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Original poster

To hate the smell of silk

66 replies

HeavyPlantCrossing · 06/04/2024 18:57

Inspired by the thread where some people think rapeseed oil smells of fish, does anyone else hate the smell of silk?

I can’t stand it - I can’t wear silk clothes, gag when I walk past the cushion department in John Lewis, and hate going to homes with silk cushion covers.

Everyone I’ve mentioned it to says that silk doesn’t smell. Is this a thing or just me?!

OP posts:
TerriPie · 06/04/2024 21:24

I'm the same, can't stand the smell of silk.

My Dad worked in the textile industry and he was always coming home smelling of it which is probably why I'm so sensitive to it now.

JollyJanuary · 06/04/2024 21:21

Had a lovely silk, oatmeal jumper in the 1990s. Lovely apart from the smell of wet dog.

LenaLamont · 06/04/2024 21:18

Raw silk, the much heavier fabric, definitely has a strong smell to me. Fine silk that’s been washed a few times doesn’t.

HussellRobbs · 06/04/2024 21:15

HeavyPlantCrossing · 06/04/2024 21:01

They really do, it stinks.

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I really don’t think they do, OP.

HussellRobbs · 06/04/2024 21:14

HeavyPlantCrossing · 06/04/2024 19:27

Ah, just figured it out, middle class. But it seems to be everywhere now - cushion covers in supermarket homeware sections, shirts in Primark, fake flowers in offices.

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Supermarket homeware sections don’t do silk homeware.

Fake flowers are not silk.

I’ve never seen 100% silk shirts in Primark

Real silk has no smell.

Dewdilly · 06/04/2024 21:12

I had no idea about this. I can’t smell silk at all. I’ve got loads of silk clothes - all bought from charity shops - and I can’t smell a thing.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 06/04/2024 21:06

I taught Textile science for years and never noticed a smell. We used to have cocoons and raw silk fibres. No smell.

The smell is probably the dyes.

Anf it’s not made from poo! It’s made from the stuff they spin their cocoons from, it comes out of their heads not their bums.

And it’s used for satin. duchess silk and slipper satin. It’s not used for polyester.

Original poster
HeavyPlantCrossing · 06/04/2024 21:01

Revelatio · 06/04/2024 20:57

I doubt they would have silk in Primark and supermarket homeware sections, this is why I asked if you meant satin?

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They really do, it stinks.

OP posts:
Revelatio · 06/04/2024 20:57

HeavyPlantCrossing · 06/04/2024 19:27

Ah, just figured it out, middle class. But it seems to be everywhere now - cushion covers in supermarket homeware sections, shirts in Primark, fake flowers in offices.

Show quote history

I doubt they would have silk in Primark and supermarket homeware sections, this is why I asked if you meant satin?

Original poster
HeavyPlantCrossing · 06/04/2024 20:50

HeavyPlantCrossing · 06/04/2024 20:50

Any cushion section in a supermarket or homeware store. Or a sofa shop.

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Or silk scarves in a clothes shop.

OP posts:
Original poster
HeavyPlantCrossing · 06/04/2024 20:50

UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername · 06/04/2024 20:39

Now I need to find me some silk to sniff! Where should I look?

Any cushion section in a supermarket or homeware store. Or a sofa shop.

OP posts:
UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername · 06/04/2024 20:39

Now I need to find me some silk to sniff! Where should I look?

Original poster
HeavyPlantCrossing · 06/04/2024 20:36

LoobyDop · 06/04/2024 20:31

It’s the same as “how do I know that the green you see is the same as the green I see?”, isn’t it. Fascinating and weird.

True. Humans are weird creatures.

OP posts:
LoobyDop · 06/04/2024 20:31

It’s the same as “how do I know that the green you see is the same as the green I see?”, isn’t it. Fascinating and weird.

Original poster
HeavyPlantCrossing · 06/04/2024 20:27

LoobyDop · 06/04/2024 20:21

I think I know the smell you mean, but I like it. It’s a bit like the smell of myrrh- kind of dry and earthy. Like a very faint remnant of perfume.

That’s interesting how it smells different to different people. (Now wondering if all things smell different to different people - how would we know if I say I like the smell of bread, and you say you like the smell of bread, that what we both smell isn’t different…)

OP posts:
Original poster
HeavyPlantCrossing · 06/04/2024 20:24

mewkins · 06/04/2024 20:23

It's a kind of cold smell. How do you get on with wool?

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I can’t say I’ve ever noticed wool having a smell so I must be fine with it. To me, silk smells a cross between sickly sweet and damp.

OP posts:
mewkins · 06/04/2024 20:23

HeavyPlantCrossing · 06/04/2024 20:09

It does make me feel a bit queasy. I guess it’s basically boiled worm poo, so it’s no wonder it’s a bit whiffy! But most people must like it/not notice it or it wouldn’t be so popular. Sometimes they use it as a filling in hotel pillows and I have to hide the pillows in the wardrobe and sleep without them.

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It's a kind of cold smell. How do you get on with wool?

LoobyDop · 06/04/2024 20:21

I think I know the smell you mean, but I like it. It’s a bit like the smell of myrrh- kind of dry and earthy. Like a very faint remnant of perfume.

Original poster
HeavyPlantCrossing · 06/04/2024 20:13

Mushroomwithaview · 06/04/2024 19:30

Does silk have to be made by those Mullberry worms?

What is satin?

According to Wikipedia, silk made from boiled moth or other insect cocoons; satin made of polyester, or cotton, or even silk.

OP posts:
Original poster
HeavyPlantCrossing · 06/04/2024 20:11

RosesAndHellebores · 06/04/2024 19:55

I have never noticed it.
Duchesse Satin is made from silk. I don't recall my wedding dress having a pong!

How interesting. I guess it’s just cheaper satin (polyester) that I’ve encountered and therefore can’t smell.

OP posts:
Original poster
HeavyPlantCrossing · 06/04/2024 20:09

mewkins · 06/04/2024 19:56

It does have a distinct smell but I like it! Does the smell make you feel sick? I have some weird things that make me feel queasy. Interestingly I have a silk filled duvet (not mulberry silk) which doesn't smell at all..

It does make me feel a bit queasy. I guess it’s basically boiled worm poo, so it’s no wonder it’s a bit whiffy! But most people must like it/not notice it or it wouldn’t be so popular. Sometimes they use it as a filling in hotel pillows and I have to hide the pillows in the wardrobe and sleep without them.

OP posts:
Original poster
HeavyPlantCrossing · 06/04/2024 20:06

InTheShallowTheShalalalalalalalow · 06/04/2024 19:54

I have no sense of smell at all, these threads are always so interesting to me.

No idea that silk had a smell, also learned from MN that hot and cold smell different too.

Hot and cold sound different - water from the tap changes sound depending whether it’s hot or cold. I’ve no idea why.

OP posts:
cerisepanther73 · 06/04/2024 19:57

Quirky mumsnet threads 🤪 on here at times.!

mewkins · 06/04/2024 19:56

It does have a distinct smell but I like it! Does the smell make you feel sick? I have some weird things that make me feel queasy. Interestingly I have a silk filled duvet (not mulberry silk) which doesn't smell at all..

Prawncow · 06/04/2024 19:56

Silk does have a scent. I don’t like it either.

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