Cotton
Courtesy of trustedclothes.com
Did you know that the world produces about 25 million tonnes (110 million bales) of cotton annually? China being the largest producer.
There are four commercially grown species of cotton:
Gossypium hirsutum
Gossypium barbadense
Gossypium arboreum
Gossypium herbaceum
One of the earliest evidences of cotton uses in the Indian subcontinent dates back between 6000 and 5000 BC. It was found at the site of Mehrgarh and Rakhigarhi. During the Han dynasty (207 BC - 220 AD), cotton was grown by the people of China in the province of Yunnan. In Iran, the use of cotton dates back to 5th century BC, the Achaemenid era. The growing of cotton was very common in Ray, Merv and Pars of Iran.
Other than clothing, cotton is also used in fishing nets, tents and coffee filters. The first Chinese paper was made from cotton fiber. Even fire hoses were once made from cotton.
The Burn Test
If you want to know if your unidentifiable fabric is cotton, do the burn test!
Take a small piece of the fabric (about a 1" triangular snippet), hold it with tweezers and set it on fire! If it's cotton, it will flare up when it's lit. When the fire it out, it will continue to glow and there will be no melted bead where the fire was burning. It gives out a burning paper smell and the smoke will be gray or white. The ash will be fine, soft and easy to crumble.
Well written, Thanks for sharing this informative post about Cotton,
Wow, I did not expect the cotton production that high!
Another fact about cotton clothes (as long as it's 100% cotton): it is essentially boil-proof. That means you can wash it at very high temperatures (even boil it) and the material won't shrink. Eventhough one could damage the colouring by doing that, but that depends on what dye was used for the fabric.
Did not know about the burn test. Little pyro in all of us? lol Cotton is one of my favorite mediums for my weaving projects. It is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Very versitle plant. Thanks for the info.
How fortunate we were to have species like cotton to get dressed, and the books I'm passionate about!