Seed fibres
Cotton
- 1/3 of all fibre use
- Cotton plant 1 - 1.5 m
- Cultivated around equator (The most important producers of are China, India, USA, Pakistan, Brazil, Uzbekistan, turkey, Australia, Greece and Syria)
Maturity
Click on the headings below for more information
Kapok – Java Cotton fibre
- Seed fibre from Kapok tree
- Light, high flammability
- Moisture resistant
- Dries quickly
- Smooth
- Not possible to spun into yarns
- Used for stuffing and insulation
Coir fibre
- So Seed fibre from the coconut palm
- Stiff and Strong
- Stuffing in upholstery
- Ropes
- Door mats
Cultivation
Cultivated around equator (The most important producers of are China, India, USA, Pakistan, Brazil, Uzbekistan, turkey, Australia, Greece and Syria)
×Grading
Grading will be done based on length of fibres, maturity, colour and impurities.
Length
Facilitates spinning
- Softer, thiner, stronger fibre, more expensive
- Short 18-22mm, Normal 23-27 mm, Long 28-34mm, Very long 35-40
Maturity
- Immature cotton affects strength, evenness, dyeing properties
- High class cotton (65% mature fibre and maximum 10% immature)
Colour
- Different colours: white, grey, blue, brown, yellow
- White facilitates bleaching and dyeing
- Sally Fox – Natural colour cotton
Chemical modification
- Mercerisation
- Flame retardant treatment
- Water repellent treatment
- Improve resilience
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Project
Contact
This resource was developed as part of an Erasmus+ project, funded with support from the European Commission under grant agreement 2016-1-SE01-KA203-22064.
The project was a collaboration between:
- The University of Borås, Sweden
- The University of the Highlands and Islands, Scotland
- The University of Alcalá, Spain
- Digital Connections, Scotland
This resource has been released under Creative Commons license CC-BY-SA 4.0.
Disclaimer
If you would like more information on this resource please contact:
- Academic content – The University of Boras (www.hb.se)
- Technical resource development – The University of the Highlands and Islands Educational Development Unit - EDU (edu@uhi.ac.uk)
Except where otherwise noted, this website is licensed under Creative Commons license CC-BY-SA 4.0. All images used under permission remain the copyright of the license holder.
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