Cotton

Description

A strong, natural vegetable fiber obtained from the exterior of the seeds of various species of Gossypium native to India, the Sudan, and Ethiopia. Cotton is a major textile fiber and an important source of Cellulose. It contains 88-96% pure Alpha cellulose; the remainder is Protein, Pectin, Sugar, Oil, and Wax. Cotton cloth was made as early as 5000 BCE in India. By 3000 BCE, cotton fabrics were being woven in Egypt, China, and Peru. Cultivation of cotton became wide spread in Europe in the Middle Ages. Today, most cotton is grown in the United States, China, India, Pakistan, Brazil, and Turkey. Microscopically, cotton fibers look like flattened twisted tubes. They have good luster and dye well with basic, direct, vat, and reactive dyes producing lightfast and washfast colors. Cotton is used for making fabrics, cordage, padding, plastics, and rag paper.

See also Mercerized cotton.

Cotton plant

Synonyms and Related Terms

white gold; qutun; kutun; coton (Fr.); bomuld (Dan.); Baumwollpflanze (Deut.); Baumwolle (Deut.); algodón (Esp.); cotone (It.); katoen (tje), katoenweefsel,katoenen stof; watje; katoenplant (genus Gossypium) katoengewas;katoen (draad/garen/stof/vezel); pluis (Ned); bomull (Nor., Sven.); algodão (Port.);

SEM

SEM

Other Properties

Resistant to alkalis and most organic solvents. Degraded by strong acids and cuprammonium hydroxide.

Fiber length = 1.6 - 6 cm. Moisture regain 7.0-8.5 % Elongation = 5-10%

Cotton burns with a steady flame and smells like burning leaves. The flame can be easily extinguished by blowing and the ash is easily crumbled.

Melting Point	148 (dec)
Density	1.54-1.56

Paper fiber type: non-woody/seed. Using transmitted light microscopy, fibers appear as twisted tubes. Cut ends or blunt fiber ends are common in cotton rag pulp for papermaking. Cotton Linters tend to have more tapered ends. Immature fibers do not have a pronounced twist. Appearance with Graff "C" stain: pinkish red due to high Alpha cellulose. Average dimensions: (Rag) length 18mm, width 20μm; (linter) Length 2-7mm long width 20μm. Common pulping method: Soda.

Hazards and Safety

Discolors and eventually degrades in sunlight. Combustible. Susceptible to mildew, bacteria and silverfish. Resistant to moths and beetles. Toxic by inhalation of dust.

Additional Information

G.Cook, Handbook of Textile Fibres:I. Natural Fibres, 5th edition, Merrow Publishing Co., Durham, England, 1984.

Links to Oddy Test results posted on AIC Wiki Materials Database Pages for individual materials below

° Testfabrics, Inc. Army Carded Cotton Sateen tested in 2013	° Fabricut Avanti Cocoa tested in 2005
° John Ranger Textiles Fawn tested in 2016	° Testfabrics Cotton tested in 2016
° Whaleys Bradford Cotton Domette Natural tested in 2012	° Whaleys Bradford Cotton Jersey CD26 Cream tested in 2012
° Whaleys Bradford Cotton Jersey CM15956 tested in 2012	° Khoon Heng HJ3300 Burgundy tested in 2017
° Khoon Heng Cotton P33 Navy Blue tested in 2017	° Creation Baumann-Roselle RM ultra 43 Navy Blue tested in 2017
° Creation Baumann-Roselle RM unisono 81 Beige tested in 2017	° Khoon Heng T 3340 Purple tested in 2017
° Khoon Heng T 3712 Grey tested in 2017	° Khoon Heng T 3888 Blue tested in 2017
° Khoon Heng TC 36 Black tested in 2017	° Khoon Heng TR 268 Grey tested in 2017
° Iris Studio Dark Brown Cotton Velvet tested in 2010	° Iris Studio Dark Cobalt Heavy Cotton Satin tested in 2012
° Iris Studio Dark Gray F9T 1A tested in 2012	° Iris Studio Dark Indigo Heavy Cotton Satin tested in 2011
° John Lewis Domette Interlining tested in 2012	° Calvin Fabrics Eco Linen 263 tested in 2014
° Iris Studio Ecru Gray 1544.125 tested in 2012	° Iris Studio Gray Ecru 1543 tested in 2013
° Creation Baumann Indiana 96 tested in 2011	° Creation Baumann Indiana II 96 tested in 2010
° Creation Baumann Indiana II 96 tested in 2010	° Creation Baumann Indiana II 96 tested in 2012
° Creation Baumann Indiana II 96 tested in 2012	° Material World Japara, natural tested in 2012
° JB Martin 8500 Juliet 5791 charcoal tested in 2006	° JB Martin 8550 Juliet 1000 Black tested in 2007
° JB Martin JB Martin 8550 Juliet 5786 chicory tested in 2007	° Malabar Kamla Arabica #215 tested in 2013
° Malabar Kamla Tamarind #41 tested in 2013	° Malabar Kamla Mocha #216 tested in 2013
° Malabar Kamla Ash #211 tested in 2013	° Malabar Kamla Taupe #209 tested in 2013
° Malabar Kamla Garnet #07 tested in 2013	° Malabar Kamla Indigo #252 tested in 2014
° Malabar Kamla Larch #246 tested in 2014	° Malabar Kamla Pecan #213 tested in 2014
° Malabar Kamla Pewter #35 tested in 2013	° Malabar Kamla Rajah #12 tested in 2013
° Kilarney Sky Blue Fabric tested in 2003	° Iris Studio Lighter Dark Gray tested in 2013
° John Ranger Linen Blard tested in 2016	° Testfabrics Muslin tested in 2016
° Iris Studios Peru Cotton Satin Dark Green tested in 2012	° Iris Studios Peru Cotton Satin Light Green tested in 2012
° Iris Studios Peru Cotton Cinnabar tested in 2012	° AKA Castel Pampelonne LC164/746 tested in 2017
° Prelle Cotton 13012 BT307451 Bleu19 tested in 2009	° Prelle Prelle Cotton 5212 Bleu 199/Ff30745 tested in 2009
° Iris Studio Raisin Brown Cotton Velvet tested in 2012	° Fabricut Rembrandt Chocolate tested in 2005
° Dominique Kieffer by Rubelli coton de vie, 17221-08 in anthracite tested in 2017	° Iris Studio Slate Blue Gray 1622 tested in 2010
° Philips Boyne SUP0000ALM tested in 2017	° Iris Studio Tan tested in 2004
° Testfabrics Cotton Sateen 479-58" tested in 2013	° Testfabrics Cotton Sateen 479-58" tested in 2013
° Creation Baumann Ultra 124 tested in 2013	° Creation Baumann Ultra 417 tested in 2013
° Creation Baumann Ultra 423 tested in 2013	° Creation Baumann Ultra 435 tested in 2013
° Creation Baumann Ultra 450 tested in 2013	° Creation Baumann Ultra IV 122 tested in 2013
° Creation Baumann Ultra IV 404 tested in 2009	° Creation Baumann Ultra IV 405 tested in 2013
° Creation Baumann Ultra IV 407 tested in 2013	° Creation Baumann Ultra IV 421 tested in 2013

Comparisons

Properties of Natural Fibers.pdf

Additional Images

• 

  Cotton boll

• 

  Cotton

• 

  Cotton seed hair

• 

  Cotton fibers

• 

  Worsted cotton

• 

  Naturally dyed cotton

• 

  Cotton

• 

  Cotton fibers

• 

  Cotton fibers

• 

  Comparison of wool, cotton and silk fibers

• 

  Cotton linter fibers stained with Graff "C" stain

• 

  Cotton rag fibers stained with Graff "C" stain

Sources Checked for Data in Record

• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "Cotton." Encyclopædia Britannica. 9 Mar. 2004 .

• Hoechst Celanese Corporation, Dictionary of Fiber & Textile Technology (older version called Man-made Fiber and Textile Dictionary, 1965), Hoechst Celanese Corporation, Charlotte NC, 1990

• The Dictionary of Paper, American Paper Institute, New York, Fourth Edition, 1980

• J.Gordon Cook, Handbook of Textile Fibres:I Natural Fibres, Merrow Publishing Co. , Durham, England, 1984

• The Dictionary of Art, Grove's Dictionaries Inc., New York, 1996 Comment: 'Cotton'

• Marja-Sisko Ilvessalo-Pfäffli. Fiber Atlas: Identification of Papermaking Fibers (Springer Series in Wood Science). Springer, 1995.

• Reed Kay, The Painter's Guide To Studio Methods and Materials, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1983

• Hermann Kuhn, Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art and Antiquities, Butterworths, London, 1986

• Rosalie Rosso King, Textile Identification, Conservation, and Preservation, Noyes Publications, Park Ridge, NJ, 1985

• Michael McCann, Artist Beware, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York City, 1979

• Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982

• Marjory L. Joseph, Introductory Textile Science, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Fort Worth, TX, 1986

• A.Lucas, J.R.Harris, Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries, Edward Arnold Publishers Ltd., London, 4th edition, 1962

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 245

• Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• Walter Rantanen. 'Fiber ID Course.' Integrated Paper Services. June 2013. Lecture.

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000

• Dictionary of Building Preservation, Ward Bucher, ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1996 Comment: comment