The decline of this industry was due to several factors: on the one hand, silkworm and mulberry diseases made silk farming difficult in Ticino, and farmers began to turn to tobacco cultivation. On the other hand, competition from the Asian market, the introduction of artificial silk (viscose has been produced industrially since 1906), and finally the cost of local labor, which shifted to cigar manufacturing, contributed.
The last remaining operating company, the Bolzani-Torriani spinning mill in Mendrisio, now a cultural and community center, ceased operations in 1931.