With the proliferation of fake products in the market nowadays, who wouldn’t be cautious? Thai silk is just one of the products that are mostly imitated. It is therefore difficult for an ordinary shopper to spot the real deal from the imitation. If that is the case, the following techniques will be useful in making the right choice.

The most obvious that help you determine the real silk and the imitation is the price. The real fabric is much more expensive than the imitation (which is polyester). The imitation ranges from about 100 to about 300 Baht, while the genuine fabric is about 700 to 3,000 Baht or even more considering some factors or characteristics like intricacies of the design. However, some dealers are very cunning so they give higher prices for imitations in order to trick people that they are selling the real one. This is where the next technique comes in.

One important detail shoppers should take note is the weave of the fabric. Authentic Thai silk is hand-woven and made of natural fiber, so you can see minor imperfections on the fabric. The polyester is made by machine so it looks perfect to the naked eye. So the next time you see silk, check if it is flawless (polyester) or imperfect which is the indication that it’s genuine.

Another method to tell you real from imitation is the print of the fabric. With the real Thai silk, the pattern is printed only one side while on the opposite side you will see the outline of the print. When you check both sides using the light, only the printed side changes color but not the opposite side. With polyester, the printed pattern can be seen on one side and none at the other. It doesn’t change color and glimmers white.

The ultimate step to know if the fabric is the real Thai silk is to split a strand and burn it. Yes, you read it right. The real deal with leave a fine ash and smells like an organic burn (same smell when you burn your hair). If the silk you are burning is an imitation it will melt and the burned edge will form into a ball as it accumulates at the end of the thread. Of course this is not necessary if you are knowledgeable of the above mentioned techniques. But if you want to be certain, then don’t hesitate to do it.

So the next time you shop for authentic Thai silk, just follow these techniques in determining the real from the imitation and you will be happy that you did. Enjoy shopping!