Cotton is a natural cellulose fiber obtained from the mature capsule of the
plant. The incredible demand and attraction to cotton products that have
lasted hundreds of years primarily stem from the touch and the feel of the
fiber, a unique characteristic that remains uncontested by any other material.
Cotton is inherently a replica of nature. In a blind test, one can easily identify
the surface of the fiber by touching or handling the fibrous assembly. More
interestingly, touching and feeling of cotton fibers results in an instantaneous
acquaintance and comfortable bonding, much like touching soft human
skin.
The cotton fiber structure consists of a network of variously sized pores
or capillary spaces surrounded by numerous variously sized fibrils in the
different layers of the fiber. This makes cotton fibers accessible to liquids
and vapors. The capillary action of the fibrils pulls in the liquid where it is
held in pores between the fibrils. This explains the unique wicking and
absorption combination characteristics of the fiber that give a feeling of
comfort when in contact with human skin. The tapered shape of the fiber
provides a pleasant and soft touch since there are no sharply cut ends as there
are with synthetic staple fibers.
When cotton is classed in the market place, surface characteristics typically
dominate the subjective judgment. An expert classer, during handling and
subjectively grading a certain type of cotton, will typically judge the fiber
based on external appearance, brightness, color, purity, and character. All
these factors are in essence surface-related. More importantly, the classer
touches and feels the fibers and passes a judgment on whether it will perform
smoothly or harshly during textile processing. For this reason, and despite
the use of instrumental classing involving the High Volume Instrument (HVI)
system, the traditional manual classing of cotton still represents an accepted
purchasing and grading means around the world. In other words, the advanced
instrumental approach has not fully replaced traditional cotton classing. This