Cotton Fiber Product Line

Virgin Cotton: Cotton in its most natural form is called virgin cotton. It has only been ginned. Ginning is the mechanical process that separates the fiber from the seed. Gins must first dry and clean (remove plant parts and field “trash”) from the seed cotton, separate the fiber from the seed, further clean the fibers and then re-bale. Virgin fiber has a creamy white color. Due to Mother Nature’s natural oils and pectins, it is naturally hydrophobic and oleophilic, which allows for oil absorption, while repelling water. These bales will contain a small amount of plant parts and field “trash”.


Highly Cleaned Virgin Cotton: Another type of cotton fiber that is used in nonwoven production is highly cleaned virgin cotton. This is virgin cotton that has gone through an additional mechanical cleaning process to remove the last remaining plant parts and field “trash”. This process uses no chemicals. Highly cleaned virgin cotton is ideal for use in nonwoven applications that do not require a pure white fiber and may benefit from a natural creamy color and lower costs. Like virgin cotton these fibers are naturally hydrophobic and oleophillic. However, when virgin fiber is spunlaced with warm (ambient) temperature water, the natural fiber finish is washed off, providing absorbency of water and oil.

Scoured Cotton: Scoured fiber has been ginned and then treated to remove the natural oil and pectins, producing highly absorbent naturally creamy colored fiber.

Bleached and Scoured Cotton: This type of cotton is most commonly used in nonwovens applications today. After the ginning process, the virgin cotton fiber is scoured to remove all of the oils and pectins and then bleached (no chlorine is used) to give it a pure white color. Bleached and scoured cotton has many benefits. It is particularly valuable for applications involving contact with the skin. Because of its purity, bleached and scoured cotton is commonly found in cotton balls, pads, swabs, wipes (baby, personal care, household, clean room, etc.), feminine hygiene products, gauze, bandages, and other health and medical products.