With more than 50 %, cotton is the most used material in the textile industry. But why is that? We have listed the reasons and collected further interesting information for you.
Since there are many different materials for the production of clothing, we would first like to classify the fibre, whereby we distinguish fundamentally between natural and man-made fibres.
The cotton fibre can be classified under the natural fibres, whereby it falls under the category "plant hair". The cotton plant for textile use is a shrub between 1 and 2 metres high and is a plant genus of the mallow family. The pale yellow or pink flowers develop into capsules the size of walnuts, which burst open at maturity. The capsule, which has 3 to 5 compartments, contains up to 10 seeds the size of a coffee bean in each compartment, with 1000 to 7000 seed hairs or cotton fibres attached.
The plant likes moist soil in a hot climate, which must be as rain-free as possible, especially at the time of ripening and harvesting. These conditions are only given in tropical and subtropical areas, i.e. between 43° northern and 36° southern latitude, the so-called "cotton belt".
History of cotton
Independently of each other, four different peoples began cultivating the cotton plant. In Mexico, for example, 7,000-year-old clothing was found that was made from this natural fibre. Since processing cotton by hand is very tedious, it was a luxury good in Europe until the 17th century, as valuable as silk. It was not until the invention of industrial spinning machines in 1764 that it became possible to process this natural fibre in inexpensive mass production.
Where does the cotton for our clothes come from?
The cotton plant originally comes from the rainy and warm tropics of Asia, Africa and Latin America. It was already cultivated by the Mayas in Mexico and the Incas in Peru over 7000 years ago. Today, cotton is produced in over 70 countries on all six continents of the world. In Europe, large quantities of the soft fibre are grown in Greece and Spain. The main producers are China and India, each with a harvest volume of over 6 million tonnes of cotton per year, followed by the USA with about 3 million tonnes per year.
Why is cotton so popular as a textile fibre?
During processing after harvesting, only about 10 % of the raw weight is lost. Once unwanted plant residues have been removed, what remains is a quite robust natural fibre. It is characterised by a high tensile strength, which is even better when wet. Cotton is breathable, tear-resistant, absorbent and pleasant to wear on the skin. These properties make it the most important natural fibre in the textile and clothing industry. The annual cotton harvest of about 25 million tonnes accounts for a quarter of the world's textile fibre production.
5 fibre properties that make cotton so popular!
1. Thermal insulation
Since the cotton fibre has a relatively smooth surface, there is only a small amount of air entrapment, which means that it is not particularly warm in its natural state. Through appropriate processing, such as roughening the fabric or using special yarn constructions or stitch formations, the fabric can be given the desired warming function.
2. Moisture absorption
Up to 20% vapour-like moisture can be absorbed without the wearer even feeling it. The advantage of cotton is that it can absorb moisture very quickly and store 65 % of its own weight. Cotton absorbs moisture easily and releases it again relatively slowly. As a result, sweaty textiles stick to the body and washed textiles take a little longer to dry.
3. Skin friendliness
Of all the materials used in the clothing industry, cotton fabrics are considered the most skin-friendly and feel pleasantly soft on the skin and do not scratch. For this reason, cotton is often used for garments that are close to the skin. In addition, cotton has an extremely low allergy potential, which makes the raw material very interesting for the clothing industry.
4. Creasing behaviour
The low elasticity and stretch leads to very high creasing and very low dimensional stability. However, the tendency to crease can be reduced by finishing with synthetic resins, cross-linking the cellulose molecules or blending with polyester.
5. Durability
The molecular structure of the cotton fibre makes it resistant to heat and alkalis. As a result, cotton is particularly durable even after heavy use and frequent cleaning.
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