ISIDE PLANTING
You will need:
Cotton planting seed*
Potting soil
Container (½ gal. Milk carton or similar container)
Planting cotton seed
Start in a room at plus 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
Pre-moisten potting soil and mix with local soil (50% soil and 50% potting soil).
Cut off the top of container, rinse clean, and cut drain holes in its bottom.
Fill the container with the moist potting mixture to 2 inches from the top.
Place 3-4 seeds on the soil and firmly cover seeds with 1 inch of moist potting mixture.
Place in sunlight and rotate the container a quarter turn each day.
Check moisture daily and add ½-1 cup of water whenever the top inch of soil is dry.
Seedlings will emerge in 7-10 days.
Once the plants have emerged gradually increase amount of water until the soil is thoroughly moistened for several inches below the surface. To maintain adequate moisture to the roots water approximately every 7-10 days.
Note: The above planting method will not guarantee the growth of a cotton plant to harvest. In order to grow cotton plants to maturity:
plant the seeds in a container that is 30-36 inches deep
provide open sunlight 4-5 hours each day
continue with step #4-9 above. Cotton is a drought tolerant plant, do not over water.
OUTSIDE PLANTING
You will need:
Cotton planting seed*
Prepared outside flower bed or garden area
Compost or humus
Garden tools (rack, shovel, weed hoe)
Lawn sprinkler and garden or soaker hose
When tillable, work the soil to 1-2 inches deep to eliminate weeds.
One inch of compost or humus may be incorporated into the soil. This supplement is a source of nitrogen, potassium and trace minerals needed to produce a strong plant.
Create rows and furrows by dragging a garden hoe in a straight line the length and width of the garden.
From the center of each row measure 30 inches, with a furrow as deep as the row in high.
Pre-irrigate or moisten the soil to establish deep soil moisture.
Check the soil temperature, using a soil thermometer. Soil should be 58-60 degree at 6 inches deep for three consecutive days at 8 AM in the spring (after all threat of frost has passed).
Plant seeds in moist soil, in groups of three seeds, 1 inch deep and 4 inches apart.
Firm soil around the seeds and leave 1 inch of loose fine dirt above the seeds.
Allow 15 days for emergence.
No additional water should be necessary.
The first irrigation should begin 4-5 weeks after emergence.
Continue to deliver water to the small plants through the summer months. In hot, dry climates this requires irrigation every 8-16 days.
Once the plants no longer receive water (16-18 weeks from planting) they will naturally begin to dry and shed their leaves, and the bolls will split open allowing the fiber to dry.
The cotton is ready for harvest when all of the bolls have cracked open and the cotton is a ball of fluff.
On a commercial level of cotton production, pests are difficult to control. Though not practical commercially, you may try the following methods to discourage pests (insects & animal) from your cotton plants:
Plant a fence around your cotton of basil to repel worms and flies; onions, garlic, anise and coriander for aphid; mint, sage, dill and thyme to protect from moths.
Paint a board bright yellow (school bus yellow). Then coat the surface with a sticky substance such as mineral oil or car oil. Place the board next to a cotton plant. Every few days wipe off the layer of insects adhered to it.
Toads can eat over 100 insects a day. To keep toads happy build a toad house from a clay flowerpot half buried on its side and provide a pond from a buried pie plate full of water.
The more birds you have in the area of your plants the fewer insects you will have to deal with. To attract birds: a) erect “bird hotels” b) scatter cracked corn or sunflower seeds c) provide birdbaths and bird feeders for a steady source of water and food.
Later in the growing season, when insect pests become a larger problem wash the entire plant off with a solution of 2 tablespoons of mild detergent and 1 gallon of water to control aphid, spider mite and whiteflies. Crushed garlic, red pepper and ground dead bugs may be added to the water. Commercial plant soaps are also good alternatives.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Cottonseed Oil Cooking Recipe
Cotton Field Fries
Adult supervision is advised when cooking
2-4 baking potatoes (Idaho or russet)
Cottonseed oil for deep-frying
Salt
Peel the potatoes and cut into ¼ inch thick “cotton stalk” size strips. Line a large baking sheet with crumpled paper towels, and set it aside.
Put cottonseed oil in a deep pot to a depth of 3 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat to 375 degrees. Fry the potatoes in five or six batches, about 1 cup at a time. Lightly brown, about 7 minutes, then remove all of the potatoes from the oil with a wire mesh strainer. Place on crumpled paper towels.
Deep-Fat Frying: Cottonseed oil’s stability and consistent browning throughout its life make it a classic in the fryer. It enables foodservice operators to serve up products that are crisp and golden brown with a fresh fried flavor without a greasy mouth-feel.
Cotton Wok Veggies
Adult supervision is advised when cooking
1/3 cup chicken broth 1 cup carrots, sliced
1 tsp. corn starch 1 cup bell pepper, sliced
1 Tbls. soy sauce 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup cottonseed oil 1 cup broccoli florets
1 garlic clove, minced 1 cup green onions, sliced
Mix broth, soy sauce and cornstarch together, set a side.
Place wok over high heat. Add the oil, pouring around the rim. Add garlic and carrots. Cook 2 minutes, then add the rest of the vegetables tossing constantly with a large spatula. Cook for about 2 minutes more.
Add soy & broth mixture and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover the wok. Let steam for 2 minutes.
Stir-frying/Wok Cooking: With its high smoke point and mild, slightly nutty flavor, cottonseed oil is an excellent choice for all sorts of stir-frying and wok cooking
“ Cottonflower” Salad
Adult supervision is advised when cooking
1 cup cottonseed oil 1 Tbls. lemon juice
1 tsp. dry mustard 1 Tbls. red wine vinegar
1 egg salt and pepper to taste
¼tsp. paprika
Put the egg, seasonings, vinegar, lemon juice and ¼ cup of cottonseed oil into a blender, cover and process on medium speed. While still blending pour in the remaining oil in a steady stream. Continue to blend until thick. Immediately place in the refrigerator.
Clean and cut 1 head of cauliflower into small chucks. Place in pan of 1-2 inches of water. Bring to a boil, lower heat to low and cook until tender.
Drain cauliflower and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Mix dressing into cooled cauliflower and serve. Return to refrigerator any leftover salad.
Salad Dressings: As the “Oil That Never Overpowers,” cottonseed oil’s neutral flavor profile makes it an excellent base for salad dressing. Signature house dressings made with Cottonseed oil will carry the flavor of the seasonings, and there will be no unpleasant greasy taste.
Parsley Cottonseed Oil
Adult supervision is advised when cooking
2 bunches parsley
4 cups cottonseed oil
Poach parsley in boiling water for 10 seconds and shock in ice water to cool. Puree in small blender until smooth. Add oil and let set in refrigerator for 1 day to blend flavors.
Cutting Expensive Oils: Many foodservice operators use cottonseed oil for cutting expensive olive, infused and other flavored oils.
Roasted Chicken
Adult supervision is advised when cooking
(With Cotton)
3-4 pound roasting chicken 3 stalks of celery, cut-up
4-5 garlic cloves cottonseed oil
1 each onion and carrot, cut-up salt and pepper
Clean chicken under running water. Dry with a paper towel or cloth.
Drizzle cottonseed oil inside cavity of chicken. Shake salt and pepper all around cavity. Place vegetables inside and tie legs together with kitchen string.
Generously rub cottonseed oil all over chicken. Salt and pepper outside of chicken and place it breast side down on a rack in a shallow baking pan. Add about ½ cup water to bottom of pan. Loosely cover with foil, and place in a 350-degree oven.
After 1 hour turn chicken breast side up and remove foil, bake an additional 15-30 minutes.
Roasting: With its stability and mild flavor, cottonseed oil is ideal for high-heat oven-roasted foods, such as meats and vegetables. Just brush or toss foods in cottonseed oil before cooking.
Adult supervision is advised when cooking
2-4 baking potatoes (Idaho or russet)
Cottonseed oil for deep-frying
Salt
Peel the potatoes and cut into ¼ inch thick “cotton stalk” size strips. Line a large baking sheet with crumpled paper towels, and set it aside.
Put cottonseed oil in a deep pot to a depth of 3 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat to 375 degrees. Fry the potatoes in five or six batches, about 1 cup at a time. Lightly brown, about 7 minutes, then remove all of the potatoes from the oil with a wire mesh strainer. Place on crumpled paper towels.
Deep-Fat Frying: Cottonseed oil’s stability and consistent browning throughout its life make it a classic in the fryer. It enables foodservice operators to serve up products that are crisp and golden brown with a fresh fried flavor without a greasy mouth-feel.
Cotton Wok Veggies
Adult supervision is advised when cooking
1/3 cup chicken broth 1 cup carrots, sliced
1 tsp. corn starch 1 cup bell pepper, sliced
1 Tbls. soy sauce 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup cottonseed oil 1 cup broccoli florets
1 garlic clove, minced 1 cup green onions, sliced
Mix broth, soy sauce and cornstarch together, set a side.
Place wok over high heat. Add the oil, pouring around the rim. Add garlic and carrots. Cook 2 minutes, then add the rest of the vegetables tossing constantly with a large spatula. Cook for about 2 minutes more.
Add soy & broth mixture and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover the wok. Let steam for 2 minutes.
Stir-frying/Wok Cooking: With its high smoke point and mild, slightly nutty flavor, cottonseed oil is an excellent choice for all sorts of stir-frying and wok cooking
“ Cottonflower” Salad
Adult supervision is advised when cooking
1 cup cottonseed oil 1 Tbls. lemon juice
1 tsp. dry mustard 1 Tbls. red wine vinegar
1 egg salt and pepper to taste
¼tsp. paprika
Put the egg, seasonings, vinegar, lemon juice and ¼ cup of cottonseed oil into a blender, cover and process on medium speed. While still blending pour in the remaining oil in a steady stream. Continue to blend until thick. Immediately place in the refrigerator.
Clean and cut 1 head of cauliflower into small chucks. Place in pan of 1-2 inches of water. Bring to a boil, lower heat to low and cook until tender.
Drain cauliflower and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Mix dressing into cooled cauliflower and serve. Return to refrigerator any leftover salad.
Salad Dressings: As the “Oil That Never Overpowers,” cottonseed oil’s neutral flavor profile makes it an excellent base for salad dressing. Signature house dressings made with Cottonseed oil will carry the flavor of the seasonings, and there will be no unpleasant greasy taste.
Parsley Cottonseed Oil
Adult supervision is advised when cooking
2 bunches parsley
4 cups cottonseed oil
Poach parsley in boiling water for 10 seconds and shock in ice water to cool. Puree in small blender until smooth. Add oil and let set in refrigerator for 1 day to blend flavors.
Cutting Expensive Oils: Many foodservice operators use cottonseed oil for cutting expensive olive, infused and other flavored oils.
Roasted Chicken
Adult supervision is advised when cooking
(With Cotton)
3-4 pound roasting chicken 3 stalks of celery, cut-up
4-5 garlic cloves cottonseed oil
1 each onion and carrot, cut-up salt and pepper
Clean chicken under running water. Dry with a paper towel or cloth.
Drizzle cottonseed oil inside cavity of chicken. Shake salt and pepper all around cavity. Place vegetables inside and tie legs together with kitchen string.
Generously rub cottonseed oil all over chicken. Salt and pepper outside of chicken and place it breast side down on a rack in a shallow baking pan. Add about ½ cup water to bottom of pan. Loosely cover with foil, and place in a 350-degree oven.
After 1 hour turn chicken breast side up and remove foil, bake an additional 15-30 minutes.
Roasting: With its stability and mild flavor, cottonseed oil is ideal for high-heat oven-roasted foods, such as meats and vegetables. Just brush or toss foods in cottonseed oil before cooking.
You Ask and i Answer it
In what country was the oldest cotton fabric discovered?
Mexico
Where was cotton first known to be cultivated?
India
Name the major cotton producing areas of the world?
United States, China, India, Pakistan, and Republic of Uzbekistan. Also, Brazil, Australia, Egypt, Argentina, Turkey, Greece, and Syria
Why did the English resist the progress of cotton?
Wool manufacturers did not want competition from cotton fiber.
Who invented the cotton gin and when?
Eli Whitney, in 1793
Where was cotton first known to be grown in the U.S. and by whom?
The Spaniards first grew cotton in Florida.
Who invented the first U.S. cotton mill?
Samuel Slater
What are cotton locks called after removal from the cotton bur?
Seed cotton
What process is used to separate cottonseed from fiber?
Ginning
What is cotton fiber called after separated from the seed?
Lint
How is cotton harvested in modernized countries?
Mechanical spindle pickers or brush strippers harvest cotton.
How was cotton first harvested?
By hand
What did the Rust Brothers of Mississippi invent?
The mechanical cotton picker
What is a popular term used for cotton?
"White Gold"
What is wild cotton?
Cotton that grows uncultivated in the world.
Name the varieties of cotton grown in the United States?
American Pima and Upland
What is the Cotton Belt?
The cotton producing region of the United States.
How many states form the Cotton Belt?
Seventeen-California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and Kansas
Which variety of U.S. cotton has the longest and shortest fiber?
Upland has the shortest fiber and Pima has the longest fiber.
Which varieties of cotton are the most common?
Upland and Pima
What are cotyledons?
Seedling leaves, first to appear on the cotton plant.
What do cotyledons help provide for a young plant?
Cotyledons help produce food for the young plant through photosynthesis.
What is photosynthesis?
The process that uses the chlorophyll in plants to convert sunlight to carbohydrates.
Name the various parts of the cotton plant?
Leaves, squares, flower, boll, bracts, locks, carpel and bur.
Name the components of the dry mature cotton boll?
The bur is made of dried carpels and cotton locks.
What is a seedbed?
The row or ridge in which the cotton seeds will be planted.
What is listing?
Forming the land into ridges and furrows.
What is irrigation?
Adding moisture to the soil by artificial means.
Name three methods of irrigation?
Furrow, sprinkler and drip tape irrigation
What is rain-feed farming?
Depending entirely on rainfall for moisture needed for plant growth.
Name three methods of weed control in a cotton field?
Mechanical cultivation, hand rogueing and herbicides.
Describe each method of weed control?
Cultivation-Uses a mechanical implement to loosen the soil and remove weed. Hand rogueing-Is physical labor using a weed hoe to remove weeds. Herbicides-Uses chemicals to control weeds.
What does a cotton planter do?
Mechanically places the seed in the soil.
List two methods of planting?
Hand planting and mechanical
What is a crop consultant?
A person who monitors a field for pests and recommends treatment if necessary.
How are insect pests controlled or eliminated?
By the use of insecticide or predator insects.
Define I.P.M.?
Integrated Pest Management is the use of beneficial insects to help control the harmful insect (pest) population.
What is fertilizer?
Plant food or nutrients added to the crop to enhance growth.
Name insect pests that plague cotton fields?
Aphid, mite, bollworms, boll weevil, lygus, thrip, white fly and pink bollworms.
What are beneficial insects called?
Predator insects
What does a defoliant do?
Aids in the cotton harvest by causing the plant's leaves to dry and fall off.
What is the picker head of a cotton picker?
The unit of the cotton picker that contains the picking components.
Name some components of the picker head?
Spindles, picking bar, moistener pads, doffer, and picker door
Describe the mechanics of the picking components?
Spindles-Barbed steel units that revolve to grab and pull the lint from the opened bolls.
Picking bar-A vertical bar that contains 18-20 spindles.
Moistener pads-Small finned pads which add moisture to the spindles and help clean them.
Doffer-A series of circular rubber pads that clean cotton from the spindles.
Picker door-A place on the machine where cotton drops before being blown into the picker basket.
How is a stripper harvester different from a mechanical cotton picker?
A stripper strips opened and unopened bolls from the plant instead of "plucking" the cotton from the bur
What is trash in the harvested cotton?
Leaves, stems, branches and burs.
Name the two types of gins?
Roller and saw gin
Briefly explain the mechanics of each type of gin?
Roller Gin-Uses a roller to grab and pull the fiber under a rotating bar with gaps too small for the seed to pass through.
Saw Gin-Uses curricular saws that grip the fiber and pull it through narrow slots too small for the seed to pass.
What is a module builder?
An implement that forms modules (or tightly pressed stacks) of cotton.
Name the ginning process for short staple lint and for long staple lint?
Short staple-Saw ginning and long staple-Roller ginning
Why are huge dryers used in the ginning process?
To reduce moisture and improve fiber quality of the cotton lint.
In what country were roller gins invented?
India
What is raw fiber called after ginning?
Cotton lint
What becomes of the seed and fiber after separation?
Seed goes to cottonseed oil mills or for livestock feed. The fiber goes to textile mills or foreign countries.
What is lint packaged for market called?
A bale of cotton
How many pounds are in a bale?
Approximately 500 pounds
What are the measurements of a universal density bale?
55" tall, 28" wide and 21" thick
Describe what linters are?
The short, fuzzy fibers still attached to the seed after ginning.
What is classing?
The process which measures fiber characteristics against a set of standards.
Where is Yarn and cloth fabricated?
A textile mill
What happens in the opening room of a textile mill?
Bales of lint are opened and placed in a row.
Define carding?
The process of pulling the fibers into parallel alignment to form a thin web.
What is a sliver?
The first step of turning lint into yarn. Fibers that have been pulled into a continuous, untwisted, rope-like strand.
Describe combing?
The process which removes impurities and fibers shorter than ½" from the cotton, so that smoother and more uniform yarn may be produced.
What is roving?
Sliver which has been drawn out to a thinner strand and given a slight twist to improve strength.
What is the final process in yarn manufacturing?
Spinning
Describe the spinning process?
The roving is drawn and twisted into a fine yarn and then wound onto bobbins.
What two names is yarn called during and after the weaving process?
Weft (filling) is the crosswise yarn and warp is the lengthwise yarn.
What adds strength to the yarn before weaving?
Warp yarns are coated with a sizing compound or starch mixture before weaving.
Name the three basic weaves?
Plain, twill and satin
Briefly describe the three basic weaves?
Plain-Weft yarn passes over and under each warp yarn.
Twill-Yarns are interlaced in an angle to form straight, diagonal ridges.
Satin-Smooth surface is made up mostly of warp yarn passing over and under all but one yarn, intersecting in a regular of irregular formation, not a straight line.
Name another method of turning yarn into fabric using needles?
Knitting
How is knit fabric constructed?
Yarn is made into loops (stitches) which are linked together by the use of needles.
Explain the two basic types of knit fabrics?
Weft knit-Made on a circular needle machine producing fabric in a tubular form.
Warp knit-A single yarn is twisted and entwined in several directions lengthwise in an action similar to several yarns entering a machine.
Name two types of cottonseed oil mills?
Screw press and solvent extraction
Explain how solvent extraction and screw press mills differ?
Solvent extraction-Uses an organic solvent that dissolves the oil from the prepared meats (kernels).
Screw press-Uses high pressure created by a press to force the oil from the meats.
Describe the first step in processing cottonseed for oil extraction?
In the shaker room a series of screens and air equipment remove trash from the cottonseed. The seed is then sent to gin stands where the linters are removed from the seed and pressed into bales.
How many times is the delinting process done at the cottonseed oil mill?
Usually twice, or sometimes three times.
Name products produced from the first cut and second cut linters?
First cut-Non-chemical products (medical supplies, twine, candle wicks, etc.)
Second cut-Chemical products (foodstuff, film, paper, toiletries, etc.)
What is the tough outer shell of the cottonseed called?
The hull
Name the inside meat of the cottonseed rich in oil?
The kernel
Explain the flaking roller and cooker processes in oil extraction?
The prepared kernels pass through a series of heavy cast iron rollers that press the meats into thin flakes, then travel to a cooker to reduce their moisture level.
What is miscella?
A cottonseed oil and hexane (organic solvent) mixture
What is cottonseed meal?
The meats that have been de-oiled, dried and ground to produce high protein livestock feed.
Explain the refining and deodorizing of cottonseed oil for food?
Refiner-With the use of heat, sodium hydroxide and a centrifuge the dark oil is transformed into clear yellow oil.
Deodorize-Processes the oil for a lasting clear appearance and no unwanted flavor.
Mexico
Where was cotton first known to be cultivated?
India
Name the major cotton producing areas of the world?
United States, China, India, Pakistan, and Republic of Uzbekistan. Also, Brazil, Australia, Egypt, Argentina, Turkey, Greece, and Syria
Why did the English resist the progress of cotton?
Wool manufacturers did not want competition from cotton fiber.
Who invented the cotton gin and when?
Eli Whitney, in 1793
Where was cotton first known to be grown in the U.S. and by whom?
The Spaniards first grew cotton in Florida.
Who invented the first U.S. cotton mill?
Samuel Slater
What are cotton locks called after removal from the cotton bur?
Seed cotton
What process is used to separate cottonseed from fiber?
Ginning
What is cotton fiber called after separated from the seed?
Lint
How is cotton harvested in modernized countries?
Mechanical spindle pickers or brush strippers harvest cotton.
How was cotton first harvested?
By hand
What did the Rust Brothers of Mississippi invent?
The mechanical cotton picker
What is a popular term used for cotton?
"White Gold"
What is wild cotton?
Cotton that grows uncultivated in the world.
Name the varieties of cotton grown in the United States?
American Pima and Upland
What is the Cotton Belt?
The cotton producing region of the United States.
How many states form the Cotton Belt?
Seventeen-California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and Kansas
Which variety of U.S. cotton has the longest and shortest fiber?
Upland has the shortest fiber and Pima has the longest fiber.
Which varieties of cotton are the most common?
Upland and Pima
What are cotyledons?
Seedling leaves, first to appear on the cotton plant.
What do cotyledons help provide for a young plant?
Cotyledons help produce food for the young plant through photosynthesis.
What is photosynthesis?
The process that uses the chlorophyll in plants to convert sunlight to carbohydrates.
Name the various parts of the cotton plant?
Leaves, squares, flower, boll, bracts, locks, carpel and bur.
Name the components of the dry mature cotton boll?
The bur is made of dried carpels and cotton locks.
What is a seedbed?
The row or ridge in which the cotton seeds will be planted.
What is listing?
Forming the land into ridges and furrows.
What is irrigation?
Adding moisture to the soil by artificial means.
Name three methods of irrigation?
Furrow, sprinkler and drip tape irrigation
What is rain-feed farming?
Depending entirely on rainfall for moisture needed for plant growth.
Name three methods of weed control in a cotton field?
Mechanical cultivation, hand rogueing and herbicides.
Describe each method of weed control?
Cultivation-Uses a mechanical implement to loosen the soil and remove weed. Hand rogueing-Is physical labor using a weed hoe to remove weeds. Herbicides-Uses chemicals to control weeds.
What does a cotton planter do?
Mechanically places the seed in the soil.
List two methods of planting?
Hand planting and mechanical
What is a crop consultant?
A person who monitors a field for pests and recommends treatment if necessary.
How are insect pests controlled or eliminated?
By the use of insecticide or predator insects.
Define I.P.M.?
Integrated Pest Management is the use of beneficial insects to help control the harmful insect (pest) population.
What is fertilizer?
Plant food or nutrients added to the crop to enhance growth.
Name insect pests that plague cotton fields?
Aphid, mite, bollworms, boll weevil, lygus, thrip, white fly and pink bollworms.
What are beneficial insects called?
Predator insects
What does a defoliant do?
Aids in the cotton harvest by causing the plant's leaves to dry and fall off.
What is the picker head of a cotton picker?
The unit of the cotton picker that contains the picking components.
Name some components of the picker head?
Spindles, picking bar, moistener pads, doffer, and picker door
Describe the mechanics of the picking components?
Spindles-Barbed steel units that revolve to grab and pull the lint from the opened bolls.
Picking bar-A vertical bar that contains 18-20 spindles.
Moistener pads-Small finned pads which add moisture to the spindles and help clean them.
Doffer-A series of circular rubber pads that clean cotton from the spindles.
Picker door-A place on the machine where cotton drops before being blown into the picker basket.
How is a stripper harvester different from a mechanical cotton picker?
A stripper strips opened and unopened bolls from the plant instead of "plucking" the cotton from the bur
What is trash in the harvested cotton?
Leaves, stems, branches and burs.
Name the two types of gins?
Roller and saw gin
Briefly explain the mechanics of each type of gin?
Roller Gin-Uses a roller to grab and pull the fiber under a rotating bar with gaps too small for the seed to pass through.
Saw Gin-Uses curricular saws that grip the fiber and pull it through narrow slots too small for the seed to pass.
What is a module builder?
An implement that forms modules (or tightly pressed stacks) of cotton.
Name the ginning process for short staple lint and for long staple lint?
Short staple-Saw ginning and long staple-Roller ginning
Why are huge dryers used in the ginning process?
To reduce moisture and improve fiber quality of the cotton lint.
In what country were roller gins invented?
India
What is raw fiber called after ginning?
Cotton lint
What becomes of the seed and fiber after separation?
Seed goes to cottonseed oil mills or for livestock feed. The fiber goes to textile mills or foreign countries.
What is lint packaged for market called?
A bale of cotton
How many pounds are in a bale?
Approximately 500 pounds
What are the measurements of a universal density bale?
55" tall, 28" wide and 21" thick
Describe what linters are?
The short, fuzzy fibers still attached to the seed after ginning.
What is classing?
The process which measures fiber characteristics against a set of standards.
Where is Yarn and cloth fabricated?
A textile mill
What happens in the opening room of a textile mill?
Bales of lint are opened and placed in a row.
Define carding?
The process of pulling the fibers into parallel alignment to form a thin web.
What is a sliver?
The first step of turning lint into yarn. Fibers that have been pulled into a continuous, untwisted, rope-like strand.
Describe combing?
The process which removes impurities and fibers shorter than ½" from the cotton, so that smoother and more uniform yarn may be produced.
What is roving?
Sliver which has been drawn out to a thinner strand and given a slight twist to improve strength.
What is the final process in yarn manufacturing?
Spinning
Describe the spinning process?
The roving is drawn and twisted into a fine yarn and then wound onto bobbins.
What two names is yarn called during and after the weaving process?
Weft (filling) is the crosswise yarn and warp is the lengthwise yarn.
What adds strength to the yarn before weaving?
Warp yarns are coated with a sizing compound or starch mixture before weaving.
Name the three basic weaves?
Plain, twill and satin
Briefly describe the three basic weaves?
Plain-Weft yarn passes over and under each warp yarn.
Twill-Yarns are interlaced in an angle to form straight, diagonal ridges.
Satin-Smooth surface is made up mostly of warp yarn passing over and under all but one yarn, intersecting in a regular of irregular formation, not a straight line.
Name another method of turning yarn into fabric using needles?
Knitting
How is knit fabric constructed?
Yarn is made into loops (stitches) which are linked together by the use of needles.
Explain the two basic types of knit fabrics?
Weft knit-Made on a circular needle machine producing fabric in a tubular form.
Warp knit-A single yarn is twisted and entwined in several directions lengthwise in an action similar to several yarns entering a machine.
Name two types of cottonseed oil mills?
Screw press and solvent extraction
Explain how solvent extraction and screw press mills differ?
Solvent extraction-Uses an organic solvent that dissolves the oil from the prepared meats (kernels).
Screw press-Uses high pressure created by a press to force the oil from the meats.
Describe the first step in processing cottonseed for oil extraction?
In the shaker room a series of screens and air equipment remove trash from the cottonseed. The seed is then sent to gin stands where the linters are removed from the seed and pressed into bales.
How many times is the delinting process done at the cottonseed oil mill?
Usually twice, or sometimes three times.
Name products produced from the first cut and second cut linters?
First cut-Non-chemical products (medical supplies, twine, candle wicks, etc.)
Second cut-Chemical products (foodstuff, film, paper, toiletries, etc.)
What is the tough outer shell of the cottonseed called?
The hull
Name the inside meat of the cottonseed rich in oil?
The kernel
Explain the flaking roller and cooker processes in oil extraction?
The prepared kernels pass through a series of heavy cast iron rollers that press the meats into thin flakes, then travel to a cooker to reduce their moisture level.
What is miscella?
A cottonseed oil and hexane (organic solvent) mixture
What is cottonseed meal?
The meats that have been de-oiled, dried and ground to produce high protein livestock feed.
Explain the refining and deodorizing of cottonseed oil for food?
Refiner-With the use of heat, sodium hydroxide and a centrifuge the dark oil is transformed into clear yellow oil.
Deodorize-Processes the oil for a lasting clear appearance and no unwanted flavor.
Cotton Facts
Have you ever wondered.
How many finished textile products can be made from a typical 500 lbs. Bale of cotton lint? Below are a few examples of what might be made from a bale of cotton. (These numbers are approximations)
ITEM Per Bale
Men's dress and business shirts 800
Men's & boy's jeans 325
Ladies blouses and shirts 850
Ladies knit & woven dresses 350
Diapers 3,000
Pillowcases 1,200
A complete list of items made from a 500 lbs. bale is included in Cotton's Journey-A Field Trip In A Box complete kit and Curriculum and Activities Guide (book or CD-ROM versions).
How much cotton does it take? The following examples are estimated amounts of cotton required to make these common consumer items.
ITEM Per Bale
1 Pair Jeans 1.5 lbs. (24 oz.)
1 Man's Shirt .6 lbs. (10 oz.)
1 T-shirt .5 lbs. (8 oz.)
1 Diaper .15 lbs. (2.5 oz.)
1 Bath Towel .6 lbs. (10oz.)
How many finished textile products can be made from a typical 500 lbs. Bale of cotton lint? Below are a few examples of what might be made from a bale of cotton. (These numbers are approximations)
ITEM Per Bale
Men's dress and business shirts 800
Men's & boy's jeans 325
Ladies blouses and shirts 850
Ladies knit & woven dresses 350
Diapers 3,000
Pillowcases 1,200
A complete list of items made from a 500 lbs. bale is included in Cotton's Journey-A Field Trip In A Box complete kit and Curriculum and Activities Guide (book or CD-ROM versions).
How much cotton does it take? The following examples are estimated amounts of cotton required to make these common consumer items.
ITEM Per Bale
1 Pair Jeans 1.5 lbs. (24 oz.)
1 Man's Shirt .6 lbs. (10 oz.)
1 T-shirt .5 lbs. (8 oz.)
1 Diaper .15 lbs. (2.5 oz.)
1 Bath Towel .6 lbs. (10oz.)
The Cotton Story
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever thought about where the clothes you and your family wear come from, or the dressing you put on your salad, or the sheets you crawl under at night before you go to sleep? It comes from cotton! Cotton.the most important and widely used fiber ever known to man. Cotton is used for thousands of things, including clothes, space suits for astronauts and ingredients in the food we eat.
How it is grown, cultivated, harvested and finally processed into cloth and other co-products is what you will be learning about in this story of cotton and Cotton's Journey - A field Trip in a Box.
Cotton is a plant, it grows wild in many places on the earth, but it has been known about, cultivated and put to use by people of many lands for centuries.
Scientists and historians have found shreds of cloth or written reference to cotton dating back at least seven-thousand years. The oldest discovery was made in a Mexican cave, where scientists unearthed bits and pieces of cotton bolls and cloth. Archaeologists have also found cloth fragments in the Indus Valley of India (Pakistan) dating about 3000 B.C. In 1500 B.C.,
cotton was referred to in a Hindu Rig-Veda hymn mentioning "threads in the loom." It is generally believed that the first cultivation of cotton was in India, though it grew wild in several locations around the world. People living in Egypt's Nile Valley and across the world in Peru were also familiar with cotton.
Cotton was grown by American Indians in the early 1500's, documented from sightings by the Coronado expedition 1540-42. The Spaniards raised a cotton crop in Florida in 1556.
In England, in the early 1700's, during the height of the British Empire, it was against the law, to either import or manufacture cloth from cotton. These laws were enacted to protect the powerful English sheep and wool industry of that time. These restrictions also kept the cotton industry from expanding to the American Colonies. However, by the early 1600's, cotton had been introduced to North America and in 1607 the first seed was planted by colonists along the James River in Virginia.
The colonists had the ability to produce much cotton but were restricted by the mechanical know-how. It was Samuel Slater, an English mill worker, who changed this by migrating to America in 1790 and building the first American cotton mill from memory. With the development of the cotton mill, Eli Whitney saw the need for a faster means of removing the lint (cotton fibers) from the seed. In 1793, he patented a machine known as the cotton gin. This invention revolutionized the way lint was separated from the seed. Up to that time, for centuries, the separation process had all been done by hand. With Whitney's gin, short for the word engine, lint volume was increased for each worker from 1 lb. To 50 lbs. per day.
Harvesting the cotton by hand was another limitation of productivity. An experienced laborer could pick approximately 450 pounds of seed cotton (cotton removed from the plant with seeds intact) by hand per day. A picking device was first patented in 1850 and a stripper (a machine that strips both open and unopened bolls and trash from the plant) in 1871. In the early 1930's, after years of development and change, the Rust Brothers of Mississippi used a one row mechanical cotton picker (a machine that used revolving spindles or barbed points to grab and pull the cotton from the open boll) of their design to pick approximately 8,000 pounds of seed cotton in one day. This was quite an improvement in cotton harvest efficiency.
THE PLANT
There are several species of “wild cotton” (cotton that grows uncultivated ) in the world. They have been found in Australia, Africa, Arizona, Central America, Lower California, Brazil, Mexico and other tropical countries and islands. Because of problems related to their refinement, they are not economically feasible to use. Through genetic assistance and breeding, today’s cottons have evolved from these “wild” sources and are more processing friendly.
Currently, there are five prominent types of cotton being grown commercially around the world. They are Egyptian, Sea Island, American Pima, Asiatic and Upland. Because of their need for a long, sunny growing period with at least 160 frost free days they are grown between latitudes 45 degrees north and 30 degrees south. The major producing countries within this region are the United States, Peoples Republic of China, India, Pakistan and Republic of Uzbekistan. Also, Brazil, Australia, Egypt, Argentina, Turkey, Greece, Syria and others produce significant, but lesser amount
In the U.S. there are fourteen major cotton growing states that produce Upland cotton. They are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Some cotton is also grown in Florida, Kansas and New Mexico. American Pima cotton is grown in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. All of these states form a region in the United States known as the Cotton Belt and have three things in common, lots of sunshine, water and fertile soil, very important to growing a good cotton crop.
Upland cotton being the most common type in the U.S. has a staple length (length of fiber) of 13/16 to 1 ¼ inches. The American Pima has a staple length of 1 5/16 to 1 ½ inches. These plant types grow and mature at different rates and lengths of time, but basically mature within a 30 day period of each other.
Cotton plants have a general time frame in which they grow and produce after planting (introducing the seed to moist soil). With ideal conditions, the planted cotton seed will germinate (to begin to grow) or sprout and emerge in about five to ten days. The first 2 leaves that are visible on the young cotton plant are seedling leaves called cotyledons (cot-a-lee-dons). They are useful for absorbing sunlight into the plant. The sunlight is then converted through a process known as photosynthesis, into nourishing carbohydrates that will help the plant grow.
In about two to four weeks they turn over the photosynthetic task to true leaves (leaves produced subsequent to the cotyledons) which continue the feeding process for the duration of the plants life. The plant continues to grow, adding leaves and height, and in approximately five to seven weeks, small flower buds called squares (a small flower bud covered with fringed leaf-like parts called bracts) will appear on the cotton plant. As this square develops, the bud swells and begins to push through the bracts until it opens into an attractive flower. Within three days, the flower will pollinate (the transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma of the same or another flower) itself, change from a creamy white or yellow color to a pinkish red, and then wither and fall, exposing a small, green, immature cotton boll (a segmented pod containing 32 immature seeds from which the cotton fibers will grow). This boll is considered a fruit because it contains seeds. As the fibers continue to grow and thicken within the segmented boll, it enlarges until it becomes approximately the size of a small fig. Now, the cotton fibers have become mature and thickened with their primary growth substance, cellulose (a carbohydrate, the chief component of the cell wall in most plants). An average boll will contain nearly 500,000 fibers of cotton and each plant may bear up to 100 bolls
In about 140 days after planting or 45 days after bolls appear, the cotton boll will begin to naturally split open along the bolls segments or carpels and dry out, exposing the underlying cotton segments called locks. These dried carpels are known as the bur, and it's the bur that will hold the locks of cotton in place when fully dried and fluffed, ready for picking.
The growth cycle of the various cotton species vary in length, but the sequence of fruit production remain the same. Weather, insects and moisture can adversely affect optimum conditions for plant growth and it is the farmer's responsibility to adjust to these conditions to optimize yield
PRODUCTION
Before cotton can be processed into the many products it becomes. It must be planted, irrigated, nurtured with fertilizer, protected from
unwanted weeds, grasses and insects and harvested. This usually means loosening the soil to the depth of 1 to 2 ½ feet with tillage equipment. This will allow water and cotton roots to penetrate the soil and support the plant.
Cotton Trivia
United States cotton production stretches from California to Virginia, and normally covers more than 14 million acres or about 22,000 square miles.
A seedbed (the row in which the cotton seed will be planted) is prepared by listing (forming land into ridges and furrow) the soil. This allows for faster warming of the soil in the spring and directs irrigation water across the field. Small amounts of soil enriching nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, may be added to the soil at this time.
Planting may be done by hand, but in the more advanced regions of the world, mechanical planters are used.
When the soil reaches optimum temperature, about 65 degrees, these implements will place the seeds in the soil, usually 1 to 2 inches deep, depending on soil type. The mechanical planters can cover as many as 12 rows at a time.
In some cotton production regions, where soil erosion is a problem, conservation tillage is used. In this system, crop residue from the previous crop or a cover crop is left on the soil surface to protect the soil from heavy rains and winds. A special planter is used to open the soil and place the seed without disturbing the protective cover.
As the plants demand it, when available, additional water is delivered to the fields. Sometimes only from natural rainfall, called rain-feed farming, or through irrigation (water application through artificial means), called irrigated farming. This can be accomplished in 3 different ways; 1) furrow irrigation takes place by simply running water down a seedbed furrow, 2) sprinkler irrigation is much like lawn sprinklers where pressurized water is sprayed out over an area, and 3) drip tape irrigation, this is a relatively new method of irrigation using buried tubing that releases water into the soil beneath the plant.
Most of today's commercial cotton farms use a combination of weed control methods. Such as, Cultivation which is done mechanically by machines called cultivators, hand rogueing or weed removal by people with the use of weed hoes and the application of chemical herbicides (chemicals used to control weeds). Chemical herbicides can be applied before or after the cotton is planted. Once the cotton plant has emerged, cultivation and hand rogueing must be done very carefully in order to kill the weeds but not harm the growing cotton plant. If the weeds were allowed to grow, they would compete for nutrients in the soil that are necessary for a healthy and productive cotton plant.
When the cotton plant is in it's seedling stage, it is very susceptible to soil borne fungal disease. There are several diseases that can stunt the growth of the plant, cause leaves to fall off, attack the roots and make the plant wither and die. If the effects of disease don't kill the plant, low yields and a poor quality cotton will result. Development of disease resistant cotton seed has become a priority in the industry. Cotton varieties resistant to some fungi and other destructive organisms have been developed and are being used in certain areas. There is still more research to be done before fungal disease is no longer a factor in producing cotton.
The plant's food, or nutrients, are referred to in agriculture as fertilizer. Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, calcium and magnesium are the primary fertilizer elements (macronutrients) but there are several trace elements (micronutrients required in small quantities for optimum plant growth) also. These include copper, manganese, zinc, molybdenum, boron, chlorine and cobalt. Starter fertilizer is usually added to the soil before the seed is planted to provide nutrients to feed a healthy seedling. As the cotton plant grows, its nutrient requirement is monitored and any additions needed are applied.
Insect pests have plagued the cotton growing industry over the years and they are a source of constant concern to growers. Insects such as aphid, mite, bollworms, boll weevil, lygus, thrip, white fly, and pink bollworms cause serious destruction to the cotton plants' squares, bolls, leaves, and fiber resulting in a monetary loss to the cotton grower. The pink bollworm is responsible for the most cotton damage and has been found in all of the cotton producing countries, including the United States. The spread of this pest is being held in check by plowing cotton stalks under more than 6 inches deep immediately after harvest to remove over-wintering habitat. There are also beneficial insects or predator insects that feed on various insect pests. Most growers use the services of a crop consultant to monitor their fields for insect pest populations and advise them on treatment. If the insect pest population increases to a level that may severely affect the field's production potential, the grower may then be advised to use an insecticide (a chemical product used to suppress or eliminate an insect pest). These products may be applied by a ground application vehicle specially designed to avoid damaging the cotton plants. Airplanes and/or helicopters are used for air applications, flown low over the field by trained pilots to deliver their load.
A method of insect pest control being practiced on a limited basis is called integrated pest management (I.P.M.). This method coordinates the use of insecticides and the dispersal of beneficial insects purchased to aid in suppressing unwanted insects. Research is being done to find insects to control a wider spectrum of insect pests, a limiting factor of effectiveness in today's I.P.M. practices.
Pest management in cotton production today contributes a substantial share of the costs involved in raising a crop. The cotton farmer is reluctant to treat weed and insect pests unless absolutely necessary to protect crop yield potential. The correct decisions and timing of both irrigations and pest control measures is an ally to a grower's success as he/she guides their crop to maturity.
When enough bolls have opened naturally, harvest aids are applied to the plant to help speed up the maturation process. This, also, is done either by ground or air application. Defoliation helps the leaves to dry and fall off and to help any of the remaining unopened cotton bolls to open. This practice enables the grower to hasten the opening of the cotton bolls which can then be gathered quickly, in a short period of time. It is essential that the crop is harvested before weather and rain can damage or ruin its quality and reduce yield. Frost also causes the plant to shed its leaves naturally and assists in splitting bolls, but may occur too late in the season to benefit harvest. Now the cotton crop is ready to be harvested.
For centuries cotton has been picked by hand. Hand picking is done in the less progressive cotton growing regions of the world. It is very inefficient and no longer practiced in modernized countries.
As the mechanical cotton picker moves through the field, the cotton plants are guided through the picker head (a unit that contains the picking components). The seed cotton, or locks, in the bur encounter revolving barbed spindles attached to a picking bar (a vertical bar that contains 18 to 20 spindles) attached to a rotating drum. The locks are grabbed by the barbed spindle and pulled from its bur. The rotating drum then moves the picking bar toward the doffer. A doffer is a series of curricular, rubber lined pads, stacked 18 to 20 high, that remove cotton from the spindle. The seed cotton and spindles pass through the doffer where the cotton is removed or doffed from the spindle to fall to the picker door (a side component of the picker with channeling to facilitate the movement of cotton). An air vacuum created by a fan then sucks the cotton away from the door and blows it into the basket. The spindle now continues on its rotation passing through the moistener pads (small finned pads stacked 18 to 20 high, which add water and/or moistening agent to the spindles) where they are lubricated to assist in cleaning them. This sequence repeats itself continually while the cotton is being picked. Spindle type cotton pickers harvest most of the cotton grown in the United States.
In some areas of the Cotton Belt, brush strippers are used to harvest seed cotton. These machines remove bolls and burs from the plant with rotating brushes and bats. Material is fed into a field cleaner where much of the burs and sticks are removed and blown into a large basket. They are used primarily in dryland farming cotton areas in Texas where the cotton plant varieties are more compact in stature. Small plant size is important when using a stripper because they tend to accumulate more trash (leaves, bolls, stems and branches) in their harvested product.
Today’s modern cotton harvesters can cover up to 6 to 8 rows at a time and can harvest up to 190,000 pounds of seed cotton a day. These new cotton harvesters are a major improvement over the hand methods of the past.
Prior to the development of the module builder, most cotton picked by machines was dumped into cotton trailers and hauled to a cotton gin (a place where seed and fiber are mechanically separated). This system became inefficient when the trailers were filled faster than the gin could process the cotton and the cotton pickers had to cease harvesting while waiting for trailers to empty. This challenge was met with the invention of the module builder in 1972. This implement allows cotton to be dumped from the picker onto the ground and be compressed hydraulically to form a module (tightly pressed stack) of cotton. Each module holds 12-14 bales. This module can be left in the field for storage and later be hauled directly to the gin or transported by a module mover to the gin’s storage yard. The use of these builders allow the pickers to continue harvesting, unimpeded by ginning problems or delays
PROCESSING THE CROP
The cotton gin is where cotton fiber is separated from the cotton seed. The first step in the ginning process is when the cotton is vacuumed into tubes that carry it to a dryer to reduce moisture and improve the fiber quality. Then it runs through cleaning equipment to remove leaf trash, sticks and other foreign matter.
Ginning is accomplished by one of two methods. Cotton varieties with shorter staple or fiber length are ginned with saw gins. This process involves the use of circular saws that grip the fibers and pull them through narrow slots. Cotton Trivia
The cotton industry as a whole creates more than 340,000 jobs and generates over $60 billion of business in the United States—the greatest of any U.S. crop.
The seeds are too large to pass through these openings, resulting in the fibers being pulled away from the seed. Long fiber cottons must be ginned in a roller gin because saw gins can damage their delicate fibers. The roller gin was invented in India centuries ago and this concept is still used in modern gins. Long staple cottons, like Pima, separate from the seed more easily than Upland varietie. A roller gin uses a rough roller to grab the fiber and pull it under a rotating bar with gaps too small for the seed to pass.
The raw fiber, now called lint, makes its way through another series of pipes to a press where it is compressed into bales (lint packaged for market), banded with eight steel straps, sampled for classing, wrapped for protection then loaded onto trucks for shipment to storage yards, textile mills and foreign countries. The cotton industry has adopted a standard for a bale of cotton, 55 inches tall, 28 inches wide, and 21 inches thick, weighing approximately 500 pounds. A bale meeting these requirements is called a universal density bale. This is enough cotton to make 325 pairs of denim jeans.
Every bale of cotton is classed from a sample taken after its formation. The classing of cotton lint is the process of measuring fiber characteristics against a set of standards (grades). Classing is done by experts, called classers, who use scientific instruments to judge the samples of lint. All standards are established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Once the quality of the cotton bale is determined, pricing parameters are set and the lint may be taken to market. Cotton marketing is the selling and buying of cotton lint. Cotton is priced in cents per pound when sold and the price is negotiated according to the cotton's quality. After baling, the cotton lint is hauled to either storage yards, textile mills, or shipped to foreign countries. The cotton seed is delivered to a seed storage area. Where it will remain until it is loaded into trucks and transported to a cottonseed oil mill or directly for livestock feed
COTTON LINT
Textile mills purchase cotton and receive the bales from gin yards or cotton warehouses. These mills start with raw bales of cotton and process them in stages until they produce yarn (fibers twisted into threads used in weaving or knitting) or cloth (fabric or material constructed from weaving or knitting).
The first stage is in the opening room. Here, bales are opened and laid in a line on the floor, side by side, near a cotton opening machine. This machine travels along the line of opened bales, pulling fibers to be sent to a mixing machine and then on to the carding system.
Cotton Trivia
Khaki is derived from a Hindu word that means “dust color.” Originally, khaki referred to a dull yellow-brown cotton or wool uniform fabric used for its camouflage effect.
Carding is the process of pulling the fibers into parallel alignment to form a thin web. High speed electronic equipment with wire toothed rollers perform this task. The web of fibers is eventually condensed into a continuous, untwisted, rope-like strand called a sliver, (pronounced slyver).
These slivers then continue to a combing machine. Here, the fibers shorter than half-inch and impurities are removed from the cotton.
This process makes the sliver smoother so more uniform yarns can be produced. The drawing or pulling of this sliver is next.
The sliver is drawn out to a thinner strand and given a slight twist to improve strength, then wound on bobbins (spools wound with the thread-like product for storage). Having completed this process, it is now called roving. The roving bobbins are now ready for the spinning process.
Spinning is the last process in yarn manufacturing. Today's mills draw and twist the roving into yarn and place it on bobbins. They do this quite efficiently. A large, modern mill can produce enough yarn or thread in 30 days to wrap around the earth 2300 times or go to and return from the moon 235 times. With the use of automatic winding, the yarn bobbins are transferred to larger bobbins called cheese cones. These cheese cones can be stored until they are needed in the weaving process.
The weaving process uses yarn that, depending on how it lies in the woven goods, now assume different names. These yarns may now be either a warp or a weft yarn. Warp refers to yarns that run lengthwise in woven goods. In preparation of warp yarns for weaving, hundreds of yarn strands are wound from cheese cones onto a large warp beam. Yarns on this beam are then coated with a sizing compound (a starch mixture) to add strength for weaving. The sized yarns are then wound onto a loom beam that will be placed on the loom (a machine used to interlace yarns to form cloth). Weft is the yarn that runs crosswise in woven goods and may be referred to as filling yarn. Sizing is not placed on weft because flexibility is needed in the weaving process. In today's most modern mills, the weft is fed into the loom from cheese cones with air-jets at such a high speed that its movement cannot be seen.
The woven cloth from the loom, called greige or grey, is whitish but has a natural yellow tint. This cloth is further treated by various means to improve its appearance and feel, then either bleached, dyed or printed to produce the fabrics used in various products seen on store shelves.
There are three basic weaves that are used. The plain weave, the most common, is produced by passing the weft yarn over and under each warp yarn, alternating each row. This is used for cotton print cloth, sheeting, muslin and more. The twill weave is produced by interlacing yarns in an angle to form straight, diagonal ridges across the fabric. This is used for sturdy products such as denim, gabardine and ticking. The satin weave, has a surface that consists mostly of warp yarn which is passed over and under all but one weft yarn that intersects in a regular or irregular formation, not a straight line. This weave produces a fabric with a smooth surface. It is used for upholstery, home decorating and fashionable apparel.
Knitting is another method of turning yarn into fabric. Knit fabric is constructed of yarns made into loops (stitches) which are linked together by the use of needles. There are two basic types of knitted fabric. The weft knit fabrics are made with yarns forming loops the width of the fabric on a circular machine, producing jersey knit used in T-shirts and underwear. The warp knit fabrics are produced by feeding yarns to form loops in a lengthwise direction and are used for tricot fabrics and cotton lace. Knitted fabrics are softer and more flexible than woven fabrics. Making them ideal for sweaters, active sportswear and hosiery.
COTTON SEED
Cottonseed mills, in the late 1800's, used manual powered mechanical pressure to squeeze the oil from the seed. This was very labor intensive and at best recovered only one-half the oil contained in the seed. Today's mills are either screw press or solvent extraction types. The oil is removed from the meats leaving only 1-2 percent oil in the meats. With the production of 790 lbs. of cottonseed per bale of cotton lint, modern mills can extract 140 pounds of cottonseed oil. This essentially doubles the oil production efficiency of the older mills.
Cotton Trivia
One 500-pound bale of cotton will produce enough oil to cook nearly 6,000 snack-size bags of potato chips.
Processing of cottonseed in modern mills involves a number of steps. The first step is its entry into the shaker room where, through a number of screens and air equipment, twigs, leaves and other trash are removed. The cleaned seed is then sent to gin stands, similar to those in cotton saw gins, where the linters are removed from the seed (delinted).
This linter removal process is usually done twice and the fibers are collected and pressed into 600 pound bales. The linters of the highest grade, referred to as first-cut linters (longer more resilient fibers) are used in manufacturing non-chemical products, such as medical supplies, twine, and candle wicks. The second-cut linters (short fibers or fuzz), removed in further delinting steps, are incorporated in chemical products, found in various foods, toiletries, film, and paper.
The delinted seeds now go to the huller. The huller removes the tough seed coat with a series of knives and shakers. The knives cut the hulls (tough outer shell of the seed) to loosen them from the kernels (the inside meat of the seed, rich in oil) and shakers separate the hulls and kernels. The kernels are now ready for oil extraction and the hulls are sent to storage to be sold for livestock feed. Some industrial uses for hulls have been developed and are being tested. A plastic containing hulls as a major ingredient has been used in producing small parts for textile machinery. Hulls are often incorporated in the mud used in oil well drilling. They are also used in the production of synthetic rubber and in petroleum refining.
The meats (kernels) are now prepared for oil extraction. They pass through flaking rollers made of heavy cast iron, spinning at high speeds. This presses the meats into thin flakes. These flakes then travel to a cooker where they are cooked at 170 degrees F to reduce their moisture levels. In screw press mills, the kernels flow directly into a press which has a screw or worm gear revolving inside a horizontal steel barrel. This meat grinder type action exposes the flakes to extremely high pressure, 10 to 12 tons per square inch, forcing 96% of the oil from the meats. In the solvent extraction mills, the cooked meats are flaked to about the thickness of paper and exposed to live steam and high pressure. This action ruptures the oil cells making the oil accessible for the solvent extraction process.
The prepared meats are conveyed to the extractor and washed with hexane (organic solvent that dissolves out the oil) removing up to 98% of the oil. This hexane-oil mixture is called miscella. The miscella is pumped out of the extractor and is distilled by boiling the hexane from the mixture and condensing it with cooling water. The hexane is reused over and over again. The crude cottonseed oil is then ready for further processing and the de-oiled meats are subjected to live steam for removal of residual hexane. The meats are then dried and ground to produce a 41% protein livestock feed, called cottonseed meal. Cottonseed meals' major value is the high protein it contains to build muscle, nerve, blood and hair. A small amount of cottonseed meal is used for fertilizer. Its organic matter improves soil texture and reduces watering needs.
Crude cottonseed oil requires further processing before it may be used for food. The first step in this process is refining. With the scientific use of heat, sodium hydroxide and a centrifuge (equipment used to separate substances through spinning action), the dark colored crude oil is transformed into a transparent, yellow oil. This clear oil may then be bleached with a special bleaching clay to produce a transparent, amber colored oil. Upon further processing, the oil is deodorized or treated so it will remain clear and have no unwanted flavors.
Cottonseed oil is used in several products. Depending on its stage of refinement, it can be used in snack foods, mayonnaise, margarine, baking or frying oils, explosives, cosmetics, rubber, soap, insecticides and many other products. Foodstuff cottonseed oil has superior nutritive qualities and is on the American Heart Association's list of "okay foods".
Although fiber is the most valuable product from a cotton field, it is important to remember that this versatile plant also provides many products for human and animal consumption. It is from this perspective that cotton becomes a food crop.
COTTON INDUSTRY AND YOU
The cotton industry is constantly striving to develop new and improved methods for producing quality products at a reasonable price. The cotton industry continues to look toward the future at further improving their product while providing employment opportunities for millions of people in a variety of related areas.
Cotton related job opportunities can be found from the farm where the cotton is produced to the department store where the garments are sold. Cotton supports the dairy industry by providing a source of food for the milk cows.
Cotton Trivia
The United States cotton industry exports 6 million to 9 million bales of raw cotton every year. The annual value of the cotton exceeds $3billion.
Cotton seed can be processed to produce oil for cooking and blending with food products. Jobs can be found in the trucking and transportation industry as it is often transported thousands of miles from the cotton gins to the cotton mills, and then again to the distribution outlets.
Transforming the cotton boll through the processes of delinting and cleaning at the gin to processing at the mill for spinning and weaving fabric requires a trained labor force.
The dying of fabric and the assembly of clothing and other products can provide employment for many. High quality papers requiring cotton and paper mills employ thousands annually. The fashion industry needs trained individuals to select the proper combination of fabrics and design to market them to the public. Fashion models rely on these products in their profession. The cotton industry continues to find new and improved uses for cotton worldwide and the public fuels continuous demand for this important commodity. With cotton having all these uses and benefits, it has certainly lived up to the name it was given years ago...."White Gold."
Have you ever thought about where the clothes you and your family wear come from, or the dressing you put on your salad, or the sheets you crawl under at night before you go to sleep? It comes from cotton! Cotton.the most important and widely used fiber ever known to man. Cotton is used for thousands of things, including clothes, space suits for astronauts and ingredients in the food we eat.
How it is grown, cultivated, harvested and finally processed into cloth and other co-products is what you will be learning about in this story of cotton and Cotton's Journey - A field Trip in a Box.
Cotton is a plant, it grows wild in many places on the earth, but it has been known about, cultivated and put to use by people of many lands for centuries.
Scientists and historians have found shreds of cloth or written reference to cotton dating back at least seven-thousand years. The oldest discovery was made in a Mexican cave, where scientists unearthed bits and pieces of cotton bolls and cloth. Archaeologists have also found cloth fragments in the Indus Valley of India (Pakistan) dating about 3000 B.C. In 1500 B.C.,
cotton was referred to in a Hindu Rig-Veda hymn mentioning "threads in the loom." It is generally believed that the first cultivation of cotton was in India, though it grew wild in several locations around the world. People living in Egypt's Nile Valley and across the world in Peru were also familiar with cotton.
Cotton was grown by American Indians in the early 1500's, documented from sightings by the Coronado expedition 1540-42. The Spaniards raised a cotton crop in Florida in 1556.
In England, in the early 1700's, during the height of the British Empire, it was against the law, to either import or manufacture cloth from cotton. These laws were enacted to protect the powerful English sheep and wool industry of that time. These restrictions also kept the cotton industry from expanding to the American Colonies. However, by the early 1600's, cotton had been introduced to North America and in 1607 the first seed was planted by colonists along the James River in Virginia.
The colonists had the ability to produce much cotton but were restricted by the mechanical know-how. It was Samuel Slater, an English mill worker, who changed this by migrating to America in 1790 and building the first American cotton mill from memory. With the development of the cotton mill, Eli Whitney saw the need for a faster means of removing the lint (cotton fibers) from the seed. In 1793, he patented a machine known as the cotton gin. This invention revolutionized the way lint was separated from the seed. Up to that time, for centuries, the separation process had all been done by hand. With Whitney's gin, short for the word engine, lint volume was increased for each worker from 1 lb. To 50 lbs. per day.
Harvesting the cotton by hand was another limitation of productivity. An experienced laborer could pick approximately 450 pounds of seed cotton (cotton removed from the plant with seeds intact) by hand per day. A picking device was first patented in 1850 and a stripper (a machine that strips both open and unopened bolls and trash from the plant) in 1871. In the early 1930's, after years of development and change, the Rust Brothers of Mississippi used a one row mechanical cotton picker (a machine that used revolving spindles or barbed points to grab and pull the cotton from the open boll) of their design to pick approximately 8,000 pounds of seed cotton in one day. This was quite an improvement in cotton harvest efficiency.
THE PLANT
There are several species of “wild cotton” (cotton that grows uncultivated ) in the world. They have been found in Australia, Africa, Arizona, Central America, Lower California, Brazil, Mexico and other tropical countries and islands. Because of problems related to their refinement, they are not economically feasible to use. Through genetic assistance and breeding, today’s cottons have evolved from these “wild” sources and are more processing friendly.
Currently, there are five prominent types of cotton being grown commercially around the world. They are Egyptian, Sea Island, American Pima, Asiatic and Upland. Because of their need for a long, sunny growing period with at least 160 frost free days they are grown between latitudes 45 degrees north and 30 degrees south. The major producing countries within this region are the United States, Peoples Republic of China, India, Pakistan and Republic of Uzbekistan. Also, Brazil, Australia, Egypt, Argentina, Turkey, Greece, Syria and others produce significant, but lesser amount
In the U.S. there are fourteen major cotton growing states that produce Upland cotton. They are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Some cotton is also grown in Florida, Kansas and New Mexico. American Pima cotton is grown in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. All of these states form a region in the United States known as the Cotton Belt and have three things in common, lots of sunshine, water and fertile soil, very important to growing a good cotton crop.
Upland cotton being the most common type in the U.S. has a staple length (length of fiber) of 13/16 to 1 ¼ inches. The American Pima has a staple length of 1 5/16 to 1 ½ inches. These plant types grow and mature at different rates and lengths of time, but basically mature within a 30 day period of each other.
Cotton plants have a general time frame in which they grow and produce after planting (introducing the seed to moist soil). With ideal conditions, the planted cotton seed will germinate (to begin to grow) or sprout and emerge in about five to ten days. The first 2 leaves that are visible on the young cotton plant are seedling leaves called cotyledons (cot-a-lee-dons). They are useful for absorbing sunlight into the plant. The sunlight is then converted through a process known as photosynthesis, into nourishing carbohydrates that will help the plant grow.
In about two to four weeks they turn over the photosynthetic task to true leaves (leaves produced subsequent to the cotyledons) which continue the feeding process for the duration of the plants life. The plant continues to grow, adding leaves and height, and in approximately five to seven weeks, small flower buds called squares (a small flower bud covered with fringed leaf-like parts called bracts) will appear on the cotton plant. As this square develops, the bud swells and begins to push through the bracts until it opens into an attractive flower. Within three days, the flower will pollinate (the transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma of the same or another flower) itself, change from a creamy white or yellow color to a pinkish red, and then wither and fall, exposing a small, green, immature cotton boll (a segmented pod containing 32 immature seeds from which the cotton fibers will grow). This boll is considered a fruit because it contains seeds. As the fibers continue to grow and thicken within the segmented boll, it enlarges until it becomes approximately the size of a small fig. Now, the cotton fibers have become mature and thickened with their primary growth substance, cellulose (a carbohydrate, the chief component of the cell wall in most plants). An average boll will contain nearly 500,000 fibers of cotton and each plant may bear up to 100 bolls
In about 140 days after planting or 45 days after bolls appear, the cotton boll will begin to naturally split open along the bolls segments or carpels and dry out, exposing the underlying cotton segments called locks. These dried carpels are known as the bur, and it's the bur that will hold the locks of cotton in place when fully dried and fluffed, ready for picking.
The growth cycle of the various cotton species vary in length, but the sequence of fruit production remain the same. Weather, insects and moisture can adversely affect optimum conditions for plant growth and it is the farmer's responsibility to adjust to these conditions to optimize yield
PRODUCTION
Before cotton can be processed into the many products it becomes. It must be planted, irrigated, nurtured with fertilizer, protected from
unwanted weeds, grasses and insects and harvested. This usually means loosening the soil to the depth of 1 to 2 ½ feet with tillage equipment. This will allow water and cotton roots to penetrate the soil and support the plant.
Cotton Trivia
United States cotton production stretches from California to Virginia, and normally covers more than 14 million acres or about 22,000 square miles.
A seedbed (the row in which the cotton seed will be planted) is prepared by listing (forming land into ridges and furrow) the soil. This allows for faster warming of the soil in the spring and directs irrigation water across the field. Small amounts of soil enriching nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, may be added to the soil at this time.
Planting may be done by hand, but in the more advanced regions of the world, mechanical planters are used.
When the soil reaches optimum temperature, about 65 degrees, these implements will place the seeds in the soil, usually 1 to 2 inches deep, depending on soil type. The mechanical planters can cover as many as 12 rows at a time.
In some cotton production regions, where soil erosion is a problem, conservation tillage is used. In this system, crop residue from the previous crop or a cover crop is left on the soil surface to protect the soil from heavy rains and winds. A special planter is used to open the soil and place the seed without disturbing the protective cover.
As the plants demand it, when available, additional water is delivered to the fields. Sometimes only from natural rainfall, called rain-feed farming, or through irrigation (water application through artificial means), called irrigated farming. This can be accomplished in 3 different ways; 1) furrow irrigation takes place by simply running water down a seedbed furrow, 2) sprinkler irrigation is much like lawn sprinklers where pressurized water is sprayed out over an area, and 3) drip tape irrigation, this is a relatively new method of irrigation using buried tubing that releases water into the soil beneath the plant.
Most of today's commercial cotton farms use a combination of weed control methods. Such as, Cultivation which is done mechanically by machines called cultivators, hand rogueing or weed removal by people with the use of weed hoes and the application of chemical herbicides (chemicals used to control weeds). Chemical herbicides can be applied before or after the cotton is planted. Once the cotton plant has emerged, cultivation and hand rogueing must be done very carefully in order to kill the weeds but not harm the growing cotton plant. If the weeds were allowed to grow, they would compete for nutrients in the soil that are necessary for a healthy and productive cotton plant.
When the cotton plant is in it's seedling stage, it is very susceptible to soil borne fungal disease. There are several diseases that can stunt the growth of the plant, cause leaves to fall off, attack the roots and make the plant wither and die. If the effects of disease don't kill the plant, low yields and a poor quality cotton will result. Development of disease resistant cotton seed has become a priority in the industry. Cotton varieties resistant to some fungi and other destructive organisms have been developed and are being used in certain areas. There is still more research to be done before fungal disease is no longer a factor in producing cotton.
The plant's food, or nutrients, are referred to in agriculture as fertilizer. Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, calcium and magnesium are the primary fertilizer elements (macronutrients) but there are several trace elements (micronutrients required in small quantities for optimum plant growth) also. These include copper, manganese, zinc, molybdenum, boron, chlorine and cobalt. Starter fertilizer is usually added to the soil before the seed is planted to provide nutrients to feed a healthy seedling. As the cotton plant grows, its nutrient requirement is monitored and any additions needed are applied.
Insect pests have plagued the cotton growing industry over the years and they are a source of constant concern to growers. Insects such as aphid, mite, bollworms, boll weevil, lygus, thrip, white fly, and pink bollworms cause serious destruction to the cotton plants' squares, bolls, leaves, and fiber resulting in a monetary loss to the cotton grower. The pink bollworm is responsible for the most cotton damage and has been found in all of the cotton producing countries, including the United States. The spread of this pest is being held in check by plowing cotton stalks under more than 6 inches deep immediately after harvest to remove over-wintering habitat. There are also beneficial insects or predator insects that feed on various insect pests. Most growers use the services of a crop consultant to monitor their fields for insect pest populations and advise them on treatment. If the insect pest population increases to a level that may severely affect the field's production potential, the grower may then be advised to use an insecticide (a chemical product used to suppress or eliminate an insect pest). These products may be applied by a ground application vehicle specially designed to avoid damaging the cotton plants. Airplanes and/or helicopters are used for air applications, flown low over the field by trained pilots to deliver their load.
A method of insect pest control being practiced on a limited basis is called integrated pest management (I.P.M.). This method coordinates the use of insecticides and the dispersal of beneficial insects purchased to aid in suppressing unwanted insects. Research is being done to find insects to control a wider spectrum of insect pests, a limiting factor of effectiveness in today's I.P.M. practices.
Pest management in cotton production today contributes a substantial share of the costs involved in raising a crop. The cotton farmer is reluctant to treat weed and insect pests unless absolutely necessary to protect crop yield potential. The correct decisions and timing of both irrigations and pest control measures is an ally to a grower's success as he/she guides their crop to maturity.
When enough bolls have opened naturally, harvest aids are applied to the plant to help speed up the maturation process. This, also, is done either by ground or air application. Defoliation helps the leaves to dry and fall off and to help any of the remaining unopened cotton bolls to open. This practice enables the grower to hasten the opening of the cotton bolls which can then be gathered quickly, in a short period of time. It is essential that the crop is harvested before weather and rain can damage or ruin its quality and reduce yield. Frost also causes the plant to shed its leaves naturally and assists in splitting bolls, but may occur too late in the season to benefit harvest. Now the cotton crop is ready to be harvested.
For centuries cotton has been picked by hand. Hand picking is done in the less progressive cotton growing regions of the world. It is very inefficient and no longer practiced in modernized countries.
As the mechanical cotton picker moves through the field, the cotton plants are guided through the picker head (a unit that contains the picking components). The seed cotton, or locks, in the bur encounter revolving barbed spindles attached to a picking bar (a vertical bar that contains 18 to 20 spindles) attached to a rotating drum. The locks are grabbed by the barbed spindle and pulled from its bur. The rotating drum then moves the picking bar toward the doffer. A doffer is a series of curricular, rubber lined pads, stacked 18 to 20 high, that remove cotton from the spindle. The seed cotton and spindles pass through the doffer where the cotton is removed or doffed from the spindle to fall to the picker door (a side component of the picker with channeling to facilitate the movement of cotton). An air vacuum created by a fan then sucks the cotton away from the door and blows it into the basket. The spindle now continues on its rotation passing through the moistener pads (small finned pads stacked 18 to 20 high, which add water and/or moistening agent to the spindles) where they are lubricated to assist in cleaning them. This sequence repeats itself continually while the cotton is being picked. Spindle type cotton pickers harvest most of the cotton grown in the United States.
In some areas of the Cotton Belt, brush strippers are used to harvest seed cotton. These machines remove bolls and burs from the plant with rotating brushes and bats. Material is fed into a field cleaner where much of the burs and sticks are removed and blown into a large basket. They are used primarily in dryland farming cotton areas in Texas where the cotton plant varieties are more compact in stature. Small plant size is important when using a stripper because they tend to accumulate more trash (leaves, bolls, stems and branches) in their harvested product.
Today’s modern cotton harvesters can cover up to 6 to 8 rows at a time and can harvest up to 190,000 pounds of seed cotton a day. These new cotton harvesters are a major improvement over the hand methods of the past.
Prior to the development of the module builder, most cotton picked by machines was dumped into cotton trailers and hauled to a cotton gin (a place where seed and fiber are mechanically separated). This system became inefficient when the trailers were filled faster than the gin could process the cotton and the cotton pickers had to cease harvesting while waiting for trailers to empty. This challenge was met with the invention of the module builder in 1972. This implement allows cotton to be dumped from the picker onto the ground and be compressed hydraulically to form a module (tightly pressed stack) of cotton. Each module holds 12-14 bales. This module can be left in the field for storage and later be hauled directly to the gin or transported by a module mover to the gin’s storage yard. The use of these builders allow the pickers to continue harvesting, unimpeded by ginning problems or delays
PROCESSING THE CROP
The cotton gin is where cotton fiber is separated from the cotton seed. The first step in the ginning process is when the cotton is vacuumed into tubes that carry it to a dryer to reduce moisture and improve the fiber quality. Then it runs through cleaning equipment to remove leaf trash, sticks and other foreign matter.
Ginning is accomplished by one of two methods. Cotton varieties with shorter staple or fiber length are ginned with saw gins. This process involves the use of circular saws that grip the fibers and pull them through narrow slots. Cotton Trivia
The cotton industry as a whole creates more than 340,000 jobs and generates over $60 billion of business in the United States—the greatest of any U.S. crop.
The seeds are too large to pass through these openings, resulting in the fibers being pulled away from the seed. Long fiber cottons must be ginned in a roller gin because saw gins can damage their delicate fibers. The roller gin was invented in India centuries ago and this concept is still used in modern gins. Long staple cottons, like Pima, separate from the seed more easily than Upland varietie. A roller gin uses a rough roller to grab the fiber and pull it under a rotating bar with gaps too small for the seed to pass.
The raw fiber, now called lint, makes its way through another series of pipes to a press where it is compressed into bales (lint packaged for market), banded with eight steel straps, sampled for classing, wrapped for protection then loaded onto trucks for shipment to storage yards, textile mills and foreign countries. The cotton industry has adopted a standard for a bale of cotton, 55 inches tall, 28 inches wide, and 21 inches thick, weighing approximately 500 pounds. A bale meeting these requirements is called a universal density bale. This is enough cotton to make 325 pairs of denim jeans.
Every bale of cotton is classed from a sample taken after its formation. The classing of cotton lint is the process of measuring fiber characteristics against a set of standards (grades). Classing is done by experts, called classers, who use scientific instruments to judge the samples of lint. All standards are established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Once the quality of the cotton bale is determined, pricing parameters are set and the lint may be taken to market. Cotton marketing is the selling and buying of cotton lint. Cotton is priced in cents per pound when sold and the price is negotiated according to the cotton's quality. After baling, the cotton lint is hauled to either storage yards, textile mills, or shipped to foreign countries. The cotton seed is delivered to a seed storage area. Where it will remain until it is loaded into trucks and transported to a cottonseed oil mill or directly for livestock feed
COTTON LINT
Textile mills purchase cotton and receive the bales from gin yards or cotton warehouses. These mills start with raw bales of cotton and process them in stages until they produce yarn (fibers twisted into threads used in weaving or knitting) or cloth (fabric or material constructed from weaving or knitting).
The first stage is in the opening room. Here, bales are opened and laid in a line on the floor, side by side, near a cotton opening machine. This machine travels along the line of opened bales, pulling fibers to be sent to a mixing machine and then on to the carding system.
Cotton Trivia
Khaki is derived from a Hindu word that means “dust color.” Originally, khaki referred to a dull yellow-brown cotton or wool uniform fabric used for its camouflage effect.
Carding is the process of pulling the fibers into parallel alignment to form a thin web. High speed electronic equipment with wire toothed rollers perform this task. The web of fibers is eventually condensed into a continuous, untwisted, rope-like strand called a sliver, (pronounced slyver).
These slivers then continue to a combing machine. Here, the fibers shorter than half-inch and impurities are removed from the cotton.
This process makes the sliver smoother so more uniform yarns can be produced. The drawing or pulling of this sliver is next.
The sliver is drawn out to a thinner strand and given a slight twist to improve strength, then wound on bobbins (spools wound with the thread-like product for storage). Having completed this process, it is now called roving. The roving bobbins are now ready for the spinning process.
Spinning is the last process in yarn manufacturing. Today's mills draw and twist the roving into yarn and place it on bobbins. They do this quite efficiently. A large, modern mill can produce enough yarn or thread in 30 days to wrap around the earth 2300 times or go to and return from the moon 235 times. With the use of automatic winding, the yarn bobbins are transferred to larger bobbins called cheese cones. These cheese cones can be stored until they are needed in the weaving process.
The weaving process uses yarn that, depending on how it lies in the woven goods, now assume different names. These yarns may now be either a warp or a weft yarn. Warp refers to yarns that run lengthwise in woven goods. In preparation of warp yarns for weaving, hundreds of yarn strands are wound from cheese cones onto a large warp beam. Yarns on this beam are then coated with a sizing compound (a starch mixture) to add strength for weaving. The sized yarns are then wound onto a loom beam that will be placed on the loom (a machine used to interlace yarns to form cloth). Weft is the yarn that runs crosswise in woven goods and may be referred to as filling yarn. Sizing is not placed on weft because flexibility is needed in the weaving process. In today's most modern mills, the weft is fed into the loom from cheese cones with air-jets at such a high speed that its movement cannot be seen.
The woven cloth from the loom, called greige or grey, is whitish but has a natural yellow tint. This cloth is further treated by various means to improve its appearance and feel, then either bleached, dyed or printed to produce the fabrics used in various products seen on store shelves.
There are three basic weaves that are used. The plain weave, the most common, is produced by passing the weft yarn over and under each warp yarn, alternating each row. This is used for cotton print cloth, sheeting, muslin and more. The twill weave is produced by interlacing yarns in an angle to form straight, diagonal ridges across the fabric. This is used for sturdy products such as denim, gabardine and ticking. The satin weave, has a surface that consists mostly of warp yarn which is passed over and under all but one weft yarn that intersects in a regular or irregular formation, not a straight line. This weave produces a fabric with a smooth surface. It is used for upholstery, home decorating and fashionable apparel.
Knitting is another method of turning yarn into fabric. Knit fabric is constructed of yarns made into loops (stitches) which are linked together by the use of needles. There are two basic types of knitted fabric. The weft knit fabrics are made with yarns forming loops the width of the fabric on a circular machine, producing jersey knit used in T-shirts and underwear. The warp knit fabrics are produced by feeding yarns to form loops in a lengthwise direction and are used for tricot fabrics and cotton lace. Knitted fabrics are softer and more flexible than woven fabrics. Making them ideal for sweaters, active sportswear and hosiery.
COTTON SEED
Cottonseed mills, in the late 1800's, used manual powered mechanical pressure to squeeze the oil from the seed. This was very labor intensive and at best recovered only one-half the oil contained in the seed. Today's mills are either screw press or solvent extraction types. The oil is removed from the meats leaving only 1-2 percent oil in the meats. With the production of 790 lbs. of cottonseed per bale of cotton lint, modern mills can extract 140 pounds of cottonseed oil. This essentially doubles the oil production efficiency of the older mills.
Cotton Trivia
One 500-pound bale of cotton will produce enough oil to cook nearly 6,000 snack-size bags of potato chips.
Processing of cottonseed in modern mills involves a number of steps. The first step is its entry into the shaker room where, through a number of screens and air equipment, twigs, leaves and other trash are removed. The cleaned seed is then sent to gin stands, similar to those in cotton saw gins, where the linters are removed from the seed (delinted).
This linter removal process is usually done twice and the fibers are collected and pressed into 600 pound bales. The linters of the highest grade, referred to as first-cut linters (longer more resilient fibers) are used in manufacturing non-chemical products, such as medical supplies, twine, and candle wicks. The second-cut linters (short fibers or fuzz), removed in further delinting steps, are incorporated in chemical products, found in various foods, toiletries, film, and paper.
The delinted seeds now go to the huller. The huller removes the tough seed coat with a series of knives and shakers. The knives cut the hulls (tough outer shell of the seed) to loosen them from the kernels (the inside meat of the seed, rich in oil) and shakers separate the hulls and kernels. The kernels are now ready for oil extraction and the hulls are sent to storage to be sold for livestock feed. Some industrial uses for hulls have been developed and are being tested. A plastic containing hulls as a major ingredient has been used in producing small parts for textile machinery. Hulls are often incorporated in the mud used in oil well drilling. They are also used in the production of synthetic rubber and in petroleum refining.
The meats (kernels) are now prepared for oil extraction. They pass through flaking rollers made of heavy cast iron, spinning at high speeds. This presses the meats into thin flakes. These flakes then travel to a cooker where they are cooked at 170 degrees F to reduce their moisture levels. In screw press mills, the kernels flow directly into a press which has a screw or worm gear revolving inside a horizontal steel barrel. This meat grinder type action exposes the flakes to extremely high pressure, 10 to 12 tons per square inch, forcing 96% of the oil from the meats. In the solvent extraction mills, the cooked meats are flaked to about the thickness of paper and exposed to live steam and high pressure. This action ruptures the oil cells making the oil accessible for the solvent extraction process.
The prepared meats are conveyed to the extractor and washed with hexane (organic solvent that dissolves out the oil) removing up to 98% of the oil. This hexane-oil mixture is called miscella. The miscella is pumped out of the extractor and is distilled by boiling the hexane from the mixture and condensing it with cooling water. The hexane is reused over and over again. The crude cottonseed oil is then ready for further processing and the de-oiled meats are subjected to live steam for removal of residual hexane. The meats are then dried and ground to produce a 41% protein livestock feed, called cottonseed meal. Cottonseed meals' major value is the high protein it contains to build muscle, nerve, blood and hair. A small amount of cottonseed meal is used for fertilizer. Its organic matter improves soil texture and reduces watering needs.
Crude cottonseed oil requires further processing before it may be used for food. The first step in this process is refining. With the scientific use of heat, sodium hydroxide and a centrifuge (equipment used to separate substances through spinning action), the dark colored crude oil is transformed into a transparent, yellow oil. This clear oil may then be bleached with a special bleaching clay to produce a transparent, amber colored oil. Upon further processing, the oil is deodorized or treated so it will remain clear and have no unwanted flavors.
Cottonseed oil is used in several products. Depending on its stage of refinement, it can be used in snack foods, mayonnaise, margarine, baking or frying oils, explosives, cosmetics, rubber, soap, insecticides and many other products. Foodstuff cottonseed oil has superior nutritive qualities and is on the American Heart Association's list of "okay foods".
Although fiber is the most valuable product from a cotton field, it is important to remember that this versatile plant also provides many products for human and animal consumption. It is from this perspective that cotton becomes a food crop.
COTTON INDUSTRY AND YOU
The cotton industry is constantly striving to develop new and improved methods for producing quality products at a reasonable price. The cotton industry continues to look toward the future at further improving their product while providing employment opportunities for millions of people in a variety of related areas.
Cotton related job opportunities can be found from the farm where the cotton is produced to the department store where the garments are sold. Cotton supports the dairy industry by providing a source of food for the milk cows.
Cotton Trivia
The United States cotton industry exports 6 million to 9 million bales of raw cotton every year. The annual value of the cotton exceeds $3billion.
Cotton seed can be processed to produce oil for cooking and blending with food products. Jobs can be found in the trucking and transportation industry as it is often transported thousands of miles from the cotton gins to the cotton mills, and then again to the distribution outlets.
Transforming the cotton boll through the processes of delinting and cleaning at the gin to processing at the mill for spinning and weaving fabric requires a trained labor force.
The dying of fabric and the assembly of clothing and other products can provide employment for many. High quality papers requiring cotton and paper mills employ thousands annually. The fashion industry needs trained individuals to select the proper combination of fabrics and design to market them to the public. Fashion models rely on these products in their profession. The cotton industry continues to find new and improved uses for cotton worldwide and the public fuels continuous demand for this important commodity. With cotton having all these uses and benefits, it has certainly lived up to the name it was given years ago...."White Gold."
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Are you an organic?
In todays world it is not enough for one to say " I am organic" or " I am fair to the envoriment" all alone, also ethical standarts of the company is becoming more and more important everyday as the way it should be. Besides we respect and support envoriment and field we also respect and support our workers rights.
First of all no child workers. The youngest worker in company should be 18 years old, although the allowed working ages in Turkey is 16 .There should be is no forced labour. Everybody should be free to leave work whenever they want. They should not exceed maximum working hours. People has all the rights for Freedom of Association and they are free to join any community they want. There is no discrimination for race, age, sex, political opininon, religion etc. Pregnent workers have right to leave 2 months earlier prior to the birth and can come back 2 months later than the birth .
Also for safety and regulations, they are taking care of what they are supposed to do.They should have first aid and fire teams, in case of emergency and fire. They should have fire extinguishers in every 20 m2 in building and fire team is trained to use them. In the company, fire extinguishers are all at reachable and open places. Fire and emegency exits in the company should be clearly marked and all doors are open in the company.Twice a year all should make fire training in the company. Company should have well ventilated.Company should have doctor coming 3 times as week. And should also have smoking rooms.
Besides all of these company should also provide other benefits to the workers: Like transport to the company and back home, food at lunch and if there is an overworking also at evening.Every worker should be trained according to their needs.
All should believe that we are doing what we should do to rptect our future...
First of all no child workers. The youngest worker in company should be 18 years old, although the allowed working ages in Turkey is 16 .There should be is no forced labour. Everybody should be free to leave work whenever they want. They should not exceed maximum working hours. People has all the rights for Freedom of Association and they are free to join any community they want. There is no discrimination for race, age, sex, political opininon, religion etc. Pregnent workers have right to leave 2 months earlier prior to the birth and can come back 2 months later than the birth .
Also for safety and regulations, they are taking care of what they are supposed to do.They should have first aid and fire teams, in case of emergency and fire. They should have fire extinguishers in every 20 m2 in building and fire team is trained to use them. In the company, fire extinguishers are all at reachable and open places. Fire and emegency exits in the company should be clearly marked and all doors are open in the company.Twice a year all should make fire training in the company. Company should have well ventilated.Company should have doctor coming 3 times as week. And should also have smoking rooms.
Besides all of these company should also provide other benefits to the workers: Like transport to the company and back home, food at lunch and if there is an overworking also at evening.Every worker should be trained according to their needs.
All should believe that we are doing what we should do to rptect our future...
cotton towels and bathrobes
The best towels and bathrobes in organic market are with competitive prices and good quality. Towels has an overall softness and huge absorbancy of liquids.
Towels are in different sizes. They can have a dobby border or other finihings are possible. The most going qualities are:
Sized Organic Cotton Towels
30x30 cm ,
50x100 cm ,
70x140 cm ,
100x180 cm ,
Organic Cotton Beach Towels
All sizes are possible for those towels.Some make your designs and create a collection for your demands.
Organic Cotton Bathrobes
For bathrobes it is possible to have kids and adult bathrobes with all kind of collars.
Quality and Colours
Towels and Bathrobes can vary from 350 gr/m2 to 550 gr/m2. 450 gr/m2 is the most going quality in the market with a very good absorbency.
All colours are possible for towels. It is possible to make stripes and jaquard designs. Only optical white colour is not possible. In case it is requested, they can give decleration for the towels asked.
Private Labelling
It is possible to have your label,logo on the towels. As morden tecnology is very strong in all parts of textiles, it is possible to develop labels or price tags of your companies and put those one the garments. They are of course free of charge.
Minimums and Leadtimes
Also to overcome huge quantity problems it is possible to combine ongoing orders to have less quantities but this has to be confirmed all the time. So some have minimums of 500 pcs for bathrobes.
Minimums for beach towels are 1000 pcs/style and 500 pcs/colour Minimums for sized towels are given above at products section. If you will need a different size towels (like 30x50) they need to confirm this to you.
Lead times for towels is 6-7 weeks after official P.O and colour approval.
For bathrobes leadtimes are 8-9 weeks after official P.O and approvals
Packing and Finishing
It is possible to apply all kind of finishing and embroideries to towels. This can be your logo or a design you want.
Packing is done normal by folding towels from middle and putting them in boxes. We can make special packings upon customers requests.
Towels are in different sizes. They can have a dobby border or other finihings are possible. The most going qualities are:
Sized Organic Cotton Towels
30x30 cm ,
50x100 cm ,
70x140 cm ,
100x180 cm ,
Organic Cotton Beach Towels
All sizes are possible for those towels.Some make your designs and create a collection for your demands.
Organic Cotton Bathrobes
For bathrobes it is possible to have kids and adult bathrobes with all kind of collars.
Quality and Colours
Towels and Bathrobes can vary from 350 gr/m2 to 550 gr/m2. 450 gr/m2 is the most going quality in the market with a very good absorbency.
All colours are possible for towels. It is possible to make stripes and jaquard designs. Only optical white colour is not possible. In case it is requested, they can give decleration for the towels asked.
Private Labelling
It is possible to have your label,logo on the towels. As morden tecnology is very strong in all parts of textiles, it is possible to develop labels or price tags of your companies and put those one the garments. They are of course free of charge.
Minimums and Leadtimes
Also to overcome huge quantity problems it is possible to combine ongoing orders to have less quantities but this has to be confirmed all the time. So some have minimums of 500 pcs for bathrobes.
Minimums for beach towels are 1000 pcs/style and 500 pcs/colour Minimums for sized towels are given above at products section. If you will need a different size towels (like 30x50) they need to confirm this to you.
Lead times for towels is 6-7 weeks after official P.O and colour approval.
For bathrobes leadtimes are 8-9 weeks after official P.O and approvals
Packing and Finishing
It is possible to apply all kind of finishing and embroideries to towels. This can be your logo or a design you want.
Packing is done normal by folding towels from middle and putting them in boxes. We can make special packings upon customers requests.
other cotton garments
A huge collection off ready made garments are available in the market.
Theyre are following items:
- T-shits from 100 % organic cotton jersey ,organic cotton spandex blends.Which are very competetive in t-shirt prices.
- Sweatshirts all kinds of hooded,zip through ,crew neck sweatshirts
- Sports Wear: Jogging suits,yoga tops and bottoms, tank tops that are good for sports wear and similar fields like yoga clothing.
- Pyjama sets and sleepwear sets
- Kids and infants wear with rumpers,bibgs ,gowns, singlets.
- Polo T-Shirts :Mens and Ladies Polo T-Shirts from pique jersey or bamboo fabrics.
- Shirts Mens,Womens Kid's shirts with various designs of fabrics like stripes,check designs or solid colours
- Basic woven pants and jackets.
- Simple underwear collection from slips,briefs,vest tops, mens boxers (from jersey or woven poplin fabrics)
- Home Textiles: such as bedshetings sets. One set ususally has 2 pillowcase,one fitted or flat sheet and one duet cover. It is possible to have seperate items in different sizes
In organic market they give the best quality as possible as this is the quality that the overall market is targeting. They are able to work with seasons as well as upon order basis
Colours
It is possible to make all colours in organic cotton products. Only optical white colour is not possible. Instead of covering this they are also making peroxide bleached garments .
Private Labelling
There are some private labelling company and who can put their own company logo on the garments. This means they put your own labels,price tag and other accesorries according to your requests. Textile industry is very powerfull and can develop for you your labels or other accessories.
Print and Embroidery
It is both possible to print and make embroidery to the garments and other products.
In Organic prints needs to be waterbased or ecological transfer prints and printed garments are also certified according to G.O.T.S. (Global Organic Textile Standarts)
There is no limitation for embroidery . They can apply all techniques such as laser cut, applique etc.
Also create all designs, all they will need for prints or embroideries are:
a. Artwork of print or embroidery
b. Size of the artwork
c. Quality of the print or embroidery(waterbased or transfer)
d. Colour information for print and embroidery(print colours)
e. Placement of the prints or embroideries
Than leave rest to them
Leadtimes and Minimum Order Quantities (MOQ)
For knitted ready made garments leadtimes are 7-8 weeks after colour approvals and official P. O.
In detailed they need 1-2 weeks for working colours and having approvals. You can either give references of pantone numbers. Both are workable for them. After P.O. they need 3-4 weeks for fabrics, 1-2 weeks for counter samples and approvals and 3-4 weeks for shipment.
For woven ready made garments lead times are 9-10 weeks after colour approvals and official P.O.
In detailed they need 1-2 weeks for working colours and having approvals. You can either send references of pantone numbers. Both are workable for them. After P.O. they need 5-6 weeks for fabrics, 1-2 weeks for counter samples and approvals and 3-4 weeks for shipment.
Development and Sampling
They are able to make proto samples,size sets for an order without asking any extra costs. The procedure is as follows:
a. They ask for specs from their customers
b. Upon receipt of those they give their prices.
c. After agrement on prices they proceed with proto samples if requested.
d. If the order comes they make size sets and pre production samples free of charge
e. During a season if salesman samples are asked, they are invoiced from 3 x of the agreed prices.
Certification and Quality Control
All process from Cotton to the End product is controlled and certified by Control Union and products are according to G.O.T.S. standarts. Also for quality control they have ISO 9001 2000 certificate. Goods are checked according to AQL standarts. They have independent quality assurance system and each garments to be shipped is being checked while cutting, sewing, packing process. A final control in the end is applied to the garments. Also they have needle detectors for childeren and babys garments.
Theyre are following items:
- T-shits from 100 % organic cotton jersey ,organic cotton spandex blends.Which are very competetive in t-shirt prices.
- Sweatshirts all kinds of hooded,zip through ,crew neck sweatshirts
- Sports Wear: Jogging suits,yoga tops and bottoms, tank tops that are good for sports wear and similar fields like yoga clothing.
- Pyjama sets and sleepwear sets
- Kids and infants wear with rumpers,bibgs ,gowns, singlets.
- Polo T-Shirts :Mens and Ladies Polo T-Shirts from pique jersey or bamboo fabrics.
- Shirts Mens,Womens Kid's shirts with various designs of fabrics like stripes,check designs or solid colours
- Basic woven pants and jackets.
- Simple underwear collection from slips,briefs,vest tops, mens boxers (from jersey or woven poplin fabrics)
- Home Textiles: such as bedshetings sets. One set ususally has 2 pillowcase,one fitted or flat sheet and one duet cover. It is possible to have seperate items in different sizes
In organic market they give the best quality as possible as this is the quality that the overall market is targeting. They are able to work with seasons as well as upon order basis
Colours
It is possible to make all colours in organic cotton products. Only optical white colour is not possible. Instead of covering this they are also making peroxide bleached garments .
Private Labelling
There are some private labelling company and who can put their own company logo on the garments. This means they put your own labels,price tag and other accesorries according to your requests. Textile industry is very powerfull and can develop for you your labels or other accessories.
Print and Embroidery
It is both possible to print and make embroidery to the garments and other products.
In Organic prints needs to be waterbased or ecological transfer prints and printed garments are also certified according to G.O.T.S. (Global Organic Textile Standarts)
There is no limitation for embroidery . They can apply all techniques such as laser cut, applique etc.
Also create all designs, all they will need for prints or embroideries are:
a. Artwork of print or embroidery
b. Size of the artwork
c. Quality of the print or embroidery(waterbased or transfer)
d. Colour information for print and embroidery(print colours)
e. Placement of the prints or embroideries
Than leave rest to them
Leadtimes and Minimum Order Quantities (MOQ)
For knitted ready made garments leadtimes are 7-8 weeks after colour approvals and official P. O.
In detailed they need 1-2 weeks for working colours and having approvals. You can either give references of pantone numbers. Both are workable for them. After P.O. they need 3-4 weeks for fabrics, 1-2 weeks for counter samples and approvals and 3-4 weeks for shipment.
For woven ready made garments lead times are 9-10 weeks after colour approvals and official P.O.
In detailed they need 1-2 weeks for working colours and having approvals. You can either send references of pantone numbers. Both are workable for them. After P.O. they need 5-6 weeks for fabrics, 1-2 weeks for counter samples and approvals and 3-4 weeks for shipment.
Development and Sampling
They are able to make proto samples,size sets for an order without asking any extra costs. The procedure is as follows:
a. They ask for specs from their customers
b. Upon receipt of those they give their prices.
c. After agrement on prices they proceed with proto samples if requested.
d. If the order comes they make size sets and pre production samples free of charge
e. During a season if salesman samples are asked, they are invoiced from 3 x of the agreed prices.
Certification and Quality Control
All process from Cotton to the End product is controlled and certified by Control Union and products are according to G.O.T.S. standarts. Also for quality control they have ISO 9001 2000 certificate. Goods are checked according to AQL standarts. They have independent quality assurance system and each garments to be shipped is being checked while cutting, sewing, packing process. A final control in the end is applied to the garments. Also they have needle detectors for childeren and babys garments.
organic woven farbic
Various organic woven fabric qualities
Fabric Types
In woven range there are poplins, oxford fabrics, twills, satins ,canvas,corduroy fabrics.
They sell fabrics as raw and dyed. It is possible to make those qualities as raw,solid coloured,with stripe or check designs or print any design on those fabrics.
Woven fabrics can be used for ready made garments as well as sheetings so they have a huge range of width from 150 cm to 290 cm.
See detailed list below for fabric qualities;
Colours
When the fabric is dyed, it is possible to have all colours for each fabrics. One colour is exceptional and this is optical white colour as the optical brighteners are not allowed by organic standarts. It can achive peroxide bleached fabrics though
Minimum quantities and Leadtimes
Woven fabrics has minimums of 2500 meters/quality and 1000 meters/colour.
Leadtime for woven fabrics is 6-7 weeks after official P.O. and colour approval.
Fabric Performances
For the fabrics unless mentioned there is guarentee 5 % +- shrinkage on the fabrics and 3 % +- twisiting on the fabrics. Other performances like colour fastness and rubbing fastness can be agreed and managed due to requirements.
During fabric sales, fabrics are invoiced from net weights. Fabrics have quite good handfeel and they are durable and have the optimum strength for each usage.
Packaging
Fabrics are packed in rolls with double layered plastics and shipped in rolls.
Fabric Types
In woven range there are poplins, oxford fabrics, twills, satins ,canvas,corduroy fabrics.
They sell fabrics as raw and dyed. It is possible to make those qualities as raw,solid coloured,with stripe or check designs or print any design on those fabrics.
Woven fabrics can be used for ready made garments as well as sheetings so they have a huge range of width from 150 cm to 290 cm.
See detailed list below for fabric qualities;
Colours
When the fabric is dyed, it is possible to have all colours for each fabrics. One colour is exceptional and this is optical white colour as the optical brighteners are not allowed by organic standarts. It can achive peroxide bleached fabrics though
Minimum quantities and Leadtimes
Woven fabrics has minimums of 2500 meters/quality and 1000 meters/colour.
Leadtime for woven fabrics is 6-7 weeks after official P.O. and colour approval.
Fabric Performances
For the fabrics unless mentioned there is guarentee 5 % +- shrinkage on the fabrics and 3 % +- twisiting on the fabrics. Other performances like colour fastness and rubbing fastness can be agreed and managed due to requirements.
During fabric sales, fabrics are invoiced from net weights. Fabrics have quite good handfeel and they are durable and have the optimum strength for each usage.
Packaging
Fabrics are packed in rolls with double layered plastics and shipped in rolls.
organic knitted cotton fabrics
there are both raw fabrics and dyed fabrics. All the fabrics are fully certified including dyeing.
Fabric Types
In knitted group, there are single jerseys, ribbings, interlocks, fleece , knitted terry, velours, pointel ribbinigs, each fabric has special weight and width. Fabrics are dyed by low impact dyes and heavy metal free dyestuffs.You can see the detailed list below .
Colours
When the fabric is dyed, it is possible to have all colours for each fabrics. One colour is exceptional and this is optical white colour as the optical brighteners are not allowed by organic standarts. Though achive's peroxide bleached fabric.
Order Quantities (OQ)
a. The minimums are 250 kg/quality and 100 kg/colour for 100 % cotton fabrics.
b. When it is with some spandex inside, it is 250 kg/colour and 150 kg/colour.
c. It is possible to make some yarn dyed striped fabrics as well. For striped fabrics, the minimums are 250 kg/quality and 150 kg/colourway.
d. Minimums are 1000 meter /colourway for those fabrics. Also for alloverprinted fabrics can have screen costs/colour which are asked in advaced
Leadtimes
a. For solid coloured fabrics it is 3-4 weeks after official P.O. and colour approval.
b. For yard dyed striped fabrics it is 4-5 weeks after official P.O. and colour approval.
c. For allover printed fabrics, lead time is 6-7 weeks after official P.O. including development stages of the design and screens.
Fabric Performances
For the fabrics unless mentioned they are guarentee 5 % +- shrinkage on the fabrics and 3 % +- twisiting on the fabrics. Other performances like colour fastness and rubbing fastness can be agreed and managed due to requirements. During fabric sales, fabrics are invoiced from net weights. Fabrics have quite good handfeel and they are durable and have the optimum strength for each usage.
Packaging
Fabrics are packed in rolls with double layered plastics and shipped in rolls.
Fabric Types
In knitted group, there are single jerseys, ribbings, interlocks, fleece , knitted terry, velours, pointel ribbinigs, each fabric has special weight and width. Fabrics are dyed by low impact dyes and heavy metal free dyestuffs.You can see the detailed list below .
Colours
When the fabric is dyed, it is possible to have all colours for each fabrics. One colour is exceptional and this is optical white colour as the optical brighteners are not allowed by organic standarts. Though achive's peroxide bleached fabric.
Order Quantities (OQ)
a. The minimums are 250 kg/quality and 100 kg/colour for 100 % cotton fabrics.
b. When it is with some spandex inside, it is 250 kg/colour and 150 kg/colour.
c. It is possible to make some yarn dyed striped fabrics as well. For striped fabrics, the minimums are 250 kg/quality and 150 kg/colourway.
d. Minimums are 1000 meter /colourway for those fabrics. Also for alloverprinted fabrics can have screen costs/colour which are asked in advaced
Leadtimes
a. For solid coloured fabrics it is 3-4 weeks after official P.O. and colour approval.
b. For yard dyed striped fabrics it is 4-5 weeks after official P.O. and colour approval.
c. For allover printed fabrics, lead time is 6-7 weeks after official P.O. including development stages of the design and screens.
Fabric Performances
For the fabrics unless mentioned they are guarentee 5 % +- shrinkage on the fabrics and 3 % +- twisiting on the fabrics. Other performances like colour fastness and rubbing fastness can be agreed and managed due to requirements. During fabric sales, fabrics are invoiced from net weights. Fabrics have quite good handfeel and they are durable and have the optimum strength for each usage.
Packaging
Fabrics are packed in rolls with double layered plastics and shipped in rolls.
cotton yarn
In apparel business, everthing starts with yarn. Aegan Cotton , which is the second best quality cotton in the world. Yarn which defines the overall quality of all finished products is very important and organic cotton yarns with their natural origins, does their job very well.
Some Range!
Yarn count range from this cotton is between Ne 8 and Ne 50
Some can spin both knitting and weaving yarns. Also according to the crop it is sometimes possible to spin Ne 60's as well.
It is possible to make combed, carded and openend yarns. For openends there is minimum of 8000 kg's. Just like conventional cotton, organic cotton yarns are also tested in Uster Testers and this values can be given upon request.
The following things can be offered additionally
A. Double or tripled yarns (like Ne 30-2 , Ne 40-3)
B. Heather yarns :This is possible from various colours.. For heather yarns there is a minimum of 1,5 tons though.
C. Colour grown yarns: Agaim it i posible from various % blends with normal raw cotton.
D. Some also do dyed yarns as well. Minimums for this is 150 kg/colour.
Packing
All cottons yarns are packed in cartons. One yarn cone is around 2,2 kg. (This may change according to the Yarn Count). In one box, we can put around 18 cones. So one box is around 39,6 kg. During packing they put stickers with your logo and company name on it inside the cones. For packing also palletizing is possible
For shipments;
In one 20 FT container we can put around 6,550 kg of yarns.
In one 40 FT container we can put around 14,000 kg of yarns.
In one 40 FT Hc container we can put 17,000 kg of yarns.
Yarns are invoiced upon net weights. There are regular vessels sailing from Izmir every week to all continents. Truck shipments to Europe is also possible. Currently yarns is exported to all 6 continents.
Leadtiems
Shipment is around 2-3 weeks after official P.O. . Shipment for dyed yarns is 3-4 weeks after colour approval and official P.O. Of course not to mention again all processes are fully certified.
Some Range!
Yarn count range from this cotton is between Ne 8 and Ne 50
Some can spin both knitting and weaving yarns. Also according to the crop it is sometimes possible to spin Ne 60's as well.
It is possible to make combed, carded and openend yarns. For openends there is minimum of 8000 kg's. Just like conventional cotton, organic cotton yarns are also tested in Uster Testers and this values can be given upon request.
The following things can be offered additionally
A. Double or tripled yarns (like Ne 30-2 , Ne 40-3)
B. Heather yarns :This is possible from various colours.. For heather yarns there is a minimum of 1,5 tons though.
C. Colour grown yarns: Agaim it i posible from various % blends with normal raw cotton.
D. Some also do dyed yarns as well. Minimums for this is 150 kg/colour.
Packing
All cottons yarns are packed in cartons. One yarn cone is around 2,2 kg. (This may change according to the Yarn Count). In one box, we can put around 18 cones. So one box is around 39,6 kg. During packing they put stickers with your logo and company name on it inside the cones. For packing also palletizing is possible
For shipments;
In one 20 FT container we can put around 6,550 kg of yarns.
In one 40 FT container we can put around 14,000 kg of yarns.
In one 40 FT Hc container we can put 17,000 kg of yarns.
Yarns are invoiced upon net weights. There are regular vessels sailing from Izmir every week to all continents. Truck shipments to Europe is also possible. Currently yarns is exported to all 6 continents.
Leadtiems
Shipment is around 2-3 weeks after official P.O. . Shipment for dyed yarns is 3-4 weeks after colour approval and official P.O. Of course not to mention again all processes are fully certified.
best organic cotton
One of the best quality in organics!
Aegean region ,thanks to it's soil provides worlds second best cotton which is used for many purposes from textiles to cosmetics.
Organic cotton which is grown ,picked and ginned according to organic standarts protects soil and farmers as no pesticides are used. With contracted farmers willing to invest in organic projects.
Cotton is sold in bales. One bale is around 220 kg.
In 20 FT container we can put around 42 bales of raw cotton.
In 40 FT container we can put around 84 bales of raw cotton.
In 40 FT HC container we can put around 105 bales of raw cotton.
Also some of them are selling comber wastes . This is also sold in bales and one bale is around 200 kg.
It is possible to send technical values for each cotton lot upon request. Also due to C.U. laws it is easy to trace where the cotton is from which is very important for organic textiles. Cotton Shipments can be made 1-2 week after receipt of official P.O.
Aegean region ,thanks to it's soil provides worlds second best cotton which is used for many purposes from textiles to cosmetics.
Organic cotton which is grown ,picked and ginned according to organic standarts protects soil and farmers as no pesticides are used. With contracted farmers willing to invest in organic projects.
Cotton is sold in bales. One bale is around 220 kg.
In 20 FT container we can put around 42 bales of raw cotton.
In 40 FT container we can put around 84 bales of raw cotton.
In 40 FT HC container we can put around 105 bales of raw cotton.
Also some of them are selling comber wastes . This is also sold in bales and one bale is around 200 kg.
It is possible to send technical values for each cotton lot upon request. Also due to C.U. laws it is easy to trace where the cotton is from which is very important for organic textiles. Cotton Shipments can be made 1-2 week after receipt of official P.O.
organic cotton environment
Organic Cotton - Environment
Many people consider cotton to be the purest fiber on earth. In fact, cotton cultivation inflicts a heavy toll on the environment. But a small number of farmers are now growing cotton "organically." This means these organic cotton manufacturers eliminate toxic chemicals in every step of the growing process, by emphasizing natural, biological methods which have far less impact on the environment.
Many people consider cotton to be the purest fiber on earth. In fact, cotton cultivation inflicts a heavy toll on the environment. But a small number of farmers are now growing cotton "organically." This means these organic cotton manufacturers eliminate toxic chemicals in every step of the growing process, by emphasizing natural, biological methods which have far less impact on the environment.
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