Naturally colored cotton is a cotton that has been bred to have a distinctive yellowish-white color typical of modern commercial cotton fibers. The growing colors include red, green and some shades of brown. The natural color of cotton does not fade. The yield is usually lower and the fiber is shorter and weaker but has a softer feel than the more common "white" cotton available.
This cotton shape also feels softer on the skin (this statement is subjective and requires verification) and has a pleasant odor. Natural Colored Cotton is still relatively rare because it requires special harvesting techniques and facilities, making it more expensive to harvest than white cotton. In the 1990s, most of the original cottons or cultivars grown in Africa, Asia and Central and South America were replaced by all-white commercial varieties.
Video Naturally colored cotton
Histori
Natural colored cotton is believed to have originated in America about 5000 years ago in the Andes. The natural colored cotton today comes mostly from pre-Columbian stock made by Native Americans (Vreeland, 1999). Mochika Indians can be associated with the growth of natural colored cotton of various colors, which they have retained for more than two millennia on the northern coast of Peru.
Maps Naturally colored cotton
Color
The natural color in the cotton comes from the pigments found in cotton pigments and produces shades ranging from brown to green and brown. The natural pigmented green cotton derives its color from caffeic acid, a cinnamic acid derivative, found in the suberin layer (wax) â € <â €
Limitations
Natural colored cotton has a small fiber and is not suitable for rotating heavy machinery. During World War II, an insufficient supply of dye caused the planting of green and brown cotton in the Soviet Union. The US government also showed interest in the cultivation of natural colored cotton but subsequently canceled the project due to low yield and short staple length.
"Then the US government instructed a famous agronomist JOWare to study Soviet cotton plants to determine if they were commercially viable in US Ware and his colleagues concluded that green and brown cotton plants produce too little fibers too short in staple colors. The colored cotton is officially set to be unclear, but in some places people are still captivated by the possibilities. "
Because of the smaller fibers, it becomes impractical to use natural colored cotton for clothing manufacturers. But now, colored cotton is literally squeezed with conventional white cotton to make the fiber longer and stronger than other natural colored cotton for use in ordinary looms. Since this hybrid cotton fiber is stronger, it is used by Levis, L.L. Bean, Eileen Fisher, and Fieldcrest for khaki-like clothing.
Commercial cultivation
New arrival in the Western fashion market, natural pigmented cotton originally flourished about 5,000 years ago. Its rise today refers to the stocks first developed and cultivated by Indians in South and Central America. Recent commercial cultivation currently uses pre-Columbian stock made by Native South Americans. Commercial cultivation is still continuing in South America as many large US companies such as Patagonia, Levi Strauss, and Esprit buy natural cotton with white cotton that requires significant insecticides and pesticides.
Upgrade technology
Natural colored cotton has a smaller fiber that is not suitable for the current mechanical loom, so this prevents it from entering the commercial market. In 1982, Sally Fox graduate Integrated Pest Management from the University of California with a master's degree began researching colored cotton and integrating his knowledge and experience in technology and introduced the first long-fiber natural colored cotton. Sally Fox then started his company, Natural Cotton Colors, Inc. and got patents in various colors including: green, brown coyote, brown buffalo, and green palo Verde under FoxFiber.
Later on the technology was further enhanced by Raymond Bird cotton breeders in 1984. Birds began experimenting in Reedley, California, with red, green, and brown cotton to improve fiber quality. Then to Raymond Bird along with his brother and C. Harvey Campbell Jr., an expert on cotton agronomy and California, and formed BC Cotton Inc. to work with natural colored cotton. The normally colored cotton usually has four standard colors - green, brown, red (reddish brown) and mocha (similar to chocolate).
Benefits
There is experimental evidence to show that natural pigmented cotton, especially green cotton, has excellent sun protection properties, when compared with unbleached white cotton that needs to be treated with dye or finishing to get similar properties. It has been hypothesized that pigments in natural pigmented cotton fibers are present to provide protection from ultraviolet radiation for embryonic cottonseed, but they can also provide harmful sun protection for consumers wearing clothing made from these natural pigmented fibers. The UPF value of the natural pigmented cotton examined in the university study remains high enough, even after 80 AFU (AATCC Fading Units) of light exposure and wash repeated, that the fabric deserves a "good" sun protection rating from "good" to ASTM 6603 voluntary labeling guidelines for UV protective textiles.
Use of dye
Natural colored cotton is unique and very different from white cotton because it does not need to be dyed. According to agronomists, the cost of dyeing can be half of the value, and also environmentally friendly, since it eliminates the cost of disposing to toxic dye waste. According to Dr. Frank Werber, National Program Leader for Materials and Materials, Agricultural Research Service, USDA, natural colored cotton is ecologically valid and economical. Removal of immersion in production can save from $ 0.60-1.50 per pound of fabric. Natural colored cotton is also resistant to change compared to conventionally dyed white cotton. After washing, the colors become stronger and stronger, the characteristics documented during the research at Texas Tech University. The length of time it takes to "bring up" colors varies with color and variety. Finally, the color may begin to return to its original color. Some natural dark colored cotton with sun exposure. However, green is less stable and fades when exposed to sunlight.
Cost
Because natural non-industrial products of colorless cotton produce less per hectare, but farmers are paid a higher price for their harvest. In 1993, the price of colored cotton ranged from $ 3.60 to $ 4.50 per pound compared to conventional white cotton at $ 0.60 to $ 0.90 per pound.
References
- J.M. Vreeland "Organic and Colored Cotton: Anthropological and Historical Perspective ", Proceedings of the 1993 Cotton Beltwide Conference. National Cotton Council of America, 1993
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments