The exact origins of the cotton plant are unknown. Although archeologists have unearthed pieces of cotton cloth over 7,000 years old. Through the centuries, cotton fiber was traditionally processed by hand. Until the early 18th century, when the first automated processing machine was invented.
Before cotton arrives at the textile mill to be spun into thread and woven into fabric, it makes the journey from field to bale. Cotton takes about five months to grow from a planted seed to a ripe plant.
This harvesting machine, called a cotton picker plucks fluffy seed cotton out of the plant's boll, leaving a trail of burrs and sticks behind.
The machine empties the plucked cotton into a tractor - drawn buggy. This machine build the seed cotton into a humongous rectangular block called a module. A truck transports the module to the processing plant, known as a cotton gin. Once the cotton arrives to the processing plant, sticks and burrs are removed, as well as any lingering debris and seeds.
A truck dumps the module into a feeder, which moves the packed seed cotton into a dispenser. The ground seed cotton falls onto a conveyor belt, which leads to the hot box. The hot box mixes the seed cotton with hot air, which allows the moisture to evaporate, making the seed cotton easier to clean. A machine called a wad buster breaks up the clumps of seed cotton by tossing it against a screen. Loose debris falls through the screen openings down a narrow chute. Then the seed cotton moves through a machine called the steady flow, which divides it equally between two processing lines.
On each line, the seed cotton enters a burr machine, which grabs the seed cotton with a circular saw, and swings it against metal bars. The centrifugal force shakes off the heavier debris. The seed cotton exists the machine through one pipe and the debris through another.
A large auger transfers the debris to a waste chute and out of the plant. The seed cotton is ready for the final stage of processing. A network of pipes feeds a row of machines called gin stands. The gin stand separates the seed from the fluffy stuff, called the lint. Inside each stand are 116 circular saws, which are arranged horizontally, each separated by a steel rib. The saw teeth grab the seed cotton and pull the lint through the narrow gap between saw and rib.
The seed are too large to pass through, so it spins in front of the rib, then drops into a conveyor. The lint goes into a flue, which leads to the packing area.
Cotton seed is sold as livestock feed. Particularly for dairy cows. It contains 23% protein, 20% fat, and 25% fiber. Cotton seed is also milled into cotton seed oil, a cooking oil that's a common ingredient in salad dressings and mayonnaise.
The cotton lint is now ready to be formed into bales. Pipes feed the loose lint to the press area. When it arrives, a pusher moves the lint into a machine called the tramper, which shoves it down into a bale - shaped box. Once the box reaches 500 pounds of cotton lint, a press compacts the lint....and tie-wraps the bale. Next, a conveyor moves the bale to a bagging machine and past grippers, which pull a sample from each side. While the bale slides into a protective plastic bag, the grippers deposit the sample into a bin.
Technicians label the bale with an I.D number, then open the bin to retrieve the corresponding sample. Then the sample is bagged and labeled with the bale I.D number. The factory submits the sample to the United States Department of Agriculture, where is's analyzed for fiber length, cleanliness, color, and other criteria.
Once the analysis is complete, the bale is given a grade and processed accordingly.
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