Secret behind the 5-star OCOP self-woven silk products

Phan Thi Thuan, Director of My Duc Mulberry Silk Co., Ltd. in Hong Son commune, Hanoi, belongs to the third generation of a family with a long tradition of mulberry cultivation, silkworm raising, silk reeling, and weaving. In the past, villagers in her hometown of Phung Xa produced silk manually. During the French colonial period, weaving machines were introduced, multiplying productivity many times over, with products exported or sold in Hanoi’s Hang Ngang and Hang Dao streets.

Her youth was closely tied to silk production as a cooperative member. However, as she grew older, the industry declined. While many households uprooted mulberry trees to grow other crops, she persisted in maintaining mulberry cultivation for silkworm raising. She also utilized discarded cocoons, boiling and hand-twisting them into fine silk threads. Products woven from recycled silk earned a national Gold Medal in 2005.

Returning to her story about the unique innovation of self-woven silk, Thuan began experimenting with this method in 2010, with blankets as her first product. Traditionally, craft villages had to unwind cocoons, reel silk, process it into batting, then stitch layers together to make blankets. The labor-intensive process resulted in clumping after prolonged use.

The path to realizing the idea of self-woven silk products was paved with many failures. After one year and eight silkworm cycles of experiments - equivalent to dozens of sleepless nights - she perfected a method unprecedented in the history of the craft village.

When spinning cocoons, silkworms normally had a structure to shelter themselves and therefore felt secure while producing silk. In contrast, self-woven silkworms were exposed on a flat surface, so they became vulnerable to light, noise, and wind.

After observing these reactions, she created enclosed spaces free from sound, light, and drafts. She also meticulously calculated appropriate distances to allow silkworms to stretch and spin silk without obstruction. Once the silk reached standard dimensions of length, width, and thickness, it was bleached into a blanket filling with a cotton-like white appearance.

“Self-woven silk is completely natural and uses no machinery, so anyone who has used it never forgets it. Some customers in Laos have been using my products since 2012 and continue buying every year, not only for themselves but also for relatives. That makes me very happy,” Thuan said.

Her company currently has more than 10 4-star OCOP products and three 5-star OCOP products, including self-woven silk blankets, mulberry silk scarves, and lotus silk scarves. Many domestic and international visitors have come directly to the workshop for tours and experiences, despite the company never organizing tourism services or charging entrance fees.

Whenever visitors arrive, she often shares her story. “I am grateful to have been born and raised in this silk-weaving village. I am grateful to silkworms that consume only mulberry leaves yet produce precious silk and support countless livelihoods. We raise silkworms for only 20 days, but they become loyal workers who never abandon us.

“Being grateful to silkworms means caring for them well - by cultivating mulberry trees organically, using fermented silkworm waste as fertilizer, and protecting their environment from harmful substances. I am getting older, but I still want to pass this craft on to more people in the village so they can love the profession and their hometown more deeply,” she said.

Her self-woven silk blankets are breathable, anti-static, and exceptionally warm in winter. They provide excellent insulation, helping users sleep more deeply and reducing stress and fatigue. They are notably lightweight, only about one-third of many other materials.

Because silk dissipates heat quickly, users avoid the initial cold sensation common with blankets during winter. The blankets gently contour the body, remain soft and airy, avoid overheating, and do not bunch up. Their dyes are extracted from leaves, stems, and roots of natural plants, making them more health-friendly.

Building on self-woven silk blankets, Thuan has developed additional product lines, including self-woven silk fabric, silk artworks, and self-woven silk skincare products. “The mulberry tree itself is a medicinal plant, so silk also has medicinal qualities, nourishing the skin and helping reduce aging,” she said.

Because of these unique characteristics, self-woven silk products can cost tens of millions of Vietnamese dong and have become exceptional gifts representing not only Hanoi but also Vietnam to distinguished guests.

Besides self-woven silk, Thuan is also known for lotus silk. All lotus plants contain fibers, but producing silk suitable for weaving requires special cultivation methods, using organic fertilizers and clean water to increase fiber yield. She openly shares this knowledge with lotus pond owners, who in turn supply raw materials for her silk production.