to continue the silk production.

If that has made you feel something, just wait because there is more. There are breeds of silkworms which have been bred to make thicker silk cocoons to boost silk production, but because of the thickness of the cocoon it makes it difficult for the silkmoths to emerge. I had the misfortune to witness this not so long ago - I had some silkworms (I think I had about 8) and only 1 silkmoth emerged from the cocoons, and that was with my help - I had to help him out by carefully cutting open the cocoon. I had heard another silkmoth fluttering in it's cocoon, but I didn't want to hurt it by trying to cut it out, so I thought it would make it out by itself. Unfortunately, the fluttering stopped in a few days. I then researched into why this would happen, and discovered what I have already told you above. If only I had known what I know now so I could have helped the helpless silkmoths! It makes me feel sick that animals are breeded purely for human's selfishness.

What is your opinion on using silk?