De acordo com o Marvel.com , nos quadrinhos, vemos os web-atiradores usando fluidos da web , descrito como:
a shear-thinning liquid (virtually solid until a shearing force is applied to it, rendering it fluid) whose exact formula is as yet unknown, but is related to nylon. On contact with air, the long-chain polymer knits and forms an extremely tough, flexible fiber with extraordinary adhesive properties. The web fluid's adhesive quality diminishes rapidly with exposure to air. (Where it does not make contact with air, such as the attachment disk of the web-shooter, it remains very adhesive.) After about one to two hours, certain imbibed esters cause the solid form of the web fluid to dissolve into a powder. Because the fluid almost instantly sublimates from solid to liquid when under shear pressure, and is not adhesive in its anaerobic liquid/solid phase transition point, there is no clogging of the web-shooter's parts.
que é visto pela primeira vez em Amazing Fantasy # 15 (1962). Então, nos quadrinhos, é mais um material de nylon.
Na trilogia Homem-Aranha (2002-7), essa habilidade é descrita como:
Organic Webbing Generation: In the Sam Raimi movie trilogy, Spider-Man was also gifted with the ability to organically produce his own silk webbing from glands within his forearms, limited by his body's health and nutrition. These organic webs have many of the same properties as a spider. Thanks to its similar properties, it appears Spider-Man can utilize his organic webbing in any way he could with the artificial webbing from the comics.
( Fonte )
Por outro lado, nos filmes parece ser mais como seda de aranha. Então a resposta é depende de qual fonte você está focando.