What is Cotton Fibre | Properties of Cotton Fiber

Cotton is widely used Textile Fiber in Textile Industry. Due to its versatile uses; people feel comfortable to use Cotton fiber to make fabric. Here is the basic things about Cotton Fiber.

Cotton is a natural vegetable fiber produced in the cotton plant in many countries of the world even in Bangladesh also. Some important properties of cotton fibers are discussed very briefly below:

Properties of Cotton Fibres:

Length of cotton fiber: 

The length of cotton fiber is an important indicator of spinnability, physically, the individual cotton fibers consist of a single long tubular cell. Its length is about 1200-1500 times than its breadth. Length of cotton fiber varies from 16mm to 52 mm depending upon the type of cotton.
Indian cotton- 16-25 mm
American cotton- 20-30 mm
Sea Island- 38-52 mm
Egyptian cotton- 30-38 mm

The main factors affecting cotton length are cotton varieties, growth conditions and processing quality. The spinning process is closely related to the fiber length, and the process parameters of each process must be matched with the fiber length of cotton used in order to ensure that the quality of production and processing.

Fineness of cotton fiber:
Fiber fineness is expressed in term of decitex and it varies from 1.1 to2.3 decitex.
Indian= 2.2-2.3dtex
American= 2.1-2.2 dtex
Egyptian= 1.2-1.8 dtex
Sea Island= 1.0-1.1 dtex
Fineness may be more in case of immature fiber. The finer the fibers, the higher the yarn strength. However, the cotton with poor maturity has fine fiber strength but the low strength of single yarn. In addition, the fiber is too thin, easy to knot, spinning efficiency is reduced.

Strength and extension of cotton fiber:
Cotton fiber is fairly among natural fibers in relation to tenacity which is 3-3.5g/dtex. Its tensile strength is between wool and silk fiber but the disadvantage is a low extension at break which is 5-7%. Fiber strength is an index to measure the resistance to external forces of textile materials. Elongation is an index to measure the deformation capacity of textile materials. They have great significance for the durability of textiles.

Elastic properties of cotton:
Recovery from deformation of cotton fiber, yarn or fabric from the applied load is very low. By applying heat it can’t be achieved. This property can be achieved by -1.Chemical treatment to improve crease recovery, but the problem is the materials become harsher due to chemical treatment 2. blending or mixing of cotton with elastic fiber, e.g. polyester, blend ratio depends on the end use of the fabric. The initial modulus is fairly high=0
5 g/dtex (wool=0.25 g/dtex)

The micronaire value of cotton: The micronaire value is the permeability of a certain amount of cotton fiber under the specified conditions, it is a comprehensive index to reflect the fineness and maturity of the cotton at the same time. When the micronaire value is too high or too low, the spinnability is both poor, and only when the micronaire value is moderate can obtain a comprehensive economic effect of spinning. At the international level, the micronaire value of 3.5~4.9 units is set to be of high quality.

Cross-section:
Cross-section of cotton fiber is some what ribbon-like. The cell wall is rather thin and the lumen occupies about two-third of the entire breadth and shows up very prominent in polarized light. Fiber cross-section becomes round when mercerized.

Appearance:
Cotton fiber is fairly short, fine and creamy white color. The color of the fiber depends on the soil of growth. By adding chemicals in the soil, color of the cotton fiber may be varied.

Crimp:
Cotton fiber is more or less twisted on its longitudinal axis which cannot be seen from outside is called convolution. The twist in the fiber does not to be continuous in one direction i.e. if at first right direction, then left direction. This property of cotton fiber helps in spinning.

The defects in cotton are harmful substances caused by poor growth and unrefined rolling process, which will worsen the yarn, increase the broken ends, have a poor appearance, and final influence on spinning production and the quality of finished products.

All the properties of cotton fiber above are the basic indicators of cotton quality, which have an important impact on the wearing comfort, durability, safety and so on of textile. It has great significance to understand and study these properties for improving the quality of textiles and increasing the competitiveness of the industry.

If you would like to know more information, please send an e-mail to [email protected] or click the link below to contact us and we will be happy to assist you.

Fiber Testing