Effects of soil moisture content in Guanzhong area on ageing of silk fabrics

In order to study how the Guanzhong soil moisture content affects the silk ageing process,mulberry silk samples were embedded in tomb soil and well water. Color difference meter,microscopy,FT-IR and universal testing machine were applied to test the changes in color,micro-morphology,molecular structure and tensile strength of the samples before and after ageing to evaluate the ageing state. Results suggest that silk samples degraded significantly at 20% soil moisture content while aged least at 10% soil moisture content. During the embedding,some pink microbispora rosea formed,whose exudates greatly influnenced the silk appearance. Therefore,the soil moisture content strongly affects the silk ageing.