For this question.
Easy, burn. Take out a little yarn, just a little is enough. Polyester will have a plastic smell, and cotton will have a burning paper smell. There is a more detailed judgment method in the fiber burning identification method. The combustion method is the most convenient and simple to judge the fiber category, but for some blended yarns, it may be difficult to judge. Secondly, you can touch and see the effect of the cloth surface with your hands. The hand feeling of pure cotton will be rougher than that of pure polyester, and the cloth surface will be hairier. The polyester one will be smoother. The cloth surface will be very clean and almost hairless. You can also use a microscope to look at the cross-section of the fiber. The fine structure of different fibers is not used, or chemical methods. There are many types of fibers, and the so-called pure cotton is just one part of them.
Look at the way the fabric is colored.
From left to right we call them printing, gray, strip room, yarn-dyed/yarn arrangement room/automatic room.
Fabrics come in a variety of colors, but ultimately, there are several ways to color them. One is to use embryo yarn to weave the embryo cloth (the embryo cloth is usually yellow) and dye it in the dye vat. This is the most common and is called solid color. The disadvantage is that the dye vat can only dye one color. The second method is to dye the embryo yarn and then use the dyed yarn to weave cloth, so that inter-strip cloth can be obtained. The third step is to dye the fiber, spin it into yarn, and then weave it into cloth, which is called flower ash. The fourth method is to produce solid-color cloth and then print it on it. Of course, any cloth can be used for printing, and solid colors are the most common. There are also some niche dyeing methods, such as section dyeing, hanging dyeing, burning flowers, embossing, etc., or mixed methods such as printing between gray strips.
Grey cloth
Section dyeing
Then the problem comes again.
“It’s all pure cotton, why is it 100 times more expensive?”
Origin of raw materials
The main component of pure cotton fabric is naturally cotton, and cotton’s Quality determines the quality of fabrics.
Before they became cloth, they looked like this.
There are many lovely cotton types and they are strictly hierarchical. We only need to understand these three types:
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Coarse Staple Cotton –Cotton that has been eliminated. Also called Asian cotton, it is native to India.
The yield is low, the fiber is thick and short, and it is not suitable for machine spinning. The length of cotton fiber is less than 23mm.
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Fine-staple cotton –The most common type of cotton. Also called Upland cotton, it is native to Central America.
It accounts for 85% of the world’s total cotton production and 98% of China’s total cotton production. Most affordable cotton fabrics are made of fine velvet cotton, with a cotton fiber length of 23 to 33mm.
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Long Staple Cotton –The highest grade of cotton. Also called Sea Island Cotton, it is native to South America.
The fiber is long, high in strength, highly absorbent, and exhibits silk luster. The fiber length is generally greater than 33mm, and can even reach 60-70mm.
(Note: Sometimes Sea Island Cotton also specifically refers to the top cotton “west indian sea island cotton” produced in the West Indies, known as the best cotton in the world)
Among them, long-staple cotton/sea island cotton is the focus of our discussion, and it roughly includes three types:
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Egyptian cotton (GIZA cotton)
The most expensive cotton in the world, mainly produced in the Nile River Basin, has been the world’s most expensive cotton for thousands of years. Textile raw materials such as these are exclusive to nobles and are known as “platinum”.
Egyptian cotton is rich in silk luster, the fabric is dense and fine, has excellent toughness, strong breathability, does not stick to sweat, and has a much stronger quick-drying effect than ordinary cotton fabrics.
Egyptian cotton is favored by international brands and is mostly used as custom fabrics.
According to quality, it is divided into GIZA45, GIZA 70, GIZA 86 and other varieties. Among them, GIZA 70 has the largest output (accounting for about 75%) and is the main variety of Egyptian cotton imported into China.
GIZA 45 is the best in terms of length, physical indicators and other aspects. It belongs to the top Egyptian cotton, but its output is very small, and it is basically divided up by the world’s top textiles.
The packaged cotton looks like this. Of course, we can’t see this beautiful picture.
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Textiles made of GIZA cotton fabrics will generally have signs similar to this.
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PIMA cotton (PIMA cotton)
Extra-Long Staple (ELS) Cotton, mainly produced in the United States, The fiber is famous for being extremely long and produced in very small quantities.
Pima cotton has the longest fiber, the strongest toughness and the whitest cotton. The woven fabric is full of luster, smooth to the touch, light and elegant, and has pure finishing and dyeing effects.
The overall quality of Pima cotton is better than ordinary Egyptian cotton, even comparable to some high-quality Egyptian cotton. It is also one of the important raw materials for high-end textiles. Many international brands have designated Pima cotton as a textile raw material.
Among them, Supima® is the title of the top Pima cotton. The American Supima Association has strict authorization for the brand. Only a few well-qualified fabric factories and brands can use Supima.
The Supima logo is the only recognized 100% Pima cotton product logo in the industry.
In other words, if there is no Supima logo, it does not necessarily mean 100% Pima cotton (it may be “ordinary” Pima cotton, or it may be “partial” Pima cotton). If there is, it must be 100% Pima cotton. % Pima cotton, and it is high quality.
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Xinjiang long-staple cotton:
Probably the best in China.��Cotton. Xinjiang is the main producing area, and the planting areas include Turpan Basin, Aksu, Bayingoleng, Kashgar, etc.
Xinjiang long-staple cotton is of excellent quality, with all quality indicators exceeding national standards. It is usually used in various high-grade cotton fabrics, but it is still not comparable to Egyptian cotton and Pima cotton.
Note that whether Egyptian cotton or Pima cotton is now grown in China, they are all called “Egyptian cotton” or “Pima cotton” on the market. The actual quality is very different.
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GIZA cotton has its own official website (HOME), which you can visit.
Thread count density
After figuring out the types of cotton, let’s look at Craftsmanship.
Cotton must be spun into yarn to weave cloth, so there are combed yarn and carded yarn.
Combed yarn/worsted yarn: The cotton impurities and short fibers are combed using technology. The combed yarn has high twist and less hairiness.
The commonly referred to as combed cotton is woven from combed yarn. No matter what kind of cotton, combed is always better than carded. Combed yarn is a prerequisite for weaving good fabrics. In addition, the thickness of the yarn and the density of the weaving fabric are two important indicators that determine the quality of the fabric, which is what we often call “thread count density”
Understanding “thread count density” is an important step in making purchase decisions. A big step for a little expert.
Knock on the blackboard to highlight the key points~·
Let’s talk about it first[Yarn count] :
The yarn count refers to the thickness of the yarn. The higher the count, the finer the yarn, and the higher the requirements for raw materials.
The calculation method of yarn count can be understood simply and crudely as:
Spinning one pound of cotton into a yarn with a length of 840 yards, the thickness of the yarn It is 1 count; when spun into a length of 8400 yards, the thickness of this yarn is 10 counts; when the length is N times 840 yards, the thickness is N counts. The more counts, the thinner the yarn.
The yarn count uses the imperial unit S, and the double-ply yarn is marked S/2. The common ones are 30S, 40S, and 60S, and the higher ones are 80S, 100S, 120S, and even 200S. If the warp and weft counts are different, for example, 40 warp yarns and 30 weft yarns, the fabric count will be expressed as 40S*30S
The higher the yarn count, the better the quality, but it does not mean that the higher the yarn count, the better. Suitable for bedding.
It is generally considered that 60S is a high-count fabric, and 80S, 100S and higher are used for high-end bedding, and 200S is generally used for high-end clothing fabrics.
Let’s talk about[Density]:
Density refers to the number of warp and weft yarns per square inch of fabric, such as warp yarns 133 yarns, 72 weft yarns, the density is 133*72.
The industry commonly uses the sum of the number of warp and weft yarns to describe it, expressed in the unit T. For example, if there are 133 warp yarns and 72 weft yarns, the fabric density is about 200T (root).
[The relationship between yarn count and density]:
High count is the prerequisite for high density. The higher the yarn count, the denser the fabric can be weaved. .
Generally, fabrics above 60S/300T can be called high count and high density fabrics.
However, the density of fabrics corresponding to different count counts is limited. For example, using 60S to weave 200T fabric is basically a fishing net, and using 40S to weave 1200T fabric is also unrealistic.
And the higher the density, the better. As the density increases, the fabric will become denser and even waterproof. Although the quality is good, the breathability and comfort are not good.
The relationship between yarn count density and body feel is roughly like this
When buying bedding, pay attention to the yarn count parameter, so that you can have a better basis for judging the quality of the fabric.
Weaving process
In addition, the weaving method of the fabric is also a basis for judging quality.
It is roughly divided into three types:
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Plain weave – Warp and weft yarns The fabric structure formed by regular interweaving has the most interweaving points of warp and weft yarns. The front and back sides have the same appearance, with a firm texture and a smooth surface.
The density of plain weave is generally not high, the count is about 30, it is light and breathable, and the price is low. There are also a few embroidered fabrics using high-density plain weave.
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Twill – The warp and weft are interlaced at least once every two yarns. There are few interlacing points of warp and weft, the floating lines on the surface are longer, and the hand feels soft. The density is higher, thicker and has a strong three-dimensional effect.
Twill is also a common fabric weave, with counts ranging from 30, 40, and 60.
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Satin – The warp and weft yarns are interwoven with at least three yarns. The fabric is denser and thicker. The cloth surface is smooth, delicate and shiny. Similar to brocade. The warp yarn floats on the surface of the fabric, so high-count combed yarn is generally used, which is more expensive than similar plain and twill weaves.
In ancient times, this kind of satin fabric was often used as tribute to the court, so it was also called “Tribute Satin“.
By doing jacquard weaving on the basis of satin, you can get higher-grade satin jacquard fabrics.
Gongsatin is generally a high-count fabric that is not easy to fade or shrink. It has the luster of satin, is soft, strong, smooth and comfortable, and is very suitable for making high-end bedding.
