Scouring renders all common silks, whether white or yellow in the raw, a brilliant pearly white, with a delicate soft flossy texture, from the fact that the fibres which were agglutinated in reeling, being now degummed, are separated from each other and show their individual tenuity in the yarn.
The " degummed silk," after it is dried, is allowed to absorb a certain amount of moisture, and thus it becomes soft and pliable to the touch, and properly conditioned for working by machinery.
The flat frame is the most gentle in its usage of the silk, but is most costly in labour; whilst the circular frame, being more severe in its action, is not suitable for the thoroughly degummed silks, but on the other hand is best for silks containing much wormy matter, because the silk hanging down into the combing teeth is thoroughly cleansed of such foreign matter, which is deposited under the machine.