A new steeping method is put forward in this paper, in which steeping assistant is added into the solution during the vacuum permeation for the treatment of silk slices on small reels. With this new method, the traditional process of steeping raw silk and drying can be omitted. Orthogonal array L₁₆ (4³) is used to study the new method. The result shows that the optimal technological parameters are 2 h, 1.25% and five times for balance drying time, assistant concentration and vacuum number, respectively. The test indicates that the properties of silk slices show no significant difference between steeping on small reels and conventional steeping, and the new process of steeping silk slices on small reels can mostly meet the technological requirements of steeping. It is also found that the properties of knitted fabric produced by the new steeping method and conventional steeping method are quite similar to each other. However, some special properties of the former, such as abrasion resistance, bursting strength and draping, are better than the latter. Compared with the conventional steeping of raw silk, the new steeping method has lower cost and higher efficiency.