Some Effects of Gin Drying and Cleaning of Cotton on Fiber Length Distribution and Yarn Quality

Excerpts from the report Summary: Fiber length and length distribution, along with many other properties of cotton, can have significant effects upon mill operating costs and upon quality and value of the finished product. In addition to such conventional measures of fiber length as classer's designation and mean or upper half mean determinations derived from fibrograph readings, considerable attention recently has been focused upon short fiber content of cotton. It has become increasingly clear, however, that other segments of the length distribution are of equal importance to the short fiber portion, and differences in other segments may not be directly correlated with differences in short fiber content. In order to evaluate more fully the effects of various gin cleaning and conditioning practices upon fiber length distribution, the results of three tests previously run in the Department's Pilot Plant at Clemson, S.C., were reanalyzed. The objective was to determine the effect of gin drying and tandem or double lint cleaning, separately and in combination, upon both the long and short fiber segments and upon yarn quality. The three tests selected included both rain-grown and irrigated cotton.