Coloured Cotton

Coloured Cotton

     Coloured cotton refers to natural pigmented cotton fibers that grow in different shades such as brown, green, red, blue, or beige rather than usual White cotton. Unlike conventionally grown white cotton, which must be dyed to achieve colour,coloured cotton gets its hue from natural genetic variations in the cotton plant.

Characteristics of coloured cotton: 

• Natural pigmentation. 

• Environmental benefits.

• Soft Ness & Texture.

• Colour range.

• Genetic origin.

Scientific Background:

•      The pigments that creates colour in cotton are namely “flavonoids" (for browns) and quinones or tannins (for green)

• Bleeding programs and biotechnological advances are improving the fiber length, yield, and brightness of coloured cotton varieties.

• Transagenic techniques are being explored to introduce stronger pigmentation genes into commercial cotton.

Environmental and Industrial Significance:

• Eco-friendly: Avoids toxic dyes and large water consumption during textile processing.

• Sustainable fashion: Increasingly used in eco-textile industries and organic apparel brands.

• Challenges: Lower yield, limited colour range and fading under UV exposure have restricted it's industrial scale adoption.

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ORGANIC COTTON

Brief Introduction to Organic cotton

     Organic cotton fibers are not differ from regular cotton fibers. Cotton plants are grown naturally without the use of synthetic fertilizer or pesticides. From sown to seeds to harvesting of cotton pods involved use of biological cycles only.

     Agricultural chemicals used for better yield with better quality. The intention behind avoiding the use of fertilizer or any kind of chemical in cotton cultivation is to protect the environment and soil. To have organic cotton and avoid use of pesticides, a system has been developed at the global level that regulates and controls the process of farming, which will include giving approval and supporting to the farmers to grow organic cotton. Each and every stage the process is monitored and verified by the governing body of organic cotton.

 

    The sustainable cotton project of the global leadership is helping farmers to change their production of conventional cotton growth, found successful in many countries like Turkey, India, China, Pakistan, Brazil, Australia, US and African countries, mainly Egypt. And global apparel brands like Nike, Wallmart, C&A, H&M,etc, have switched to organic cotton.

     GOTS ( The Global Organic Textile Standard ) is the certification body of global organic cotton. GOTS was developed with the aim of defining requirements that are recognised world wide and that ensure the organic status of textiles from harvesting of the raw materials through environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing all the way to labelling in order to provide credible assurance to the consumer.

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NOTES ON COTTON FIBER

Introduction to Cotton Fiber: 

     Cotton is the king and Silk is the queen of the textile world. Both are dominating the clothing area of the human essentials though man-made technology developed to the extent of fulfilling the need of clothing. Cotton maintained its value in history and continued to gain importance in the present and future. History says, cotton was known by the people who lived 5000 years back. People knew the technology of growing the Cotton plant, spinning the yarn and get it woven. As we came to know, cotton dominating countries were India and its surrounding countries, Egypt, Australia and the American continent. Among these India was the main country producing cotton fiber. Cotton is one of the prime crops of Indian agriculture.

     Cotton belongs to the biological genus gossypium of the Malvaceae family. The fiber is completely composed of cellulose.

Production of cotton fiber :

     Cotton is cultivated in the soil which is heavy and in an environment of frost free period and in moderate rain fall. Nowadays even cotton plants are cultivating in lands of less rainfall but with getting land irrigated. The plants usually grow to a height of 1 to 2 meters depending on area and environment. It has 3 to 7 lobes with large size leaves giving pods or boll containing seeds. These cotton seeds are surrounded by fibers grown from the surface of the seed. The boll of cotton seeds is supported by flowers, makes the plant look very beautiful and indicates the farmer to initiate harvesting.

     Harvesting is done both mechanically as well as by hand. Boll picking machines and stripers are used in many developed countries. These machines will pick and separate the pods without damaging the plants. But in some developing countries still the cropping is done by farmers' hands. Harvesting takes place only after the flower has dried and the pods open itself to sun shines. For cropping, the pods are in a state of complete driedness and fibers are free to be exposed to light. The picked pods are taken for the ginning process.  Cotton covers 25 % of the world's cultivated land.

Ginning and Packing of Cotton Fibers:

     Ginning is the mechanical process of separating the fibers from the skin of the seed. This process requires the fibers attached to the seed must be free from moisture. The machines are developed for greater efficiency and productivity and have the mechanism of feeding cotton seeds passing through cylinders mounted with sharp saws and pinned belts. The machines separate the seed and fibers as well as throughout the trash including dust particles,husk, leaves,etc, whatever comes from the farm along with cotton pods.

     The fibers coming out from the gin machine are packed in a compact form called “ Bale " with specific weight to send it to spinning mills for yarn manufacturing.

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