Muga is reeled in a wet basin at 50–60 °C. The filament averages 5–6 denier with a roughly elliptical cross-section, and several cocoons are reeled together to build a thread of usable thickness — fewer for the finer warp, more for the heavier weft.
Warp and weft
| Yarn | Cocoons per thread | Denier |
|---|---|---|
| Warp | 8 – 10 | 40 – 44 |
| Weft | 12 – 14 | 60 – 66 |
Bhir against the reeling-cum-twisting machine
| Bhir (bhir muga lata) | CSTRI reeling-cum-twisting machine | |
|---|---|---|
| Share of muga reeled | 80 – 85 % | The improved alternative |
| Principle | Intermittent reeling; false twist by rolling thread between palm and forearm | True twist by ring spinning; four spindles at 4,000–6,000 rpm, motor or pedal drive |
| Labour | Two persons — one feeds filament, one turns the flywheel | One person on four ends, assisted for cooking and deflossing |
| Output per day | 80 – 100 g | 180–200 g of 40–44 denier from 800–1,000 cocoons; or 200–280 g of 55–60 denier in eight hours |
| Quality | Poor cohesion; warp needs sizing | Jetteboute casting on every spindle; lower size variation; usable as warp without sizing |
| Occupational cost | Alkaline water and thread friction injure the reeler’s arm | Removes thigh-reeling drudgery |
Four fifths of India’s muga is still reeled on the bhir. The occupational cost is not
incidental — the traditional device injures the reeler’s arm through repeated
contact with alkaline water and thread friction, which is a health case for the improved
machine independent of its output advantage.
BANI — muga weft reeling machine
Developed at the institute in 2008: a motor-cum-pedal operated single-basin machine of four-end capacity, operated by one person seated, producing zero-twist flat muga yarn for use as weft. Silk recovery is 45–50 %, about 4 % above the bhir, with output of 120–140 g per day against 80–100 g conventionally. Also usable for mulberry cocoons. Benefit–cost ratio 1.3 : 1.