What is cotton?
Cotton is a plant that produces fibers, which are used to make clothes and other products, like towels, carpets, or sheets. Clothes made out of cotton are especially light and comfortable.
What Cotton Is Used For ?
Every part of the cotton plant can be used. The long cotton fibers are used to make cloth, the short fibers can be used in the paper industry. You can make oil or margarine out of the seeds of the cotton plant. The leaves and stalks of the cotton plant are plowed into the ground to make the soil better. Other parts of the plant are fed to animals.
Cotton is a durable, natural fiber harvested from cotton plants. Civilizations have harvested and used cotton for thousands of years and even today, it’s one of the most popular fabrics.
Although it may not seem like it, cotton is a very versatile material. Based on how the cotton bedding is treated after being harvested, it can either feel soft or rough and be durable or weak.
Where Cotton Is Grown?
Cotton is a subtropical plant that grows in many warm areas of the world. It started as a plant of the tropics but today it is grown in other warm areas that have at least 200 frost-free days. The most important cotton-growing countries are the USA, China, India, Pakistan, and Australia.
Cotton needs a hot, sunny climate to grow. The plant needs well-drained soil and a lot of rainfall during the growing season. During the harvest season, it should be sunny and dry. Some areas grow cotton on irrigated land.
Cotton needs soil that has a lot of nitrogen in it. Farmers use chemical fertilizers to improve the soil.
Growing And Processing Cotton
Cotton plants can reach a height of up to 2 meters.
After plowing the soil in spring cotton seeds are planted in rows by hand or machine. Three weeks after the plants come out flower buds begin to form. They produce white flowers that turn red and fall off. The flowers have a green fruit, called boll, which has seeds in it. The white fiber of different lengths grows around the seeds. Cotton can be harvested when the boll bursts open and shows the fibers inside. The longest fibers are up to 6 cm long and are used for the best cloth. Most fibers, however, are much smaller.
Cotton is harvested about 150 to 200 days after farmers plant it. In industrial countries picking machines to drive through the fields, harvest the cotton, and transport it onto a trailer.
Gins separate the cotton fiber from the seeds. Cotton is then combed, dried, cleaned, and pressed into bales. Cotton buyers or brokers buy the raw cotton and then sell it to textile mills. There, spinning machines spin cotton into yarn. The yarn is woven into cloth, which is bleached and sometimes dyed.
History Of Cotton
Humans realized very early that the soft, fluffy cotton fibers can be used to make comfortable clothes. Cotton was first grown in Pakistan and the Nile Valley about 3,000 years ago. Native Americans started growing cotton at the same time in North America. Europe was introduced to cotton through Arab merchants at about 800 A.D. By 1500 cotton was known all over the world.
When Europeans founded colonies in America they relied on cotton to make a living. In the early days, growing and harvesting cotton was a hard job that was done manually by slaves.
In 1793 an American, Eli Whitney, invented the cotton gin, the machine that separated seeds from fiber. This new invention allowed farms to produce even more cotton.
In the second part of the 20th-century people started to produce synthetic fibers, like nylon and acrylic. The importance of cotton fiber began to drop. By the middle of the 1970s cotton made up only one-third of all fibers worldwide. Many cotton farmers had to close their farms. Governments, especially in America, had to help cotton farmers during this economically difficult period.
By 1990 the demand for cotton clothes became bigger, simply because people saw that cotton was a natural fiber and very comfortable to wear. By the turn of the millennium, cotton regained its importance.
Towards the end of the 20th-century farmers started experimenting with organic cotton, grown without chemicals or pesticides. Such cotton, however, has turned out to be more expensive than normal cotton.
What is organic cotton?
Organic cotton is an eco-friendly version of ordinary cotton. If cotton has to be sold as organic cotton, it has to meet strict standards. With increasing number of consumers, conscious of protecting nature and supporting sustainable production, the importance of organic cotton is increasing day by day and the reasons why it is considered better is very obvious.
The cotton fiber market was estimated at 21.07 million MT in 2016 (ICAC). The preferred cotton segment which is made up of Organic, Fair Trade, CmiA, BCI, REEL, Cleaner Cotton, and e3 makes up approximately 15 percent (3.2 million MT) of total cotton fiber production (excluding recycled cotton). This is a significant increase from nine percent of the cotton market share in 2015.
The two factors that contributed to this shift were: firstly the reduction in the overall cotton fiber production, from 26 million MT in 2015 to 21 million MT in 2016; and secondly preferred cotton fiber production increased from 2.2 to 3.2 million MT between 2015 and 2016.
ORGANIC COTTON PRODUCTION IN 2015/2016
Total: 18 countries / Top 7 Countries = 97%
In 2015/16, total organic cotton fiber production amounted to 107,980 mt. There were 18 organic cotton-producing countries in 2015/16. While the number of producing countries remains the same as 2014/15, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Madagascar were replaced by Thailand and Pakistan.
The top seven countries – India, China, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Tajikistan, the US, and Tanzania – account for 97 percent of total production.
Overall, production decreased by 4 percent. The primary reduction came from India, the fall was offset by an increase in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
How is the organic cotton grown and cultivated?
The journey of organic cotton starts with securing untreated, natural (non-GMO) seeds. These seeds are often hard to come by and this can be a real issue for farmers. Once the seed is secured, the land needs to be prepared and the seed was sown. It takes approximately 60 to 70 days from planting until the first flower appears, and boils appear 50 to 70 days after bloom. The growth cycle of the cotton plant lasts for approximately 5-6 months. During this time, soil fertility, water, pests, and weeds need to be managed. 45 days after boils appear, the cotton boil will begin to naturally split open along the boils’ segments. Once the cotton boil is fully dried and fluffed, it is ready for harvesting.
Only natural, untreated non-GMO (genetically modified organism) seeds are picked for cultivation. In many countries such as the US, federal regulations prohibit the use of genetically engineered seeds for organic cotton farming. The health of the soil in the growth terrain will be maintained through a series of steps such as crop rotation; only organic matter is used as fertilizers.
To ensure weed control, beneficial insects and trap crops are used instead of aerial spraying of insecticides or pesticides. This helps maintain and preserve the natural balance of the soil and keeps the farmland healthy.
When it comes to harvesting, natural defoliation is preferred over artificial or induced defoliation with toxic chemicals. To facilitate organic and natural harvesting, freezing temperatures and/ or use of proper water management is practiced. To project the crops, warp fibers are stabilized by double-plying or nontoxic cornstarch.
When it comes to whitening of the fibers, organic cotton steers clear from chlorine bleaching which is what makes your regular cotton white, and uses safe peroxides instead.
To finish off, it is soft scoured in warm water with soda ash, for a pH of 7.5 to 8. Finally, when it is taken for dyeing, low-impact fiber-reactive or natural dyes with low metal and sulfur content are used.
All things considered, organic cotton is the safer, more sustainable future of clothing.
Are you up for the 2025 Sustainable Cotton Challenge in which many brands and retailers are ready to committed to source 100% of their cotton from the most sustainable sources by the year 2025. As consumers, we have a right to be in charge of the future, too.
Why is organic cotton considered best for babies?
Organic cotton is free from harmful chemicals that could irritate a baby’s delicate skin or cause allergic reactions. Organic cotton is typically softer and more breathable than conventional cotton and would not cause painful rashes on the soft baby skin. It is super absorbent, breathable and comfortable. I think these points would quite frankly explain why organic cotton is used to make cloth diapers for babies. It allows air to flow freely around your baby’s sensitive skin and reduces rashes formed from chaffing. You can safely buy and use organic cotton fabric for baby clothes.
ORGANIC COTTON SUPPLY CHAIN
The general process of transforming seed cotton from the farm into the final garment includes ginning, spinning, weaving/knitting, dyeing, finishing, cutting, and sewing. Organic certification ensures that the cotton passing through each stage of the manufacturing process is tracked.
ORGANIC COTTON STANDARDS
Organic cotton certification is carried out at two levels:
- Produced according to the IFOAM Principles of Organic Agriculture and certified to the IFOAM Family of standards at the farm level, and
- Certified to either the Organic Content Standard (OCS) or the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) from fiber to product. OCS provides third-party assurance that the organic content in your clothes can be traced back to the source, while GOTS traces the organic content in your clothes and ensures that it is processed socially and sustainably.
Cotton vs Organic cotton
Around 30 million tons of cotton is produced every year. Cotton remains one of the most pesticides sprayed crops in the world despite its unmatched popularity. According to reports that emerge, cotton farming accounts for 25% of the world’s insecticides and about 10% of the pesticides.
A huge amount of herbicides (chemicals for weed removal) and defoliants (herbicidal chemicals sprayed or dusted on plants to cause their leaves to fall off) are often always used in the process of cultivation and extraction of cotton fibers.
Growing one pound of unbleached cotton needs a third of its portion as chemical fertilizers. 150 pounds of synthetic fertilizer gets used up for every acre, averaging up to 2 billion pounds of nitrogen-based fertilizer per crop. Many of them have proved to be Carcinogenic.
Now imagine small kids wearing clothes created with these heavily treated, processed, and sprayed cotton? It is not a pleasant thought.
With organic cotton, you do not need to fear how it is made. It is made under controlled farming practices using the least amount of fertilizers and following all the norms and regulations that organic farming calls for.
Organic cotton costs more than conventional cotton. The cotton farmers have to maintain their livelihood. The cost of organic cotton will have to cover the extra in organic value addition.
Organic Cotton is the best eco-friendly fibers
Like all organic products, organic cotton was harvested without the use of GMOs, pesticides, insecticides, or other chemicals that could harm the environment. Global expertise is already well developed to gin, spin, and knit cotton.
Organic cotton plays a complementary role with other eco-friendly fibers with which it is often blended.
The fabric has the same quality as conventional cotton but does not a negative impact on the environment. Organic cotton addresses most of the environmental challenges which conventional cotton production faces. Only 0.7% of global cotton production is organic.
It is grown from non-GMO seeds and without the use of pesticides, insecticides, or fertilizer. Unlike conventional cotton, organic farmers use ancestral farming methods, including crop rotation, mixed farming, or no-till farming to preserve the soil. Organic cotton uses up to 71% less water than conventional cotton according to some sources.
Organic cotton farmers are not exposed to harmful substances.
Several organizations have established certifications for organic cotton such as GOTS, USDA-NOP, Organic Content Standards, IVN, and Naturland. Certification is the only proof that a product is truly organic.
Organic cotton is grown in the USA. It can be locally grown and transformed.
Pros:
- No transformation. Just ginning (removing the seeds from the fibers)
- Affordable price.
- Well-developed expertise.
- Biodegradable.
- Locally grown.
Cons:
- Can need irrigation water.
- Very demanding on the soil.
- Must be certified.
- Susceptible to pests and diseases (hence the extensive use of chemicals to grow non-organic cotton). There is always a risk of losing the crop or getting a lower yield.
Benefits of Buying Organic cotton fabric
Switching to organic cotton could consciously be the best decision you make because of the following reasons:
- Sustainable and Pro-nature : As I previously discussed in this article, organic cotton is so much more environmental-friendly. It is ethically produced, more sustainable, and overall chemical-free. Compared to normal in-organically made cotton, the manufacturing processes of organic cotton are a lot more rigid and follow strict standards. This not only minimizes the negative impact on the environment but ensures high customer value.
- The organic cotton fiber is grown using methods and materials that have a low impact on the environment. Unlike in the cultivation of ordinary cotton, toxic and persistent disease-causing pesticides, (like Endosulphan) and synthetic fertilizers are avoided altogether. This organic production allows for replenishing and maintaining soil fertility.
- Better for your health and skin : The primary difference between non-organic and organic cotton is that the latter is remarkably softer and a lot better on the skin.
- Plus, its lack of chemical treatments makes for the best alternative if you have skin allergies or other ailments.
- In addition, it is non-irritable, breathable, and suits sensitive skin.
- Better environmental outcomes for the future: Organic cotton farming with its better farming practices such as crop rotation, better water usage, and soil preservation, safe and natural pest removal, organic fertilizer usage is your best bet if you want the preservation and restoration of the natural environment.
What is Cotton Fiber?
Cotton comes from the fluffy fibers – known as ‘bolls’ – that surround the seeds of the cotton plant. The fibers are de-seeded using a cotton gin, cleaned, carded (to align the fibers), spun into cotton yarn, and woven into the fabric.
This process involves several locations – from harvesting in cotton fields, cleaning and compressing the cotton lint into bales at gin yards, to shipping the bales to textile mills for spinning and weaving or knitting. The yarn or fabric produced may then be dyed, printed, or finished before being sent to garment manufacturers.
6 countries produce 80% of the world’s cotton
Cotton is the world’s largest non-food crop, grown for trade by more than 80 countries. However, production is concentrated in just six – China, India, Australia, Brazil, the US, and Pakistan – that combined produce 80 percent of all cotton.
Although the cotton plant grows wild in many dry tropical or sub-tropical areas, it is a labor-intensive crop. Optimal growth requires dry warmth, sunshine, regular irrigation, and protection from pests and weeds.
Cotton is versatile but losing market share
A highly versatile fiber, cotton can be turned into a wide range of fabrics: corduroy, denim, flannel, jersey, lawn, muslin, organdy, percale, Pima, twill, and velvet among others. It can be used alone or blended with other fibers such as polyester to improve durability, and with elastane to produce stretchy fabrics, as in stretch jeans.
Many types of apparel are made from cotton – outerwear, shirts, trousers, t-shirts, light summer clothing, lingerie, and eveningwear. It is widely used in homewares including cushions, bedding, and towels.
Despite being the most-used natural fiber, cotton has been steadily losing market share to synthetic fibers since the early 2000s. Cotton now accounts for 21 percent of total global fiber use for apparel and textiles, against 65 percent for synthetics. Annual cotton production was estimated to be between 21 million and 23 million tonnes in 20162, worth around $41 billion.
90% of cotton farmers are in low-income countries
Cotton is the economic mainstay of several low- and middle-income countries, providing work and income for around 350 million people. About 90 percent of cotton farmers are in low-income countries, cultivating smallholder plots of less than two hectares.
Hefty impacts of conventional cotton
Cotton’s water consumption
The cotton trade brings economic benefits to these regions – but also serious environmental and social problems.
Water usage is among the most dramatic. More than half of global cotton production – 57 percent – takes place in areas under high or extreme water stress, according to data compiled by the World Resources Institute3.
Only 30 percent of the cotton produced comes from ‘rain-fed farming. The rest relies on irrigation, mainly wasteful flood irrigation4.
The Aral Sea in Central Asia vividly illustrates the effects of such stress. It shrank to just 10 percent of its former volume, through drought and decades of diverting water chiefly to irrigate cotton farms5.
Cotton’s chemical usage
As well as being a thirsty crop, cotton cultivation currently uses lots of chemicals – 4 percent of all world pesticides and 10 percent of insecticides are used in cotton-growing6.
These inputs can pollute local eco-systems and drinking water supplies.
Social impacts of cotton farming
Cotton’s historic links to the slave trade are well known. In a miserable echo of that, rights groups have now documented evidence of the ongoing use of child and forced labor in cotton cultivation today, with children as young as five working in cotton fields or ginning factories in countries such as India, Egypt, and Uzbekistan7.
As a globally traded cash crop, cotton prices can fluctuate significantly. This hits poor cotton producers particularly badly, affecting their incomes, working conditions, and quality of life.
Awareness of these major drawbacks is growing, prompting several worldwide initiatives to produce cotton more sustainably and more equitably. Known as ‘preferred cotton’, these accounted for 19 percent of total world cotton output according to Textile Exchange’s 2018 reports.
Evidence suggests that more sustainable schemes offer clear environmental gains. A lifecycle analysis of organic cotton published in 20168 found that organic cotton had half the global warming potential of conventional cotton, 91 percent less use of fresh water from lakes and streams, and approximately a third of the energy demand.
Sustainable cotton
Five main initiatives exist for growing cotton using sustainable or ethically based principles – organic cotton, Fairtrade cotton, the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), Cotton made in Africa (CmiA), and the REEL Cotton program. The Global Organic Textiles Standard (GOTS) also has a heavy focus on cotton and addresses the social and environmental aspects of cotton processing and cotton garment manufacturing.
There is a tendency to use ‘sustainable’ as an umbrella term for all cotton produced under these various schemes, and other actions that brands may pursue independently. However, each of the five programs has a different slant – depending on whether driven by ecological or social issues. For instance, amongst other things that each of the initiatives do,
- BCI forges partnerships and works to improve the social, economic, and environmental outcomes for farmers in the cotton supply chain above that of conventional cotton;
- organic certified cotton strictly monitors pesticide and insecticide use, and farm management using national certification criteria;
- Fairtrade certified cotton guarantees farmers a fair minimum price for their cotton and to invest in their community;
- CMA focuses on improving the livelihoods and sustainability of cotton-growing communities in sub-Saharan Africa;
- REEL Cotton works on-farm sustainability, supply chain traceability, and decent working conditions.
Cotton produced under the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) dominates output for the sustainable cotton sector.
Key reports and tools:
Thirsty for Fashion, Soil Association (2019)
Is Cotton Conquering It’s Chemical Addiction? Pesticide Action Network (2017, revised 2018)
Three Free Tools To Help You Source Organic Cotton from Cotton2040 and Textile Exchange
Reference: Organic Cotton fabric details; Another good article on the goodness of organic cotton; ota.com ; Read more about 2025 Sustainable Cotton Challenge here ; Non profit organisations working for organic cotton like Cotton connect, Fairtrade international, Pesticide Action network, Soil association, BioRe foundation.
https://respecterre.com/blogs/news/the-best-eco-friendly-fibres
