Visit a silk weaving factory in Dalat

The silk weaving factory in Dalat is an interesting place to visit. This is the only silk factory in Dalat that maintains the old method of removing silk from the cocoons and it's a small family run factory.

You can inspect the entire process of silk production, from the sorting of locally grown cocoons, to boiling them and unravelling the thread, then dyeing the threads and weaving them into shimmering new fabric.

The cocoons are put in hot water, and the delicate thread of silk is wound onto a large machine that unravels the cocoon. Then the thread is wound onto a reel, which is used on a massive loom, to weave it into delicate patterns of silk fabric.

One cocoon when unwound is usually between 600 and 900 meters long, but four to eight of the silk filaments are twisted together to obtain one strand of silk thread.

There are some beautiful garments and lengths of cloth for sale. You can even sample the cooked grub, which has a nutty flavour.