COTTON is a unicellular, natural fiber

composed of almost pure cellulose.

As taken from plants, the fiber is
found in lengths of 3/8 to 2 inches.
 No one knows exactly how old cotton is.
Scientists searching caves in Mexico found
bits of cotton bolls and pieces of cotton cloth
that proved to be at least 7,000 years old.
 The earliest evidence of using cotton is from
India and the date assigned to this fabric is
3000 B.C.
 There were also excavations of cotton fabrics
of comparable age in Southern America.
Cotton cultivation first spread from India to
Egypt, China and the South Pacific
Light to dark cream.
SHADES
Colored cottons also
have following shades
 Tan
 Greens
 Blue
 Rust
Each cotton fiber is composed of concentric
layers. The cuticle layer on the fiber itself is
separable from the fiber and consists of wax
and pectin materials.
•Primary Wall
•Secondary Wall
•Lumen
 Themost peripheral layer of the fiber
 Composed of cellulosic crystalline fibrils
 Consists of three distinct layers
 All three layers of the secondary wall

include closely packed parallel fibrils with

spiral winding of 25-35o.
 Represent the majority of cellulose within

the fiber
 The innermost part of cotton fiber
 Composed of the remains of the cell
contents
 Before boll opening, the lumen is filled with
liquid containing the cell nucleus and
protoplasm. The twists and convolutions of
the dried fiber are due to the removal of
this liquid. The cross section of the fiber is
bean-shaped, swelling almost round when
moisture absorption takes place.
COTTON
Cellulose 80-90%

Water 6-8%

Waxes and fats 0.5 - 1%

Proteins 0 - 1.5%

Hemicelluloses 4 - 6%
Ash 1 - 1.8%
 Comfortable Soft hand
Good absorbency
Color retention
Prints well
Machine-washable
Dry-cleanable
Good strength
Drapes well
Easy to handle and sew
 END
CULTIVATE
USE

PROCESS GINNING

WEAVE SPIN
CULTIVATION REQUIREMENTS
A long growing season

Plenty of sunshine

Water during the period of growth

Dry weather for harvest

In general, these conditions are met
within tropical and warm subtropical
latitudes in the northern and
southern hemispheres.
Planting time varies from the beginning of
February to the beginning of June in the
different regions of world.
 A number of methods, chemical and
mechanical, have been used to control
WEEDS and GRASS, including intensive
SPRAYING of herbicide before and after
planting.
 The cultivator, rotary hoe, and flame
cultivator are also used to destroy weeds.
 Now harvested MECHANICALLY with spindle-
type pickers or strippers.
 PICKERS are used extensively in irrigated

lands. The picker has vertical drums

equipped with wire spindles that engage
and pull the cotton from open bolls.
 All cotton is stored in modules, which look

like giant loaves of bread.

 Modern gins place modules in front of
machines called MODULE FEEDERS.
 It break the modules apart and “feed” the

seed cotton into the gin.

 Some gins use powerful

pipes to suck the cotton

into the gin building.
 Once in the cotton gin, the seed cotton
moves through dryers and through cleaning
machines.
 It remove the gin waste such as

 Burs
Dirt
Stems
Leaf Material.
 Then it goes to the GIN STAND where
circular SAWS with small, sharp teeth pluck
the fiber from the seed.
 From the gin, fiber and seed go different
ways.
 The ginned fiber, now called LINT.
FIBER LENGTH
LENGTH UNIFORMITY
FIBER STRENGTH
MICRONAIRE
COLOR
Fiber length is described as “The average
length of the longer one-half of the fibers
(upper half mean length)“. This measure is
taken by scanning a "beard " of parallel
fibers through a sensing region.
Length uniformity or uniformity ratio is
determined as “ A ratio between the mean
length and the upper half mean length of
the fibers and is expressed as a
percentage”.

Low uniformity index shows that there might be a

high content of short fibers, which lowers the quality
of the future textile product
Fiber strength is measured in grams per
denier. It is determined as the force
necessary to break the beard of fibers,
clamped in two sets of jaws.
 The breaking strength of cotton is about

3.0~4.9 g/denier.
 The breaking elongation is about 8~10%.
 Micronaire measurements reflect fiber fineness and
maturity.
 A constant mass (2.34 grams) of cotton fibers is
compressed into a space of known volume and air
permeability measurements of this compressed
sample are taken. These, when converted to
appropriate number, denote Micronaire values.

COTTON RANGE MICRONAIRE READING

Premium 3.7-4.2
Base Range 4.3-4.9
Discount Range >5.0
The color of cotton samples is determined from two
parameters:
 Degree of reflectance (Rd)
Yellowness (+b)
The color of the fibers is affected by climatic
conditions, impact of insects and fungi, type of
soil, storage conditions etc.
There is five recognized groups of color:
White
Gray
Spotted
Tinged
Yellow stained
SWELLING
ATTACK OF ACIDS & BASES
OXIDATION & HYDROLYSIS
Cotton swells in a HIGH HUMIDITY
environment, in WATER and in concentrated
solutions of certain ACIDS, SALTS and
BASES. The swelling effect is usually
attributed to the sorption of highly hydrated
ions. and the moisture absorption is 7~8%

The moisture regain for cotton is about 7.1~8.5%

Moisture absorption for cotton is 7~8%
 Cotton is attacked by HOT DILUTE or COLD
CONCENTRATED ACID solutions. Acid
hydrolysis of cellulose produces hydro-
celluloses. Cold weak acids do not affect it.
 The fibers show excellent RESISTANCE TO
ALKALIS.
 There are a few other SOLVENTS that will
DISSOLVE COTTON completely.

DO U KNOW! Copper complex of cupramonium

hydroxide and cupriethylene diamine (Schweitzer's
reagent) dissolve cotton completely.
OXIDATION & HYDROLYSIS
 Cotton DEGRADATION is usually attributed
to oxidation, hydrolysis or both. Oxidation of
cellulose can lead to two types of so-called
oxy-cellulose, depending on the
environment, in which the oxidation takes
place.
OPTICAL PROPERTY

 Cotton fibers show DOUBLE REFRACTION

when observed in polarized light. Even
though various effects can be observed.
 Second order YELLOW and second order

BLUE is characteristic colors of cellulosic

fibers. A typical birefringence value as
shown in the table of physical properties, is
0.047.

A typical Birefringence value as shown in the table of

physical properties, is 0.047.
 Shirts  Suits
 Dresses  Jackets
 Children wear  Skirts
 Active wear  Pants
 Blouses  Sweaters

 Separates  Hosiery

 Swimwear  Neckwear
 Curtains
 Draperies
 Bedspreads
 Comforters
 Throws
 Sheets
 Towels
 Table Cloths
 Table Mats
 Napkins
 Swabs
 Puffs
 Wipes
 Filters
 Weddings
Personal care products
 Diapers
 Feminine Hygiene
products
Semi-durable Segments
 Bedding
 Household furnishing
 Pillow fillers
6

3 PRODUCTION IN
MILLION TONS
2
CONSUMPTION IN
1 MILLION TONS

0
US DI
A N A
TA IN
IN IS CH
K
PA
 New instrumentation to measure cotton
contamination.
 Cotton linters to replace the traditional 100%
wood pulp fibers for producing absorbent
cores for disposable diapers and famine pads.
 New quality measurements of small sample
cotton are being developed.
 Cotton is being blended with kenaf fibers to
improve the softness and hand.
 Buckeye Technologies has developed 100%
natural cotton for tampon manufacture.
 Clustering analysis is developed for cotton
trash classification.
 New method to improve the dyeability of
cotton with reactive dyes.