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ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Cotton Structure and Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #263198
Title: Miniature spinning as a fiber quality assessment tool

Author
item Delhom, Chris
item Cui, Xiaoliang
item Thibodeaux, Devron
item Rodgers Iii, James

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/19/2011
Publication Date: 4/25/2011
Citation: Delhom, C.D., Cui, X., Thibodeaux, D.P., Rodgers III, J.E. 2011. Miniature spinning as a fiber quality assessment tool. National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference. p. 1504-1507.

Interpretive Summary: Miniature spinning is the processing of small samples, usually less than 100 grams. Improvements have been made to the miniature spinning process at the Southern Regional Research Center to allow miniature-scale processing to be used a fiber quality assessment tool. Full-scale equipment was modified to produce optimum quality textile products on the miniature scale. Fiber sampling techniques have been devised to allow fiber quality changes to be tracked through textile processing. Yarn testing methods have been investigated to expand the usefulness of miniature spinning as tool for cotton breeders, researchers, and producers.

Technical Abstract: Miniature spinning has long been used to assess cotton varieties in a timely manner. It has been an accepted fact that the quality of miniature spinning is less than optimal, but that it allows a direct comparison between cottons during varietal studies. Recently, researchers have made processing improvements to the traditional miniature spinning process which allows for small samples (less than 100 grams) to be processed quickly while producing yarn qualities that approach commercial-scale textile processing traits. Full-scale carding and drawing equipment was modified to produce optimum quality textile products. Fiber quality changes may be tracked through opening, carding, and drawing as the fiber is processed into ring spun yarns. Yarn testing methods have been investigated to move beyond the traditional practice of using skein break data only to compare varieties.