Own business: cotton wool production. Technology and equipment for cotton wool production

The production of cotton wool is a rather labor-intensive and costly business, so you should carefully weigh the pros and cons before organizing such a business. The initial minimum costs will be at least 2.5-3 million rubles, but they will pay off with proper organization of activities in a fairly short period of time - somewhere within a year.

Cotton wadding

Most of this fibrous mass is imported to Russia from leading cotton producing countries: India, China, Pakistan, USA, Uzbekistan, Brazil. Cotton wool is made from raw materials obtained after processing the fruits of the shaggy cotton plant. When the fruit of the plant ripens, the capsule opens. Inside it is a soft white fiber with seeds.

It is collected, packaged and delivered to the cotton gin, where the fibers are separated from the seeds and sorted according to size. Those that have a length of 2-2.5 centimeters are used for making fabrics, and shorter ones are used for the production of cotton wool.

Covers and picking

In mattress covers, the type of fabric, as well as the cut and size, are important.

The durability and appearance of the products mainly depend on the fabric.

The following materials are now used on the market: polyester, polycotton, microfiber - for cheap cotton mattresses, as well as calico and teak mattresses - for more expensive and high-quality ones.

We won’t write about sizes, see above. The cut of the cover can be either with longitudinal or transverse sides, which make the cotton mattress more presentable and somewhat more expensive, or without sides.

Picking is the process of fastening the fiber and the casing together. The uniformity of fixation of the filler and the absence of lumping depends on the number and distance between them and picks (buttons). The greater the number of peaks, the more resilient, elastic, and uniform in structure the mattress is, but also more expensive. The most inexpensive mattress should have at least 16 peaks if you don’t want it to soon turn into an unpresentable lumpy bedding.

Raw Material Options

Fiber mass can be made not only from cotton, but also from flax and wool. In terms of consumer qualities, flax wool is closer to cotton wool, but it is less common. There is also a fibrous mass made from a mixture of viscose and cotton. Viscose is one of the first artificially produced fibers; it is obtained by processing natural cellulose. It is highly hygroscopic (the ability to absorb moisture from the air), however, both manufacturers and consumers prefer natural materials because they are less allergenic.

The production of cotton wool from wool and cotton follows the same technological scheme. To produce cotton fiber, cotton of a grade no higher than fourth is selected, and waste from the primary processing of raw materials and unspun waste are also used.

The most suitable is considered to be elastic, low-number cotton, similar in texture to wool. But wool wool is made from pure natural fiber (sheep, camel, goat wool) or artificial fiber with the addition of cotton.

How to obtain sterile material

If you want to create temporary compression garments with your own hands, then use elastic bandages and non-sterile cotton wool. This product is great for situations where the default is not for the material to touch an open wound surface.

The biggest difference between a sterile and non-sterile combination is the mandatory procedure for drying the raw materials in a special oven. This is how it turns out to destroy various pathogenic microorganisms in a short time. Then the cleaned and disinfected consumable can be applied even to open wounds without fear of possible infection.

The non-sterile solution does not require auxiliary sterilization and is sent to the packaging department immediately after initial processing. At the same time, the density of the two representatives is practically no different.

The non-sterile combination is suitable for the following purposes:

• medical;
• cosmetological;
• hygienic.

Based on the presented view, dressing parts are then created in production, and are also used during manipulations related to the beauty industry in aesthetic medicine centers. Discs, balls, and sponges developed on their basis are then positioned as assistants for face and body care at home.

The use of non-sterile material is allowed only in situations where the risks of infection are reduced to zero. Consumers like it due to its relatively low cost and ability to absorb large amounts of liquid in a matter of seconds.

If you take a couple of minutes to study the instructions, you can also find out whether chlorine was added to the composition as a bleach. Its absence is a ticket to non-occurring skin irritation. But if a person swallows a piece of a ball or disk without exposure to chlorine, you should still seek advice from a specialist.

Moreover, this must be done as soon as possible in order to avoid possible negative developments and related complications.

Sterile specimens are certified and must also undergo steam or chemical sterilization. The result worked well in the following situations:

• production of dressings, which will then come into contact with an open wound surface or burn marks;
• production of dressing material applied over the area treated with an antiseptic;
• if necessary, prevent even the slightest percentage chance of infection.

This cotton wool has a uniform structure, as well as a soft neck and a uniform color palette without blue stains, because the attraction of any types of impurities is not allowed here. Sorption properties are significantly increased.

Necessary equipment

Creating your own cotton wool production is not so easy. You will need separate premises for warehouses and a workshop, and special equipment. The line for processing cotton fluff, low-grade fiber, and cotton waste includes devices such as a feeder, a condenser, an inclined cleaner, a control station, bunker cotton machines, a solid particle cleaner, air ducts, and filters.

On the secondary market, the price of such a line will average 700-750 thousand rubles. If you want to buy new devices, then prepare at least 1.2-1.5 million rubles. Yes, not cheap! But such a raw material processing line can be serviced by only three people per shift.

To make products from cotton wool you will need separate equipment. To produce cotton pads and sticks, you will need machines with automatic transportation, functions for cutting sheets, stamping and transporting waste, drawing, embossing and an automatic dispenser.

How much can you earn?

It is better to take a two-shift operating mode as a basis for calculations. This means that the estimated income of the enterprise will be 700-750 thousand rubles. taking into account the fact that payments for raw materials have already been made. Monthly costs for rent, payroll, advertising, utilities, additional expenses amount to 350-400 thousand rubles. The net income of the business will be approximately 300-400 thousand rubles, the return on the initial investment will be 1-1.5 years.

Production of ordinary cotton wool

The fibrous mass used for sewing clothes differs from that used in medicine, both in terms of raw materials and production technology. Ordinary cotton wool is made from clogged waste - waste generated during the processing of textile fibrous materials. First, they are cleared of debris on a dusty top. High-stiffness fibers are pre-split using multi-drum pluckers. Then the raw materials are loosened, mixed and formed into canvases using special equipment.

The basis of the canvases is made up of shapeless fibers, which the roller carding machine turns into cotton wool with a certain structure and thickness. The finished mass is inspected for defects, pressed and packed into bales of forty to fifty kilograms. In this form, the products are supplied to furniture and clothing factories.

Financial calculations

The amount of initial investment depends on the assortment matrix. After selecting equipment and selecting a supplier of raw materials capable of ensuring its uninterrupted loading, the volume of production is determined and gross profit is predicted.

Start-up capital

Monthly expenses

How much can you earn?

With a minimum equipment productivity of 250 kg/hour in a 12-hour shift, it is possible to produce 3 tons of cotton wool, taking into account downtime - about 60 tons per month or 240 thousand packages of 250 g. With a wholesale cost of packaging of 30 rubles. gross revenue will be RUB 7,200,000. Market research shows that primary sales do not exceed 80%, which means it’s worth counting on 5.5-5.6 million rubles. per month.

Payback period

Net profit per month at the initial stage will be about 500,000 rubles. after taxes. The initial investment will pay off no earlier than in 11,000,000/500,000=22 months or a little less than two years. With full sales of manufactured products and expansion of the range after the payback period, the enterprise can bring in up to 30 million rubles. net profit per year.

Manufacturing of medical cotton wool

Such production has significant differences. The raw materials are first loosened and cleaned using a special loosening and cleaning apparatus. After this, it is boiled under pressure in alkali (at a temperature of no more than 130 degrees) and treated with sodium hyposulfite. As a result of this treatment, the physical structure of the fibers and their color change.

As a result of the removal of pectin and nitrogenous substances, the raw material loses its natural yellowish tint and becomes white, and also acquires characteristic properties, the main one of which is hygroscopicity. Manufacturers of medical cotton wool must pay special attention to the quality of their products, because they are used in medical practice and must be hygienic and sterile.

After carrying out the described actions, the fibers are processed in the same way as in the manufacture of ordinary wool. But the work doesn't end there. At the last stage, the products are sterilized under pressure up to three atmospheres and at a temperature of 125 degrees. It is then packaged and sent to warehouses.

Making cotton swabs

You can immediately sell part of the received medical cotton wool, and use part for the production of medical products, for example, cotton swabs. In medical practice, in cosmetology, and in everyday life (when you need to clean hard-to-reach places), they are used quite widely.

For cosmetic purposes, by the way, you can make special sticks with one end slightly pointed. Using it, it is very convenient, for example, to outline the contours of the eyes, lips, or remove excess polish from nails. The second end of the product should have a flat, round shape. It can be used as an applicator when applying eye shadow.

What will be required for implementation?

If a complex technological process, expensive imported raw materials and the purchase of large equipment at the start do not make you want to choose another field of activity, then it is worth understanding the documentation of the business. Cotton wool is included in the list of medical products for the production of which it is necessary to obtain a registration certificate from the Federal Service of Roszdravnadzor. After the manufactured product is entered into the state register, it is also necessary to issue a declaration of compliance with the standards of the GOST system.

The basic standards are described by GOST 5556-81 Medical hygroscopic cotton wool. Additionally, you need to familiarize yourself with the document GOST 22379-93 Medical cotton-gauze products.

Technological process

The production of cotton swabs begins with the production of their base from polyethylene (propylene can also be used) on special machines that blow out 500-2000 units of product per minute. These same machines wind cotton wool onto a plastic base.

For this purpose, the cotton wool is divided into four strips. They are very thin, a meter weighs only about one or one and a half grams. The tape is passed through a funnel, which gives it volume, and is wound onto a reel in this fluffy form. To speed up the production process, tapes are supplied to the machine from two reels at once. The machine cuts the cotton fibers and winds them around the preheated ends of a plastic base.

The plastic melts when heated, and when cooled, it adheres well to the winding. If you use a different base, for example, when making wooden sticks, you will have to glue the cotton wool to the ends with glue, and this, of course, will increase the cost of production.

An antibacterial solution is applied to finished products - this is the last stage of production. But we still need to sort out the defective products. Of course, doing this manually is problematic. Therefore, automatic sensors are used.

If you use faulty or cheap equipment, then the packages that end up in the hands of consumers may contain a large number of defective products, and this, as you yourself understand, will negatively affect your reputation. This is why product quality should be taken very seriously. Samples of cotton swabs should be sent to a laboratory to verify the sterility and effectiveness of the applied antibacterial solution.

Production of cotton pads

Such products are also used in medicine and cosmetology. Usually their surface is made in relief for ease of applying ointment or some other product to the skin. Unlike ordinary cotton wool, when wetted the disc does not change its shape.

The products are made from bleached cotton. First, the raw material is placed into a feeding mechanism, then into a baking powder, where the cotton is separated into individual fibers. After this, it is sent to a carding machine with large drums, where the fibers are combed out and formed into a batt. Several of these canvases are layered and compressed under pressure.

The higher the quality of a product, the more cotton wool was used in production. The compressed layers are then passed through a special apparatus for longitudinal cutting into narrower strips. These, in turn, are passed through a machine that applies a textured pattern to the surface. This step can be skipped; the discs do not necessarily have to have a textured surface, however, it is believed that the consumer properties in this case will be reduced.

The resulting tapes are sent to a cutting machine, which cuts out the pads of the required shape (by the way, not necessarily round). At the final stage, the cotton pads are packaged in plastic bags using special equipment.

Quality requirements

Having figured out what classic and modern cotton wool is made of, consumers believe that there are no other classifications for it. But in fact, all hygroscopic products of this kind are separately sorted according to their specific purpose.

The division is designed into three camps:

• ophthalmic;
• surgical;
• hygienic.

The first solution differs from the others in terms of raw materials. Only first grade cotton fiber is used here. Thanks to this, it is possible to achieve optimal absorption capacity and capillarity. In practice, this means that the consumable absorbs moisture of any type well.

To achieve a similar effect, the authors use only long-staple cotton. The result will please you with the absence of specific “cotton fluff”.

The surgical proposal has the highest degree of carding. Due to such scrupulousness, it is possible to neutralize even the smallest weed components. It’s not for nothing that it then easily absorbs, retains liquids and separates well into layers after being removed from the box.

Sanitary wool undergoes fewer control stages when inspected by the relevant authorities. Some impurities are allowed here, even a synthetic component like bleach is not uncommon. Usually it is hygienic fillers that are available for free sale in pharmacies. They may contain knots or short fibers and may have uneven whiteness.

But even the simplest cotton solution has limits set by specialists from the quality control service. For premium solutions, the requirements are more stringent and include:

1. Contains only 100% natural cotton content.
2. No lumps or unevenly distributed thick threads. A good consumable must delaminate quickly and easily, and also be perfectly combed.
3. But a small presence of nodules is an acceptable scenario.
4. Pleasant textile sensations should be explained by the soft texture of the product.
5. The color palette can vary only within the permissible deviations in cream shades. If the purchase has a too pronounced white tone, or there are blue tones, then this indicates optical brighteners. People with sensitive skin should avoid such specimens, so as not to run into hives or other manifestations of allergies.
6. Absorption of moisture reaching the surface of the layer should occur instantly. Dripping down the cotton ball indicates an abundance of unnatural components.
7. Separation into layers occurs quickly and without significant effort. Dust, as well as short fibers falling out, are also a sign of a poor-quality product.
8. The unpacked purchase must be completely dry inside, regardless of its final purpose.

Separately, it is worth conducting a test for suspicious odor. Real cotton wool does not have it, and adaptations with fragrances, or accompanying odors such as pungent chemical or medicinal aromas are a bad sign.

Mineral wool production

Such products have a completely different purpose and are manufactured using completely different equipment. It is used for the production of sound and heat insulating products or as a thermal insulation material in industry and construction. The raw materials are glass, blast furnace slag melts or igneous rocks.

Application [ edit | edit code ]

In world medicine, cotton wool began to be used at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, primarily in military surgery, since the treatment of wounds was influenced by improved weapons and the characteristics of the wounds they caused. For the first time, the use of hygroscopic dressings for the treatment of wounds based on cotton wool was proposed in 1880 by the surgeon of the Royal Hospital in Birmingham, J. S. Gamgee [5]. Before this, instead of cotton wool, flax or hemp hemp, tow, jute or lint

- cotton rags torn into threads.

By the beginning of the 1890s, according to contemporary doctors, cotton wool “completely replaced lint” in Russian medicine [6]. But even during the First World War, in Russian hospitals and clinics, along with cotton wool, lint, tow, tow, etc. were still used [7].

Artificial wool is widely used in construction as a heat and sound insulating material; in the chemical industry - for filtering liquids and gases.

Manufacturing technology

• The coke and raw materials are loaded into the top of the cupola furnace and lowered down to form an alloy.
• Using a centrifugal, blowing or combined method, a stream of liquid melt is split into fibers.
• In the deposition chamber, a mineral carpet is formed from individual fibers, then the connecting elements are dried and hardened.

Perhaps the most widely used type of mineral wool is stone (basalt). The technology of its manufacture is similar to the work of a volcano. The production of basalt wool is carried out in a furnace at a temperature of 1500 degrees. First, a fiery liquid alloy is made from rocks, then it is drawn into fiber and coated with a binder. Next, the carpet is heat treated and cut into products of the required sizes.

Etymology [edit | edit code]

There are the following versions of the origin of the word “cotton wool”:

• The word came into the Russian language from Japanese in the 17th century as a result of trade relations between Russia and Japan, starting with the first meeting of the Japanese Denbey with Peter I in 1697 and the subsequent decree establishing trade relations between Russia and Japan. Other words that were borrowed during this period and became firmly assimilated into the Russian language are “ivashi” and “sakura” [2].
• According to M. Vasmer [3], the word is borrowed from the German language (Watte), into which it presumably came from the Arabic wáḍḍa or batin “lining”.