How to grow a towels?

Cotton is a natural fiber grown on a plant related to the hibiscus. The seeds are planted in spring and cotton plants grow into green, bushy shrubs about a meter in height. The plant grows pink and cream or at time red coloured flowers that once pollinated, in which a capsule or “Cotton Boil” forms after the petal have fallen down.

The cotton plant was cultivated many centuries ago in India. From there, it spread to China, Africa, Middle East and at last to Europe, where the cotton fabrics became very popular at the 17th century.

Cotton fibers are ready to be harvested when the cotton boils split open from the pressure of the packed fibers inside. In the past, the boils were picked by hand and large numbers of people worked in the cotton fields. An ever-increasing demand for cotton led to the need for mechanical harvesters and the invention of the cotton pucker. After the picking, the cotton is driven through a “gin”, where the fiber is separated from the seed and is pressed into bales, ready to be transported to the spinning mill for further processing.

How is cotton harvested?

Step 1: Pre-production

Before cotton can be planted the soil is carefully prepared. Often cotton is planted straight into the stubble of a previous crop, like wheat, which maintains nutrients in the soil and helps keep moisture in. The soil is then weeded and given bio-nutrients and water before the crop goes in.

Step 2: The Seed

Cotton seeds are planted into warm nutrient rich soil. After a few days the bay plant emerges from the earth and, over the summer, grows into a green bush about yay high, with pink and white flower that become the “fruit”.

Step 3: Quenching Cotton Thirst through Science

While the cotton plant is growing, it needs to be watered a number of times depending on how hot it is and how well the plant is growing. Drip irrigation is mostly used to conserve and reduce water wastage. Organic cotton growers are the most efficient in the world, growing more cotton per drop of water than anywhere else.

Step 4: Picking

During the heat of summer the cotton boil fill with lint and seeds and then split open, revealing the fluffy cotton that’s ready to harvest. Most organic cotton is handpicked in autumn. The seed cotton is packed into modules or round bales ready to be sent off for processing.

Step 5: The Gin

The seed cotton is sent by trucks to cotton “gin”, which is short for “engine”. There it is put through big machines that separate the fluffy cotton from the cotton seed. Trash like leaves and dirt are also removed and the ginned cotton is pressed into bales. The cotton seed can be pressed t make cotton seed oil or used for stock feed.

Step 7: Spinning Mill Magic

The spinning mill is the first stop in cotton processing, where raw cotton is transformed into thread. In the past, spinning mills were usually multistoried buildings with huge windows to provide natural light. Cast-iron columns supporting iron cross-beams were installed in the factories to protect the building from collapse during a fire. Besides spinning machine, the factory also had storage facilities, preparation areas and reeling machines. Machines were crammed in next to each other and were usually powered by water wheels or steam engines. The stress, dust, heat, and noise made such places extremely dangerous for the people who worked there.

When the “Bales” arrive, they are combed out to disentangle the fibers. The cotton is then twisted into a continuous thread to become different types of yarn. This yarn is then bleached and can be dyed to specification.

Step 7: Woven to specifications

Cotton Yarn is either knitted or woven into fabric and then sewn into cotton product like clothes, jeans, sheets and of course, towels! Cotton of different qualities and weights is used to make various products, from the heavy and hard wearing denim to the superfine lightweight fabric used in cotton shirts.

Step 8: To your home

From a tiny seed to a fashion statement, towels make a long journey from field to fabric. Cotton is the world’s favorite natural fiber and towel is at the top of the list, accounting for 23% of cotton consumption worldwide. Towels are comfy, soft, ultra-absorbent, long lasting, and made from a beautiful natural product that we all love, cotton.