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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 #269568
Title: Examination of gin motes for use in textile processing

Author
item Delhom, Chris
item Byler, Richard
item Thibodeaux, Devron

Submitted to: Proceedings of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers International (ASABE)
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/27/2022
Publication Date: 8/24/2011
Citation: Delhom, C.D., Byler, R.K., Thibodeaux, D.P. 2011. Examination of gin motes for use in textile processing. Proceedings of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers International (ASABE). p. 1111179.

Interpretive Summary: An increased price for greige cotton has put pressure on textile mills to cut costs. The drive to increase sustainability has led the cotton industry to look for ways to change standard procedures to reduce the environmental impact of cotton production and processing. A cotton byproduct, gin motes, was prepared in various ways and added into blends with conventional raw cotton in up to 40% levels, and converted into yarn. These blended yarns were tested for appearance and physical performance. It was shown that a waste material could be made useful in textile processing to reduce productions costs while increasing sustainability without a decrease in textile product quality.

Technical Abstract: Increased prices for greige cotton paired with an increase in domestic consumption of cotton and a push to increase sustainability requires a means to reduce costs for domestic textile mills while increasing the availability of raw materials to be processed and reducing the environmental impact of cotton production. Gin motes, and other cotton byproducts, are often viewed as waste materials which must be disposed of at a cost to the ginner. It is understood that some percentage of mote material is of sufficient quality to be used in textile processing. However, it is not known what amount of mote material is actually fiber of sufficient quality, nor is it understood how to best assess the mote material for determination of lint quality. Motes of various quality were collected and subjected to a battery of tests in an effort to assess both the lint quality and quantity as well as the test methods themselves. Motes were used in various combinations, up to 40% by weight, with greige cotton to produce medium count open end rotor spun yarns. The yarns were subjected to a battery of tests to assess the quality of the blended yarns. The goal of this research is to assess the potential for gin motes to be used in textile processing without reducing the overall quality of textile goods.