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Purpose This paper aims to determine the best conventional degumming technique for use by rural farmers practicing Eri silk fiber production in Kenya. Design/methodology/approach Three conventional silk degumming methods (water, soap and alkali) were analyzed under the factors, namely, time, pressure and degumming media, following the multilevel factorial design of experiments. The effect of variables on degumming weight loss was determined. The effects of the conventional degumming methods that produced complete sericin removal on chemical structure, surface morphology, thermal properties, crystallinity and fiber strength on Eri silk fibers produced in Kenya were then determined. The optimal degumming condition was then evaluated. Findings Soap and water degumming led to incomplete sericin removal. Alkali degumming media had the most effect, especially when pressure cooked at 103 kPa. Increasing time during alkali degumming beyond 30 min did not to have any major difference on degumming loss (at p 0.05). There were no major changes in chemical and thermal properties after degumming. However, the tensile strength and elongation deteriorated especially on alkali medium. Decreasing degumming time in alkali medium from 120 min to 30 min reduced the strength loss from 45% to 33%. Optimal degumming was found to be in an alkali media at 103 kPa for 30 min. Originality/value There is very little information available on Eri silk fibers produced in Kenya. Results of this study provide an optimized conventional degumming procedure suitable for small scale farmers in rural areas practicing Eri silk fiber production.

The durabilities of textile materials, which during their usages come into direct contact with soil, have traditionally been measured using the soil burial test (BS 6085: 1992). Using the aforementioned standard, coated textile materials are normally buried under standard soil conditions for 28 days, while non-coated textiles for 14 days and the deterioration assessed. The duration of this test is too long and it discourages many business people and manufacturers, to whom urgency is the key and therefore opt to skip this test. This study investigated the eff ects of diff erent soil treatments on the strengths of canvas materials during the soil burial test. By adding cow manure, chicken manure and potato peelings with the controlled addition of water, the changes were investigated in the strengths of the canvas materials buried in the soils. The results obtained during this research work indicated that the addition of water (in a controlled manner) can lead to a change of 10% to 90% in the strengths of the buried canvas materials, according to the diff erent types of manure. When considering the diff erent types of manures (with water additions) there were strength losses of 70%, 80% and 90% for non-cultivated soil, soil with cow dung, and soil with chicken manure respectively. Similar trends were also recorded for strength losses in the weft direction. A strength reduction factor which considered the reductions in strengths of the canvas materials exposed the diff erent treated soils compared to the non-treated soil (without water), indicating that chicken manure (with the addition of water) can produce a strength reduction factor of 8.32, whilst the non-cultivated soils (with the addition of water) gave a strength reduction factor of 6. Keywords: Soil burial test, canvas, microbial deterioration, soil cultivation IzvlečekTrajnost tekstilnih materialov, ki med svojo uporabo pridejo v direktni stik z zemljo, se tradicionalno meri s pomoč'jo preskusa z zakopavanjem v zemljo (BS 6085: 1992

Global trends are shifting towards environmental friendly materials and manufacturing methods. Therefore, natural fiber applications are gaining traction globally. Silk, a natural protein fiber is one of the textile fibers that have recently received more attention due to the new frontiers brought about by technological advancement that has expanded the use of silk fiber beyond the conventional textile industry. The simple and versatile nature of silk fibroin process-ability has made silk appealing in wide range of applications. Silk is biocompatible, biodegradable, easy to functionalize and has excellent mechanical properties, in addition to optical transparency. This review chapter explores the use of silk in biomedical applications and healthcare textiles. Future trends in silk applications are also highlighted.