#6: BAMBOO AND COTTON

#6 Blog

This week in class we met together to discuss the God-made vs Man-made fibers. We saw physical samples of fibers from a silkworm and talked about the way they are extracted as a filament fiber. We then we able to see samples of Cotton, Yak, Camel, Alpaca, Wool, Angora and Hemp fibers. We also saw samples of Flax, Ramie, Modacrylic/SEF, Spandex/Glospan, Vinyon/Celanese, Fox Fibre Cotton, Rayon/Zantrel, Nylon/Type 1775, Olefin/Nouvelle, and other fibers. I was very cool to feel and see the actual fibers and the way they start out before any processing and spinning. After this we went through the textile binder, and I was able to look through the magnifying glass and see the differences in the knitting and weaving of the textile samples. All of this helps me understand more about fibers and the topics of the blog this week. 

For the first part of this blog, we watch a video about How Cotton is Processed in Factories and How it is Made. From this video I learned that originally cotton was processed by hand up until the early 18th century when the first processing machine was creation. Before cotton arrives at the textile mill to be spun into thread and woven into fabric, it makes the journey from field to bale. Cotton takes about 5 months to grow and then when harvested with a cotton picker, it is put into a tractor drawn buggy that takes the seed cotton and shapes it into a rectangle called a module. This is taken to a processing plant or cotton gin where the sticks and burrs are removed from the cotton. After this, the cotton is moved to a feeder and then the dispenser where a conveyer box takes it to a hot box. The hot air from the hot box allows the moisture to evaporate and the cotton easier to clean. The wad buster breakup the clumps of cotton with a screen and makes its way to a burr machine to shake off the heavier debris. The final stage of processing is the gin stands, where the seed is removed from the fluffier part of the cotton (lint). There are 116 circular saws that grab the seed cotton, and the seeds get caught and picked up and taken to farms as seed for animal. They also make cotton seed oil from this. Cotton is formed into bales after this, where lint is pushed into a tramper, which shapes the cotton, compacts it, ties it up and bags it. Small samples are taken from the bales with identification numbers to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to analyze its fiber length, cleanliness, color and other criteria. After the analysis, the bale of cotton is given a grade and then processed accordingly. All of this was interesting to watch and taught me a lot about the process of how fibers are eventually turned into everyday materials and fabrics that people use. Aside from the cotton video that we all supposed to watch and learn from, for part two of the blog assignment, I watched another cotton video about the history and story of cotton. More products than we think are made from cotton. With advanced technology and equipment, we have been able to make more and more the process continues to get easier. In this video, there is more of a focus on the farmers job in growing cotton before it is sent to the cotton textile mill. 

To avoid overlap as instructed, I did not watch the bamboo video because Gina reviewed that one. Instead, my other video I chose to look at was about the technical cotton video. In this video, it went into to depth about the origin of cotton fiber from a technical standpoint. Now that I understood the processing at the textile mill it was interesting to understand where cotton comes from (types: Egyptian, Sea-Island, American, Indian, etc.). Besides this, the density is 1.52 gm/cm, length is 10 to 65 mm, and it is classified by the length (short staple length:3/18" to 15/16", medium staple length: 1" to 1 1/8", and long staple length: 1-3/16", to 2-1/2"). The video showed visuals of cross-sectional and longitudinal microscopic views of cotton. It concluded with the Morphological Structure of Cotton based on the Cuticle, Primary Wall, Secondary Wall, and Lumen. 

One Step Further:

For my one step further, I chose to look into bamboo since I did not do that as one of my part 2 videos. I learned that bamboo is soft, cozy and can even naturally filter up to 97.5% radiation from the sun. The website I used talked about the importance of moving away from synthetic materials for fabric and using natural resources. Bamboo fabric was first materialized (on record) into cloth in 2001. The bamboo pulp was dissolved, and the fiber was dyed to create a gorgeous, white piece of expensive fabric. Bamboo is a member of the grass family and primarily grown in China. Bamboo is extremely fast growing, and the shoots usually stay intact when harvesting. The process of making bamboo starts by harvesting bamboo stems. Next, cutting the bamboo steps in small strips. The natural enzymes break down the strips into a pulp and the pulp produces the bamboo fiber. The fiber is then spun into bamboo yarn and lastly woven into bamboo fabric to be dyed or move the yarn and fabric stages. Bamboo fiber is good for fabrics because it is stretchy, soft, and breathable. This is perfect for warmer climates. It can, however, shrink more compared to other tougher fabrics. 

Videos and additional references:

How Cotton is Processed in Factories | How It’s Made

The Story of Cotton

Cotton Fiber - Micro and Macro Structure - YouTube

Cotton | Description, Fiber, History, Production, Uses, Botanical Name, & Facts | Britannica

Guide To Bamboo Fabric: What Is It, How Is It Made & Is It Actually Sustainable? - Sustainably Kind Living