Does silk come from a silkworm?

Silkworms produce silk when they grow from worms, into their adult stage: a moth.

In between these stages, the silkworm spins a single thread of silk around itself, which eventually hardens into a cocoon to protect it during this transformation. This silk is excreted from the salivary glands.

The worm is boiled alive during this stage before the silk is removed. If it were allowed to grow and emerge from the cocoon, it would break the cocoon in the process, making it less valuable for silk production (and useless for high quality garment).

The silk itself can also be loosen by soaking water. which will loosen up the "gum". Labors use a brush to push the cocoon up and down until one of the loose end is attack to the brush.