Eli Whitney 1765-1825 PDF

• Inventor of the cotton gin.
• Born in Westborough, MA in 1765.
• Graduated at the age of 27 from Yale in 1792.
• His greatest contribution to the American industry was the development and implementation of the American system of manufacturing and the assembly line, which he first used to make muskets for the U.S. government.

Cotton Gin

• “Gin” is short for engine.         
• Before the cotton gin, it took 20 hours of hard work to produce 1 kilogram of cotton.
• The first cotton gin was created in 1793.  It consisted of cranks, pulleys and hooks and maintained an output of 50 pounds per day.
• The cotton gin increased cotton production and lowered costs, resulting in cotton becoming the cheapest and most widely used textile fabric in the world.
• Improvements of the gin were made for removing trash, drying, moisturizing, sorting, cleaning, and baling in 480 pound bundles.
  

History PDF

• Cotton has been cultivated and used to make fabrics for at least 7,000 years.
• Cotton may have existed in Egypt as early as 12,000 B.C.
• Fragments of cotton fabrics have been found by archeologists in Mexico, India, Peru, and the southwestern United States dating back to 3500 B.C.

Cotton Gin – How it works PDF

• Unloading System
  –This is the first stage in the ginning process. Modules are unloaded and fed into the unloading system where air is used to blow the raw cotton through a series of pipes into the cotton gin.

• First Stage Drying and Precleaning System
  –In the first stage of drying, heated air moves the cotton through a series of shelves for 15-20 seconds. The cotton is precleaned to remove foreign materials such as leaves, trash and dirt. From here, the cotton will move on to additional cleaning and drying.

• Second Stage Drying and Precleaning System
  –The second process of drying and precleaning will remove larger foreign matter from the cotton, such as sticks and burs.

• Feeding and Ginning System
  –The cotton is then fed into the ginning system, where the actual ginning process of separating the cotton lint from the cottonseed begins. Rotating saws pull the cotton fibers through ribs—removing the seeds, which are too large to pass between. 

• Lint Cleaning System
  –The cotton lint moves on to the lint cleaning system. This is an extremely precise system that can often improve the grade by cleaning and blending lightly spotted cotton to produce a more valuable product. Ginners determine the number of lint cleaners that will give maximum bale value.

• Condensing and Moisture Restoration System
  –After the lint cleaning system, the cotton lint will move on to the condensing and moisture restoration system. Here, the cotton fiber will receive back the moisture that was taken away during the drying process.

• Press and Bale Handling System
  –At the last stage of the gin, the cleaned cotton is compressed into 480 pound bales. These bales must then be covered to protect them from contamination during transportation and storage. The bales will now be distributed to textile mills and made into fabrics.

Cotton Facts

Did you know… PDF
• Cotton is a fiber, feed and food crop.
• In the U.S., cotton is regulated as a food crop.
• Cotton can be grown continuously without hurting the soil.
• Cotton is produced on over 8,500 farms in Texas.
• The cotton industry accounts for more than $25 billion in products and services annually.
• After leaving the farm, cotton is processed and handled by gins, cottonseed mills, warehouses, shipping companies,
textile manufacturers and retailers.
• The cotton industry in the United States provides jobs for more than 440,000 Americans.
• The first T-shirts were elbow and hip length undershirts issued to sailors in the U.S. navy in 1880.  The shirt resembled
a perfect “T” when laid out on a flat surface…which is how it got its name.

     Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service

Facts on Cotton Production PDF

• The Cotton Belt spans the southern half of the United States, stretching from Virginia to California.
• Cotton production covers more than 14 million acres or about 22,000 square miles of the United States.
• Texas is the leading cotton-producing state, producing about 4.5 million bales of cotton a year.
• Cotton contributes over $1 billion to the Texas economy, ranking only behind the beef industry in total cash receipts.
• Texas produces about 25% of the entire U.S. crop and plants over 5 million acres annually.  That’s over 8,000 square miles of cotton fields!

Water Resources PDF

• Cotton is a very efficient water user.
• In the United States, only 35% of the cotton crops are produced on irrigated land.
• New irrigation systems and strategies used today are more water efficient.  These include things like:
  - On/off options on irrigation equipment so that only the sections that need water, receive it.
  - Drip irrigation that is buried below the surface of the entire field and delivers water directly to the roots of the plants.
  - Tools, like thermometers for the leaves of the plants and moisture-measuring probes in the soil, which help farmers decide when to irrigate.

Planting and Harvesting PDF

• Planting begins as early as February 1 in South Texas and as late as June 1 in the northern areas of the Cotton Belt.
• Harvesting begins in July in South Texas and extends to late November in more northern climates. 
• Map and chart of Planting/Harvesting Areas in Texas

 Costs PDF

• Each year it costs farmers more than $5.3 billion worth of supplies and services to produce our country’s cotton crop.
• After harvest, farmers receive only $4.68 billion for their cotton and labor.

Exports PDF

• About 31% of the U.S. cotton supply is exported.
• Every year our cotton industry exports 6 to 9 million bales of raw cotton.
• The annual value of that cotton exceeds $3 billion.
  

What is produced from a bale? PDF

• One Bale of Cotton can make:
       215             Jeans or           
       249             Bed Sheets or
       690             Terry Bath Towels or
       765             Men’s Dress Shirts or
       1,217          Men’s T-Shirts or
       1,256          Pillowcases or
       2,104          Boxer Shorts or
       3,085          Diapers or
       4,321          Mid-calf socks or
       313,600      $100 Bills

Field to Fabric PDF

• Process: planting, growing, harvesting, processing

Growth Cycle PDF

1 week/Seedling → 2-4 weeks/True Leaves → 5-7 weeks/Square-Bud → 8-10 weeks/Blossom → 10 weeks/Boll →
18-20 weeks/ Boll Opens → 25 weeks/Harvest → Gin

Environmental Consciousness PDF

• Modern technology has greatly improved cotton production efficiency and allowed farmers to produce 50% more cotton worldwide without increasing land use.
• To reduce soil erosion, cotton farmers are planting Winter/cover crops.
• Farmers are also following reduced tillage practices to reduce dust emissions from the field.
• Many air quality controls are in place at the cotton gin.

Texas Gins PDF

There are 244 active cotton gins in Texas. Of those gins, approximately 65% are in West Texas, 20% are located along the Texas coast and the remaining gins are in Central Texas.

What is a module? PDF

• Once cotton is harvested, it is stored in modules for protection against the weather. 
• A module builder hydraulically compresses the cotton from the picker into a module of cotton which is usually stored in the field or in the gin yard until the cotton is ginned.
• A module holds about 13 to 15 bales.

What is a Bale?

• At the cotton gin, the cotton fiber is separated from the cottonseed. The cotton fiber is compressed into bales.
• A bale weighs about 480 pounds.
• Every year, approximately 8 to 9 million bales are used by U.S. textile industries.

By-products PDF

There are three primary products derived from cotton production: cotton lint, linters, and cottonseed.

Cotton Lint
• Cotton lint is the raw fiber from the cotton plant which is pressed into bales at the cotton gin.
• The bales are purchased by textile mills and processed in stages into yarn and cloth.
• Cotton lint is also found in products such as shoe strings and dollar bills.
• Textile mills use about 7.6 million bales of cotton a year.  57% is made into apparel, 36% into home furnishings and 7% into industrial products.

Linters
• Linters are short fibers that cling to the seed.
• They provide cellulose for making items like plastics, paper products and cosmetics.

Cottonseed
About 2/3 of a harvested cotton crop is composed of the seed, which is crushed to separate its three products—oil, meal and hulls.

Cottonseed oil:
- The oil is the cottonseed’s most valuable by-product.
- It is used in cooking oil, shortening, salad dressing, and in preparation of snack foods like chips, crackers and cookies.
- Products such as soaps, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and textile finishes also contain cottonseed oil.

Hulls:
- Cotton hulls are used for feed, fertilizer, fuel and packing.

Meal:
- Meal is the second most valuable by-product of cottonseed.
- The meal is high in protein and used to feed all classes of livestock and poultry.
- It is also a great natural fertilizer for lawns, gardens and flower beds.

Beauty Products PDF

• In cosmetics and personal care products, cottonseed oil and ingredients made from cottonseed oil may be used in the formulation of skin cleansing products, hair care products, eye makeup, as well as other makeup products.
• Cottonseed oil is also called Gossypium Herbaceum (Cotton) Seed Oil.
• Cottonseed oil is rich in vitamin E, palmitic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid.
• It is a great moisturizer, helping give the skin a smooth and soft appearance.
• Cottonseed oil is also a cleansing agent that can help clean the skin and hair.

Source: CosmeticsInfo.org

Cotton and U.S. Currency PDF

• United States paper currency is made up of 75% cotton and 25% linen.  This means that there is three-fourths of a pound of cotton in each pound of dollar bills.
• So how much cotton is made into bills each year? 

  Denomination	Bills Printed	Cotton Used (Pounds)	Cotton Used (Bales)
  $1	4,646,400,000	7,111,837	14,816
  $2	102,400,000	156,735	327
  $5	896,000,000	1,371,429	2,857
  $10	998,400,000	1,528,163	3,184
  $20	1,881,600,000	2,880,000	6,000
  $50	406,400,000	622,041	1,296
  $100	649,600,000	994,286	2,071
  Total	9,580,800,000	14,664,490	30,551

 Source: cotton.org

Cottonseed PDF

• Annual cottonseed production is about 6.5 billion tons.
• Only about 5% of the total seed crop is kept for planting.  The other 95% is used in by-products like cosmetics, fertilizer or livestock feed.
• The farm value of cottonseed has averaged about 15 percent of the total farm value of the cotton crop.

Cotton By-Products Blurb PDF

Cotton touches our daily lives in more ways than most of us realize.  From our blue jeans to our shoe strings…sheets to towels….even plastics and cosmetics, cotton is used in hundreds of ways.

Origin of Denim PDF

• Two of the fabrics most symbolic of American fashion—chambray and denim—are French imports. 
• A soft, comfortable fabric with contrasting colored and white yarns, chambray was first found in Chambrai, France.
• It was introduced to the U.S. as work pants designed for the mining industry by Mr. Levi Strauss.

Making Fabric PDF

• Textile mills take bales of cotton and use a carding machine to separate and align the fibers into a thin web which is condensed into a rope-like strand.
• A combing machine further cleans and straightens the fibers to make a strong, soft yarn or thread.
• High speed open-end spinning machines further draw out and twist the strand, making it tighter and thinner until it reaches the thickness or count needed for weaving or knitting.
• After spinning, the yarns are tightly wound around tubes and are ready for fabric forming.
• Some yarn is dyed before being woven or knitted into cloth and is used in producing gingham checks, plaids, woven strips and some denim construction.
• Looms weave the yarn into fabric by interlacing the lengthwise yarns (warp) and crosswise yarns (filling).
• Knitting machines may use more than 2500 needles in producing a wide variety of fabrics and shapes.

Cotton in Fashion PDF

• The fashion industry relies on trained individuals to select the proper combination of fabrics and design to market them to the public. 
• Why choose cotton clothing?
  - Cotton is one of the most comfortable fabrics.
  - Cotton breaths better than most fabrics.
  - Cotton has great absorbency.

Trash to Treasure PDF

• Cotton ginning by-products are commonly referred to as “gin trash.”
• Gin trash is composed of fragments of burs and stems, immature cottonseed, lint, leaf fragments and dirt.
• Producers and researchers are searching for more ways to use and recycle this “gin trash.”
• These uses include items like livestock feed, mulch and burnable fuel pellets.

Why does cotton shrink when you wash it? PDF

Relaxation shrinkage is when the fabric shrinks.  It is caused by the tension applied to the yarns and fabrics during construction.  The tension is released when the fabric is washed or steam pressed, causing it to shrink to its natural size.  Most cotton fabric shrinkage occurs during the first wash.