HISTORY

Cotton has been around for thousands of years. We have found uses of it in both the Old and New Worlds. Fragments of cotton cloth have been found in caves near Tehaucan, Mexico, which have been dated to 5800 B.C. In the Indus Valley in Pakistan, there is evidence of cotton being used as far back as 3000 B.C. We also know that cotton was being used in Egypt and China for at least that long.

One of the books I have read, Textile Fibers and Their Uses, suggests India as the birthplace of this fiber in the Old World. England first used cotton in the manufacture of candlewicks. It was imported for this use during the end of the thirteenth century.

In the Americas, the early explorers found cotton being grown in Mexico, South and Central America. The cotton grown in the United States was developed from the native cottons indigenous to the Americas; it is known as Upland cotton. The fibers of Upland cotton are very tightly fastened to the seed and are very difficult to remove. It used to take a person a full day to "deseed" a single pound of cotton. Of this pound of deseeded cotton, the seed accounted for two-thirds of the pound.

It was the invention of the Cotton Gin by Eli Whitney in 1793 that made cotton "King of the fiber industry”. The cotton gin made it possible to process several hundreds of pounds of short-stapled cotton in a day as compared to the one to two pounds of cotton per day a person could do by hand. For the longer stapled cotton like Sea Island and Egyptian, which have a smoother seed hulls, the seeds can be handled by a different type of gin that has been in use for centuries. Called a "roller gin", this type of gin was first used in India and consists of leather-covered rollers that hold the fibers while the seeds are pushed off. The roller gin handles about a 1000 pounds of cotton a day, without tearing or cutting the cotton fibers. In contrast the modern American cotton gin for Upland cotton can process 25,000 pounds of cotton in a day.

FIBER CHARACTERISTICS

MICROSCOPIC APPEARANCE •••Longitudinal-twisted ribbon with thickened edges

CROSS SECTION ••••••••••••••••••••••Varies from flat to circular.

LENGTH ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••1/2" to 2 1/2"

DIAMETER ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••16-20 microns

LUSTER •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Low

STRENGTH ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••2.6 grams per denier (4-12 grams per fiber)

ELASTICITY •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••Low

CONDUCTOR OF HEAT ••••••••••••Good

EFFECT OF HEAT ••••••••••••••••••••Highly resistant

WATER ABSORBENCY ••••••••••••Low

EFFECT OF MOISTURE ••••••••••••Increases strength, reduces elasticity

EFFECT OF SUNLIGHT •••••••••••••Slowly deteriorates

ATTACK BY MILDEW ••••••••••••••Not easily attacked

ATTACK BY MOTH •••••••••••••••••No

EFFECT OF ACIDS •••••••••••••••••••Concentrated acids destroy

EFFECT OF ALKALIS •••••••••••••••Alkalis do not injure

Table of facts from Textile Fibers and Their Uses.

FIBER PREPARATION

Cotton can be grown in our area but it needs 180 days free of frost to develop from seed to ripe boll ready for picking. Most of the cotton grown in California is grown in the San Joaquin Valley and the Imperial Valley. If you choose not to grow it or are unable to in your climate, cotton can be obtained in many forms: from raw cotton, unginned; to ginned cotton; carded cotton; combed cotton; or punis. Punis are a type of preparation where the cotton is carded on cotton cards and then rolled tightly around a stick.

We are also fortunate to have colored cottons, which can be obtained at spinning stores that have been develop by Sally Fox of Fox Fibers. Fox Fibers offers natural colored cottons in browns, greens, and golds. Sally Fox is also working on a blue as well as a rose colored cotton.

You can use regular hand carders to prepare the ginned cotton for spinning but cotton carders are specially made for cotton having a greater number of wires per square inch (224 wires per square inch versus wool carders averaging 50 wires per square inch). Cotton carders can also be used with silks, fine wools, angora, and other very fine fibers. After the cotton is carded it is ready to spin. If

you buy cotton rovings and they are compacted, to make them easier to spin, put an ounce at a time into a colander and steam the cotton for three minutes. This will reinflate the hollow core and loosen the fiber mass. Have the steam rolling up from the pot before putting the cotton over the pot and be careful not to let the cotton touch the water.

SPINNING COTTON

Cotton can be spun on a regular spinning wheel. I've spun quite a bit of cotton, fine, on an Ashford Traveler...it just takes a lot of treadling. The important thing to keep in mind is the length of the fiber you are spinning, short (¾") to average (1½") and the fact that cotton must be spun fine to be strong (it takes a lot of twist), so put in lots of twist, then add some more twist just for good

measure. Cotton is very difficult to over spin but easy to under spin. If you want a thick cotton yarn do it by plying together several thin strands. Make a 3,4,6 or even 9-ply yarn to get the thickness of yarn you desire. You can use the "long draw" on cotton it just takes getting use to the feel of the fiber. Or go ahead and use the “short draw”, or worsted method, if you feel more comfortable with

it. Just remember, lots of twist!

Another way of spinning cotton is to use a Charka, which is the Indian name for spinning wheel. On a Charka you have a very high gear ratio, usually at least 50:1. This makes spinning cotton faster than on a standard wool wheel. Also, on a Charka, you spin off the tip of the spindle. To do this you place your fiber so that it is off the tip at a 45-degree angle. Then you spin your length of yarn,

turn the handle and put the extra twist in, stop and wind the finished yarn onto the spindle and go again.

The Charka works very similarly to the support spindle on which you can also spin cotton. It’s very difficult to find a drop spindle light enough to not break your cotton yarn as it is being formed. A support spindle is a great way to go for spindle spinning cotton. The support spindle puts no tension on your yarn as it’s formed so you may draft and then put the twist in to hold the yarn together.

All of these methods are easier once you’ve watched and tried them.

FINISHING THE YARN

Set the twist by skeining the yarn and tying it in at least four places, or more. Then put the skein in a pot of water with a bit of dish soap and boil for 45 to 60 minutes at a soft boil. After it has boiled remove the skein, rinse well, and allow to dry. The yarn is then ready for use. If using for warp you might want to size it first, but for weft and knitting, sizing is not needed.

REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING

Hand Spinning Cotton, by Olive and Harry Linder, Bizarre Butterfly Publishing

ISBN: 0-915113-02-3

The Encyclopedia of Hand Spinning, by Mabel Ross, Interweave Press

ISBN: 0-934026-32-7

Textile Fibers and Their Uses, Fifth Edition, by Katharine Paddock Hess, J.B. Lippincott Co.

Library of Congress catalogue number 53-11272

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Teresa Simons has a business, Mountain Shadow Ranch, located in Creswell, Oregon.  For more information check her web site, and her eBay store.