Field Trip #1 To The Texas Tech Biopolymer

and Fiber Research Institute

               The field trip the research center was very interesting and eye opening. You would never have thought that it took a million steps to get just a plain t-shirt! From the bale of cotton full of twigs and others trash, to a gauze-like cloth, then a simple fiber, and finally a masterpiece of fabric.

               The tour started with showing us what cotton was like in the raw form and how every bale is tested individually to find the fiber’s length and strength. After the information about the bale is recorded it begins the long process to becoming fabric. It starts with cleaning the cotton and trying to rid it of any debris or plant left in the cotton. At this point in time the cotton feels very coarse, nothing you would want to use.  Next, it heads to the “tuft-o-matic” to be pulled apart, further cleaning out the cotton. The cotton is then stretched out into a sheet like form and then condensed into a thick rope like form. Although the cotton is more pure it still hasn’t reached the “soft-feel” form. The rope is then put through a machine that can be used for mixing other fibers such as polyester and it comes out smooth and soft. Next it is spun tightly into a thick yarn form which is put onto a large spool.

 When the spool is full it is taken to be spun again to make it smaller, stronger and to remove the “fuzz”.  All of these spools are put into an assembly line type of machine that combines multiple spools and puts them onto a much larger spool that can be sold for commercial use.  The spools are then woven into the beautiful fabrics that we use today.

               From the bale to the buyer the process of cotton is much more complex than most people would assume. To see the process and to realize the amount of work that goes into something as seemingly simple as cotton is an eye opening experience and quite an educational experience to be appreciated.  That little plant is much more complex than it looks.