Cotton Fibres

Table of Contents

• Obtaining Cotton Fibres
• The Spinning of the Fibres into Yarn
• Summary
• Did You Know?
• What’s Next?

In the previous segment of the chapter ‘Fibre to Fabric’, we got introduced to Jute fibres. In this segment let us look at the cotton fibres.

How are cotton fibres obtained?

Cotton fibres are obtained from the fruits of the cotton plant by the following process:

1. Once the cotton boll which is a fruit like structure containing the cotton fibres matures, it bursts open and the snow-white cotton fibres are exposed.

Cotton boll

1. To collect the cotton from the cotton plant, the seeds need to be separated from the soft fluffy part. This can be carried out either manually, or these days mostly with the use of machines. The process of separating the seeds and the fibres is called Ginning.

How are the cotton fibres spun into yarn?

The next step after ginning is the spinning. Spinning is the process where the threads are converted into yarns.