Trying spider silk

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cmzaha said:
LOL, you would try it!! A girl and her Spiders...:D There is not a spider web in the world worth me trying in soap. While I have used a lot of cornsilk and Mulberry Silk cocoons I honestly never found the soap quality to have any great difference in feel, nor did anyone of my blind testers. Silk I put in the same category as Milks. including GM, as label appeal.
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That's good to know. I will have to get more standardized in my soap batches so I can determine if there's a difference for me. I know my skin has always been annoyingly sensitive. I can't use commercial soaps, shampoos, toothpastes, deodorants, etc. without feeling a light burning or itching. I'm on the hunt for a soap with a special quality, whatever that takes.

But I am also on the hunt for any scientific/chemical information regarding how the addition of proteins impact soap. So far, I can't find anything definitive.
 
I did buy a package of Tussah silk but have yet to try it in my soap. I suppose if my legs would actually allow me to walk toward the webs I could collect bags and bags of orb weaver webs. My girls went on a bug hunt with hubby last month and they counted 47 webs/spiders across the property.
 
cmzaha said:
This was gaining in popularity for a while as use in cosmetics.
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Apparently, a lot of industries are very interested in the physical properties of spider silk for it's strength and resiliency. However, unlike the mulberry silk worm, spiders are not "farm-able". They are cannibalistic, so their silk cannot be efficiently harvested. Even with all the science and tech today, there's only one company in the world that claims to have synthesized some form of spider silk.

But on my humble personal level and just for curiosity, I just want to see if all the fuss about spider silk's superior proteins makes a superior enough soap.
 
OMG you guys are creeping me out! I just popped in before bed while waiting for laundry, and this was at the top of the recent posts list.

I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight LOL.

I get spiders on my back porch. My friend, who is also my exterminator for fire ants, said that they are harmless "good spiders". Ummmm, no. They make these pods all over the place hanging from the windows and ceiling that I need to keep knocking down. She knocks them down for me if I leave the porch door unlocked. Once I knocked down a string of them (they look like a string of small peas), and a bunch of baby spiders flew out all over the place.

When they get bigger they run FAST. And they are smart, like they anticipate your next move LOL.

A bunch of years ago there was one in my car dangling from my rear view mirror. I was driving home from work late at night on a long dark 30 mile road in the middle of the state. I pulled over a bunch of times and jumped out of the car (thank you to the multiple cops that drove right past me LOL). I finally found a bar, pulled over and ordered a drink. "Can anybody here get a spider out of my car?" LOL. Handed some stranger my keys, finished my drink, went potty "Thank you!!" and left LOL.

So no. No collecting spider webs for this girl.
 
Catscankim said:
OMG you guys are creeping me out! I just popped in before bed while waiting for laundry, and this was at the top of the recent posts list.

I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight LOL.

I get spiders on my back porch. My friend, who is also my exterminator for fire ants, said that they are harmless "good spiders". Ummmm, no. They make these pods all over the place hanging from the windows and ceiling that I need to keep knocking down. She knocks them down for me if I leave the porch door unlocked. Once I knocked down a string of them (they look like a string of small peas), and a bunch of baby spiders flew out all over the place.

When they get bigger they run FAST. And they are smart, like they anticipate your next move LOL.

A bunch of years ago there was one in my car dangling from my rear view mirror. I was driving home from work late at night on a long dark 30 mile road in the middle of the state. I pulled over a bunch of times and jumped out of the car (thank you to the multiple cops that drove right past me LOL). I finally found a bar, pulled over and ordered a drink. "Can anybody here get a spider out of my car?" LOL. Handed some stranger my keys, finished my drink, went potty "Thank you!!" and left LOL.

So no. No collecting spider webs for this girl.
Click to expand...
My sister feels about spiders the same as you. And for a long time, I wasn't much better. Frankly, most spiders, caterpillars, worms still creep me out. But soapmaking involves chemistry and I LOVE chemistry. When a friend of mine mentioned adding silk to soap, my curiosity went to epic levels. What was it about the 'silk' that bugs make? I was able to separate the bug from the silk, so spider webs because interesting.

Here's the funny part. Since my sister is so creeped out by spiders, she was thrilled when I told her I would visit her house and farm to collect spider webs. She walked with me to point them out. I was using a long plastic rod to collect them. At one point, she grabbed the rod and started collecting the webs! I just stood there, stunned. :)
 

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