Scientific Facts about Cotton

One of the weirdest Scientific Facts about 100% Cotton is that it is an ingredient in the making of margarine. Today there are over 43 different varieties of cotton thriving in the world today. Not just the small plant that the cotton for our clothes comes from, some cotton bearing plants are not shrubs at all but trees.

The time it takes for a cotton seed to grow and to produce a cotton boll ready to harvest is only 180 to 200 days. This is why the tempera zone in which it can be grown is so vast. 

In America cotton is grown from coast to coast. On the eastern seaboard it is grown as far north as Virginia and on the west coast in California.

Cotton is the most absorbent natural material known to man. It is capable of absorbing up to 27 times its own weight.  That is why so many people like to wear cotton clothing in the hot summer months. When a cotton material is being worn by a person and it absorbs their sweat, the moist air that is created when the wind blows has a cooling effect on the skin. It is the same principal used in the modern AC units most have in their homes.

No one knows for sure when cotton was first harvested by mankind. What is known is there are still remnants of cloth made over 7,000 years ago. 

Cotton is not only used as a textile throughout its history with mankind. The ancient Aztecs used it as a payment to cover their roads and walk ways with. 

It is true most cotton grown today is a white boll. South America has decided to open the markets to natural colored varieties. While the colors are not really consistent when woven into cloth, they do resist fading like dyed cotton does. The colors available today include chocolate, purple, pink, green, beige, red, yellow and even some that are striped like a tiger and one that is spotted like a leopard. 

In the past, civilizations in South America on the western side of the continent around Peru made their fishing nets of the darker shades of cotton that naturally grew there. It was believe that the fish could not see the darker shades and would be easier to catch.

It is true cotton has a natural insecticide called gossypol. It makes cotton unsafe for human consumption naturally. This toxic can be removed and is why you can eat or consume cottonseed oil safely. 

It is true most American love their old worn out blue jeans. What most are unaware of is that those old blue jeans can be recycled into new cotton and is used in the making of new fabrics. 

The cotton plant has been around since before the recording of history by mankind. This is the most comfortable material used for fabrics and is also the strongest and most absorbent natural fiber available today.