Cotton: fabric for all occasions

Cotton is a fabric whose history goes awayroots in the distant past. Seven thousand years ago, cotton was cultivated on the banks of the great river Indus. At present, cotton production accounts for about 40% of the total number of textile products. There are more than 50 types of fabrics of this type. For today the most popular and demanded fabric is cotton. The photo shows how beautiful the cotton plantations, which produce raw materials in more than 40 countries.

Properties of cotton fabrics

Natural materials for the production of clothing andBed linen firmly hold the palm tree of the championship. Children's clothes made of cotton and underwear are especially appreciated. And this is not surprising, because cotton fabric has a lot of advantages:

• Perfectly absorbs moisture.
• Pleasant to the touch.
• Does not cause allergies.
• It is easy to take care of.
• Does not store static electricity.
• It has heat-insulating properties.
• It is well painted.
• Perfectly behaves when sewing products.
• Cotton is plastic when the fiber is heat treated.

There are clothes from cotton and negative sides:

• Quickly crumples.
• When washing, it shrinks.
• Worn, especially when exposed to direct sunlight.
• Cotton is prone to rot in a humid environment.

The range of fabrics produced from cotton fiber is unusually wide.

Cotton fabrics: kinds of

Cotton fiber is a natural cellulose fiberfiber. There is long-fiber, short-fibred, medium-fibrous cotton, the fabric of them will be different. Also, the properties of the fabric depend on the way the fibers are intertwined.

In general, for the orientation in the consumer market, the following groups of materials stand out:

• Linen fabrics: chiffon, cambric, madapolam, grinsbon, muslin, nansuk and tick-eraser, mal-mal and turban.
• Dress-shirts: chintz, satin, coarse calico, eraser, a group of dress and nap fabric (corduroy-rib, velvet, semi-velvet, corduroy cord).
• Summer dress: batiste, veil, maya, volta, matting, marquiset.
• Demi-season: poplin, reps, tartan, garus, crepe, pongee, wool, pique.
• Winter: bike, paper, flannel.

Consider the most popular materials.

Thin cotton fabrics

Cotton fabric cotton or plain weave is used for sewing of underwear and bed linen, summer clothes.

• Chintz - inexpensive printed or plain-colored linen weave. It does not stretch, you can not iron after washing. The material is quickly washed and fades.
• Satin are produced by weaving strongly twisted double strands. Thanks to this material has a silk reflection. Resistant to washing, durable enough.
• Calico very popular for making bedlinen. The interlacing of the 1: 1 thread provides sufficient strength of the material, but the fabric is inferior in this parameter to satin. Accordingly, the cost of coarse calico is lower.
• Chiffon - translucent flowing matter, can be made not only from cotton, but also from silk and viscose. Cotton chiffon is used for sewing shirts, ball dresses, scarves and summer sarafans.
• Batiste made of fine twisted cotton, this is a very light and delicate fabric that requires special care.

Heavy cotton fabrics

For sewing warm or outer clothing, upholstery for furniture, bedspreads, cotton is also used. The fabric is more dense, sometimes with one-sided or two-sided pile.

• Velveteen. It has a fleecy surface in a hem, resembles velvet in texture. Used for sewing clothes and shoes.
• The Baikal. Soft, dense fabric with a thick and long double-sided pile of twill or linen weave threads.
• Flannel. Cloth with a rare fleece, soft and comfortable,It saves heat perfectly. Does not molt, can withstand repeated washing, it is easy to iron. Used for sewing children's and women's clothes, bed linen for the smallest, bath accessories and men's shirts. The nap is soft, one-sided or two-sided, short.
• Plush. Fabric with an elongated unilateral pile. Now the nap can be made of cotton, wool or viscose, but the base is always cotton. The fabric is very soft and pleasant to the touch. It is used for sewing dresses and for decorative purposes - for upholstering furniture, making bedspreads.
• Jeans and denim. Very dense fabric twill weave for tailoring jeans, shoes and accessories. It was from denim that the first jeans "Levi Strauss" were sewn.

How to care for cotton?

Observe the simplest rules:

• Washing at a temperature of 40 degrees. If higher, then the thing shrinks.
• Smooth the cloth slightly damp.
• Do not hold in direct sunlight, otherwise the material will burn out.
• Colored things are undesirable to bleach.

Since ancient times and to this day favoritethe material for many people remains cotton. The fabric of this natural material is very hygienic and pleasant to wear. To eliminate some disadvantages, manufacturers add to the cotton 5-20% of synthetic fibers.