Cotton fabric 

100% Cotton is a top priority when we shop for clothes, especially baby clothes. Cotton material is currently the most popular in garment fashion. Cotton fabric is a fairly popular fabric and is used a lot in the textile industry in Vietnam because of its extremely breathable properties and good absorbency. In this article, VNPOLYFIBER  will find out the information about cotton fabric.

What is cotton fabric?

Cotton fabric is woven from cotton yarn (a yarn spun from cotton balls) or can be a combination of cotton yarn and some other synthetic fibers (polyester plastic yarn). With the characteristics of being easy to dye, outstanding durability, super absorbent ability as well as creating comfortable coolness for the wearer. Therefore, cotton is currently “dominating” the garment and fashion industry around the world.

Cotton is a synthetic fiber fabric that is woven from natural cotton fibers or can be mixed with other man-made fibers. This fabric is quite popular because of its outstanding features such as: Good sweat absorption, cool feeling to the wearer, easy to dye and especially resistant to abrasion and dirt.

Cotton fabric is used quite a lot in the garment industry, pillow production and medical industry. In addition to sewing clothes and accessories such as: Fashion products for children and adults, underwear, canvas bags, backpacks, shoelaces, sandals, … Cotton is also used for production. towels, medical bandages, masks , …

According to research by archaeologists, cotton fabric has been known for at least 7,000 years. Based on evidence of cotton cloth appearing in ancient caves in Mexico. Accordingly, scholars have concluded that, in about 3000 BC, the inhabitants of the Nile and Ganges rivers used cotton.

There are also many civilizations around the world that knew and soon used cotton fabric woven from cotton fruit fibers. However, it was not until Alexander the Great’s army attacked India that they became aware of cotton and gradually exploited it more vigorously. Over time, cotton has been the main material of the modern fashion apparel industry.

How is cotton fabric made?

People produce cotton fabric according to a closed process with many stages:

– Harvest cotton fiber around November – December of the solar calendar and there will be 3 main harvests. The first batch will collect the cotton balls under the blossomed base, the second batch will collect the cotton flowers in the middle of the stem, and finally collect the cotton flowers on the top of the tree. After harvesting, the cotton will be sorted and dried to avoid contamination.

– Next, the cotton is brought to the factory to remove impurities. This is an extremely important stage because it determines whether the quality of the cotton yarn is up to the standard.

– Continue to dissolve and spin cotton in special solutions. After this stage cotton fabric has been formed.

– Weave cotton fibers together to make cotton fabrics.

– Dye fabric with required colors.

– Wash the fabric to finally produce a soft, clean, standard cotton fabric to put through the garment process.

What are the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of cotton material?

Cotton is an extremely soft and smooth fabric, it is woven from natural cotton fibers, so it is easy to wrinkle when crumpled or washed too hard, especially machine washing. In addition, when you burn 100% cotton fabric, it will burn quite slowly, without an unpleasant burning smell, pink charcoal. After burning, the cloth also dissolves into fine dust, leaving nothing. Thus, you can completely rely on these physical and chemical characteristics to identify real and fake cotton fabrics.

Advantages of cotton fabric:

• Absorbs sweat extremely well, so cotton material brings great comfort and comfort to the wearer. Now, you no longer wonder if cotton is cool, right?
• Cotton fabric has high durability, is also colorfast and difficult to tear, so it is loved by many people.
• Compared with artificial fabrics with the same properties, good absorbency, etc., cotton fabric is cheaper.
• Cotton fabric is also very quick to dry, so washing and drying is very comfortable and convenient.
• Good stretch, bring cool, comfortable and pleasant to the user.
• Good absorbency, quick-drying and more durable than other fabrics.
• Made from natural cotton fibers, cotton fabric is very environmentally friendly, can be decomposed very well.
• Cotton fabric is very safe and non-irritating, suitable for those with sensitive skin.

Cons of cotton fabric:

• Compared with fabrics that are more advanced than tencel or modal, the softness of cotton is not significant.
• Usually 100% cotton fabric is quite stiff and it is uncomfortable for women. And if it is a hand-woven fabric, it makes the price higher but not really comfortable. So people often make cotton men’s jackets, and women’s clothes are cotton mixed with spandex to make the fabric softer.
• The hardness of cotton fabric is usually higher than that of modal, tencel, etc., so it is often used to produce men’s clothing or sportswear.
• High cost (for 100% cotton fabric).

What types of cotton fabrics are there?

Cotton 100%

This is 100% cotton material from cotton yarn, in the process of fabric processing, absolutely no chemicals are added. Even dyeing fabrics uses natural materials. Therefore, 100% cotton is usually quite stiff and expensive. It still ensures the great inherent advantages of cotton yarn.

This is a fabric made from 100% cotton fibers with a combination of several chemicals to make the fabric more durable and softer. 100% cotton fabric is popularly used because of its safety, coolness, good absorbency, high durability, easy to clean and the material is easy to dye.

Cotton 95 (cotton spandex)

This fabric is 95% cotton and 5% spandex. As mentioned above, adding spandex yarn to help cotton fabric become softer and increase the elasticity of the fabric. Clothes made of 4-way stretch elastic, comfortable even when hugging. For example, sportswear, swimwear, tights, etc. are this 95 cotton.

Cotton 65/35 (CVC)

Cotton 65/35 fabric is a blend of 65% cotton and 35% PE (polyester – a man-made fiber). This fabric has very good sweat absorption properties, is stretchy and very durable.

65/35 cotton fabric is a combination of 65% cotton fabric and 35% polyester fiber (man-made PE fiber), commonly known as CVC cotton fabric, woven in the form of 2-way spandex and 4-way spandex. This fabric has the same characteristics as 100% cotton fabric: high durability, good absorbency, breathability and safety for the skin.

Cotton 35/65 (Tixi)

In contrast to 65/35 cotton fabric is Tixi material with a blend of 35% cotton and 65% PE. The characteristic of this fabric is that it is softer and more comfortable than 100% cotton that is too stiff.

Spandex

Made from a combination of cotton fabric and Spandex yarn – a man-made fiber used to replace rubber. Spandex cotton blend fabric has good elasticity, softness, easy dyeing, long-lasting color, no charge, good abrasion resistance and antibacterial ability.

Velvet Cotton

The blend of cotton yarn and velvet fabric results in a super-excellent cotton fabric. Thanks to its ability to absorb sweat well, cool, regulate body temperature extremely quickly, difficult to wrinkle, less ruffled, and very thick. This material neutralizes the advantages of cotton and velvet into one. It is quite expensive.

Cotton velvet fabric is a blend of cotton and velvet fabric woven from silk and man-made fibers. This fabric has advantages such as: Shiny, aesthetic, soft, good absorbency, high durability with resistance to termites and insects, bringing safety to all skin .

Satin Cotton

The purpose of this fabric is to blend the advantages of cotton and the luster of satin. The fabric is user-friendly, cool, comfortable and absorbent but durable, hard to wrinkle, more convenient to use.

The material is made from natural cotton fibers and is absolutely safe for users’ health. This fabric has a yarn density of about 300 / square inch and the threads are small, so the fabric always has a certain softness and smoothness.  Cotton satin fabric also has good absorbency and quick drying, making it an appropriate choice in bedding products.

In fact, Satin cotton fabric is a traditional cotton fabric from cotton plants in nature but woven according to the Satin weaving technique. The longitudinal and transverse cotton fibers will be interwoven to create Satin cotton fabric with characteristics such as: Soft, wrinkle-free, breathable, good absorbency, non-irritating.

Silk

A superior material when mixing 100% natural cotton and silk fibers. Usually the most perfect ratio is 95% cotton and 5% silk. It is considered a low-cost version of premium silk.

Silk cotton fabric is a synthetic fabric that is mixed from cotton and silk fabrics with the ratio usually 90% cotton 10% Silk (the ratio can be changed according to user needs). With this material, silk cotton fabric has a shiny, shiny appearance with a thickness suitable for many types of weather, brings coolness, good absorbency and is very easy to clean.

Borip

This cotton fabric is thoroughly processed with 100% natural cotton fibers but is not stiff anymore. Instead, it is comfortable, pleasant, absorbent and antibacterial. Therefore, people often use cotton borip fabric to produce fashion for babies and children.

Original Borip cotton fabric is woven from 100% cotton fabric and does not add any other materials. This fabric is highly elastic, soft, absorbent, breathable and is the first choice to make products with outstanding and eye-catching pattern details.

Cotton USA

Cotton USA has outstanding long and tough fibers, it is also considered one of the best cotton materials in the world. Therefore, it is often used to produce underwear, body protection, including baby underwear.

Egyptian Cotton

Egyptian cotton fabric is considered the “cotton king” because of its premium cotton fabrics, super soft and comfortable. Even Egyptian cotton has a beautiful, durable shine that is hard to fade. But the way it is made has absolutely nothing to do with artificial chemicals.

Poly Cotton

Blend of cotton yarn and synthetic poly fiber, the ratio depends on the manufacturer. The higher the percentage of cotton, the softer, more comfortable and more expensive the poly cotton fabric is.

Like other synthetic fibers, Poly cotton has many outstanding features such as: Good elasticity with high durability, long service life, light weight. In particular, the higher the percentage of cotton, the lighter and more breathable the fabric will be.

How to identify Cotton fabric

You can identify cotton fabric with the naked eye because if you look closely, you will see that cotton fabric is easily folded and wrinkled. If you touch the cotton fabric with your hand, you can feel the softness of the fabric but not shake it, and especially the fabric is not cold.

In addition, you can use burning to distinguish cotton fabrics. When burning cotton fabric, you will see a pink flame, gray smoke and after burning, there is no plastic left. Besides, 100% cotton fabric absorbs water very quickly and evenly on the entire surface, so it can be recognized through the water absorption of the fabric.

How to Clean Cotton Fabric

– Do not soak the fabric in soap for too long, just soak it in washing water for a few minutes and wash it immediately.

– It is necessary to sort the fabric before washing and separate the white fabric from the colored clothes

– Dry in a well-ventilated place, avoid direct sunlight.

Which cotton is best for making clothes?

Cotton is usually classified as plain, twill and satin weaves according to the way it is woven. For the layman ( like me ) this is of no interest than the way the fabric feels against the body. Very tightly woven cotton will be harsh on the skin.

My favourite cotton fabric for making garments are Poplin, cotton velveteen, gingham & Cotton jersey. Poplin is a popular shirtmaking fabric ; Lightweight chintz fabric is great for making dresses.

I also love making dresses with polycotton, because of its sheen and less wrinkling and it is also very inexpensive. It is true that it is not as breathable as pure cotton.

Quilting cotton in pretty prints is best for making kids’ frocks, but it is thin and may need lining for garment making. Voile is used for making baby clothes. Muslin for petticoats/slips worn under dresses and tops.