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 (like polyester plastic yarn). With the characteristics of being simple to dye, outstanding durability, and 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 excellent sweat absorption, a cool feeling for the wearer, being simple to dye, and especially resistance to abrasion and dirt.

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

According to research by archaeologists, cotton fabric has been known for at least 7,000 years. This conclusion is 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 of 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 from November to December of the solar calendar, with 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 the last batch will 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 a critical 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 materials?

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 in machine washing. In addition, when you burn 100% cotton fabric, it will burn quite slowly, without an unpleasant burning smell, like 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?
• Many people love cotton fabric for its high durability, colorfastness, and resistance to tearing.
• Compared to artificial fabrics with similar properties, such as excellent absorbency, cotton fabric is cheaper.
• Cotton fabric is also rapid to dry, so washing and drying is very comfortable and convenient.
• A good stretch brings coolness, comfort, and pleasure to the user.
• Good absorbency, quick drying, and durability compared to other fabrics.
• Made from natural cotton fibers, cotton fabric is very environmentally friendly and 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 outstanding inherent advantages of cotton yarn.

This fabric is made from 100% cotton fibers with a combination of several chemicals to make it more durable and softer. 100% cotton fabric is popular due to its safety, coolness, good absorbency, high durability, ease of cleaning, and ease of dyeing.

Cotton 95 (cotton spandex)

This fabric is 95% cotton and 5% spandex. As mentioned above, adding spandex yarn helps cotton fabrics become softer and increases their elasticity. Clothes made of 4-way stretch elastic, comfortable even when hugging. For example, sportswear, swimwear, tights, etc. are 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 excellent 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, Tixi material blends 35% cotton and 65% PE. This fabric is softer and more comfortable than 100% cotton, which 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. This fabric is difficult to wrinkle, less ruffled, and very thick, thanks to its ability to absorb sweat well, keep cool, and regulate body temperature extremely quickly. This material combines the advantages of cotton and velvet into one. It is costly.

Cotton velvet fabric is a blend of cotton and velvet fabric woven from silk and man-made fibers. This fabric has advantages such as being shiny; aesthetic; soft; having excellent absorbency; and having 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, and 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 per square inch, and the threads are small, so the fabric always has a certain softness and smoothness. Cotton satin fabric also has excellent 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 sateen weaving technique. The longitudinal and transverse cotton fibers will be interwoven to create satin cotton fabric with characteristics such as being soft, wrinkle-free, breathable, having excellent absorbency, and being 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 a mixture of cotton and silk fabrics, with the ratio usually being 90% cotton and 10% silk (the ratio can be changed according to user needs). This material, silk cotton fabric, has a shiny appearance with a thickness suitable for many types of weather; it brings coolness, has 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.

The original Borip cotton fabric is woven from 100% cotton and does not add any other materials. This fabric is highly elastic, soft, absorbent, and 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 and body protection, including baby underwear.

Egyptian Cotton

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

Polycotton

It’s a blend of cotton yarn and synthetic poly fiber; the ratio depends on the manufacturer. The higher the cotton percentage, the softer, more comfortable, and more expensive the polycotton fabric is.

Like other synthetic fibers, polycotton has many outstanding features such as excellent elasticity with high durability, long service life, and 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 easily identify cotton fabric by observing its tendency to fold and wrinkle. Cotton fabric is soft to the touch, but it can’t be shaken and isn’t cold.

In addition, you can use burning to distinguish cotton fabrics. When burning cotton fabric, you will see a pink flame and 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), the weave is of no more interest than the way the fabric feels against the body. Very tightly woven cotton will be harsh on the skin.

My favorite cotton fabrics for making garments are poplin, cotton velvet, gingham, and cotton jerseys. Poplin is a popular shirtmaking fabric; lightweight chintz fabric is excellent for making dresses.

I love making dresses with polycotton because it’s cheap, shiny, and less wrinkled. It is true that it is not as breathable as pure cotton.

Quilting cotton in lovely 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 is used for petticoats and slips worn under dresses and tops.