Silk degradation prevention

The objective of this work is to screen stabilizers for their effectiveness in slowing or preventing the degradation of silk fabric. The treated fabrics were then subjected to accelerated aging... 

Artificial Aging by Heat. The procedure developed earlier (11) was followed. Fabric pieces (15 X 15 cm) were placed on racks covered with a Fiberglas screen (7- X 3-cm mesh) in a forced convection oven preheated to 150 °C. The screen was used to prevent any enhanced degradation that might be caused by direct contact with the metal rack. The control silk fabric was heated for up to 4 days in 6-h increments, and then immediately placed in a desiccator that contained silica gel to keep the silk dry while cooling. 

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