COTTON GINNERS HANDBOOK: Textile Industry Needs

Abstract

The immediate customers of cotton gins are the producers; however, the ultimate customers are textile mills and consumers. The ginner has the challenging task to satisfy both producers and the textile industry. Classing and grading systems are intended to assign an economic value to the bales that relates to textile mill demands and the quality of the end product. International textile mills currently are the primary consumers of U.S. cotton lint where it must compete against foreign origins. International textile mills manufacture primarily ring-spun yarns, whereas domestic mills manufacture predominantly rotor spun yarns. Producers and ginners must produce cottons to satisfy all segments of the industry, i.e., domestic and international. Many fiber quality attributes are important to the textile industry including those that are included in HVI-based classing, i.e., strength, length, micronaire, trash, and grade. There are other important fiber quality attributes that are not included in HVI-based classing such as short-fiber content, fiber maturity, stickiness, fiber cohesion, and neps. The general steps of textile processing: opening, cleaning, carding, drawing, spinning, and fabric production have not changed in many years. However, manufacturing systems have become highly automated, and production speeds have dramatically increased. Contamination-free cotton has always been important to the textile industry, but recent changes in harvesting systems in conjunction with higher production speeds and global competition from synthetic fibers and other growths of cotton have increased the industry demand for contamination-free cotton. The ginner plays a vital role in preserving and improving the quality of cotton to meet the demands of the textile industry.