Any information on cotton.

Information About Cotton Material

• Answer:

  Cotton is a material that is found everywhere. Cotton begins as a small seed, and its journey to become material is long and arduous. However, it is well worth the wait. Cotton material can be used in a variety of ways in many industries. It is also a highly traded commodity across the globe. Where It Begins The cotton seed is usually grown in warm climates with moist soil. The boll of the seed appears after the flower buds on top of them fall off. The boll can have almost 30 cotton seeds and can have almost half a million cotton fibers in it. The boll is generally picked by hand after about 10 weeks. Ginning the Cotton "Ginning" is commonly known as the process by which the cotton seed and the fiber are separated. Originally, this could be quite time-consuming, because it was usually done by hand. However, Eli Whitney changed all that with his invention of the cotton gin in 1794. Following this separation, the cotton is prepared for inspection and sale to a mill or merchant. The seed may be made into oil or food for various farm animals. Spinning Originally done by hand, cotton spinning generally is done by machines today. This process takes cotton from its ginned state and turns bales of cotton into threads. The first machine to do this was invented in 1764 by James Hargreaves, and it could commonly create over 10 threads at once. Making Yarn Richard Arkwright added to spinning another step that wound the twisted cotton onto spools around 1767. Currently, there are several other machines involved in the process of taking spun cotton and churning out yarn. A carding machine is responsible for churning out ropes of cotton called slivers. A drawing machine takes the slivers and delivers them as a combined sliver that is even more refined fibers in a process called roving. Cotton yarn generally comes from the final process on a spinning frame. Good Points of Cotton Cotton fabric is generally comfortable to wear, because it breathes well, is very easy to iron and is usually easy to clean. Household Uses Cotton material is usually used to make such things as bath towels and bed sheets. This material is also often used for knitting, coffee filters, cheese cloth and tents. Cotton Material in Clothing Several different cotton materials can be used to make a variety of clothing. Some of these are drill, gingham, oxford and seersucker.