Interesting facts about the history of the material
Cotton clothes half the world, despite the abundance of synthetic analogues. It is used in various spheres of life, for example, it is used to make cotton wool, gauze, fluff, and thread.
Cotton is grown in many countries around the world, and archaeologists have found evidence that it was cultivated 7,000 years ago. Initially, cotton was grown in Asia, then it began to spread to neighboring countries. Mass cultivation of the crop was first established in India, which remained the largest producer of fabric. It was only during the Persian Wars that Europe managed to find out what cotton was.
The material appeared on the territory of the Russian Empire only in the 15th century. But in Soviet times, cotton fabric accounted for about 75% of the entire textile industry. Most cotton was grown in Uzbekistan, which led to an environmental disaster. The cultivation of this crop was so widespread, and the process of fertilization and irrigation was too active, the plants depleted the soil, which led to the fact that the Aral Sea virtually disappeared and dried up.
Fact! In the 15th century, when cotton cultivation was just being established in Russia, cotton fabric was very expensive, its price was actually equal to the cost of silk. Today it is one of the cheapest natural materials.
Origin story
Early evidence of the use of cotton fiber in textiles was found at the Mehrgarh and Rakhigarhi sites in India, which date back to around 5000 BC. The Indus Valley Civilization, which spanned the Indian subcontinent from 3300 to 1300 BC, was able to thrive thanks to the cultivation of cotton, which provided the people of this culture with an easily accessible source of clothing.
While cotton cultivation was common in both Arabia and Iran, the textile plant did not fully penetrate Europe until the late Middle Ages. Before this, Europeans believed that cotton grew on mysterious trees in India, and some scientists then even suggested that the textile was a type of wool produced by sheep.
However, the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula introduced Europeans to cotton production, and European countries quickly became producers and exporters of cotton on par with Egypt and India.
Technology for producing fibers and webs from them
Initially, all work on picking cotton and making linen was carried out by hand. This was labor-intensive work on processing raw materials, so the cost was high. With the advent of spinning machines in the 15th-16th centuries, the situation changed. Now the whole process is mechanized.
Production stages:
| No. | stage | how is it going |
| 1 | Collection | Manually or mechanically. |
| 2 | Cleaning | Fibers are separated and cleared of debris |
| 3 | Spinning and sizing | After receiving the threads, they are glued to make the fabric stronger. For this, natural compounds are used, for example, starch or synthetic fats, resins |
| 4 | Whitening | The main goal of this stage is to make the canvas perfectly white, for which chlorine or hydrogen peroxide is used |
| 5 | Painting | There are more than 4,000 dyes, both natural and artificial. On an industrial scale, synthetic dyes are used. |
| 6 | Finishing | This stage is different for different types of cotton and consists of mercerization, which makes the fabric more dense and wear-resistant. Bluening - to achieve a white effect. To reduce creasing, formaldehyde resins are used. |
Fact! Breeders have managed to develop cotton crops of different colors; the fabric obtained from them does not require coloring.
Physical properties
Cotton fabric is resistant to phenol, alkalis and acetone. However, sulfuric and hydrochloric acids will destroy it completely. The fabric is not at all afraid of high temperatures. Cotton absorbs moisture well, and when wet it increases in volume by about 40%. At the same time, after getting wet, the strength of the fabric increases by 15%, while for other natural fibers it decreases.
Strength depends on the degree of maturity and ranges from 0.5 to 10 g per fiber. On average, this figure is 4-5 g when the plant reaches full maturity. If the strength is 2.5 g or lower, then the fiber can no longer be used to make fabric.
Cotton has low light resistance; under the influence of sunlight, the fibers are destroyed. After 940 hours of exposure to ultraviolet light, the fabric becomes half as durable. Cotton's resistance to biochemical processes is also low. If the fabric contains 9% or more moisture and is stored in a room where the humidity is at 75-85%, then the fabric will gradually deteriorate under the influence of microorganisms.
Author:
Anastasia Kukushkina
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