Mill spinning runs eri on the worsted system. The sequence below takes degummed silk waste through progressive opening, combing and drafting until the fibre is parallel enough to ring spin, then finishes the yarn surface by burning off protruding ends.
The eight stages
| Stage | Operation |
|---|---|
| Degumming | Silk waste boiled 1–2 hours in alkaline soap and soda in an open vat; repeated if incomplete; hot then cold wash, squeeze and dry |
| Beating and opening | Entangled mass converted to a thin lap of near-parallel filament on a fillet cylinder with wire clothing at 36 points per square inch; foreign matter removed |
| Filling or pegging | Lap transferred to a combed drum; stripes cut to a staple length of 6–8 inches |
| Dressing or combing | Circular dressing frame removes neps, short fibres and foreign matter; fleece straightened and consolidated into laps |
| Finer lap making | Second fillet at 70 points per square inch, two passages, to give a fully opened parallel fibre mass |
| Draw frame and roving | Six to eight slivers combined and re-drafted, then drawn on a roving machine with slight twist |
| Ring spinning | Roving drafted to count and twisted by the spindle–ring–traveller system; fine 60 Ne (10 tex) to medium 30 Ne (20 tex), limited coarse 10 Ne (60 tex); doubled and twisted as required |
| Gassing | Protruding fibre ends burnt off in a flame to finish the yarn surface before packaging |