Wale Joseph
499 views; Posted on December 4, 2015;
The word ‘cotton’ is derived from ‘qutun’ or ‘kutun’, an Arabic word used to describe any fine textile
In an average year, Australia’s cotton growers produce enough cotton to clothe 500 million people
Cotton is produced in more than 100 countries in the world, but six of them – China, India, Pakistan, USA, Brazil and Uzbekistan – contribute about 80% of production
Cotton and its by-products are used in the production of a huge range of products including bank notes, margarine, rubber and medical supplies
There are 43 species of cotton in the world and some cotton grows on trees
Australia and Egypt produce the highest quality cottons in the world
The fibre from one 227kg cotton bale can produce 215 pairs of jeans, 250 single bed sheets, 1,200 t-shirts, 2,100 pairs of boxer shorts, 3,000 nappies, 4,300 pairs of socks or 680,000 cotton balls
Cotton can absorb up to 27 times its own weight in water
The cotton plant requires about 180 – 200 days from planting to full maturity ready for harvest
Cotton is a unique crop in that it is both a food and a fibre
China is the world's largest cotton importer and is also the biggest producer
Chambray is a type of cotton popularly used in the manufacture of blue work shirts, and is where we get the term "blue-collar"
Cotton dates from at least 7,000 years ago making it one of the world’s oldest known fibres
Archaeologists found 5,000 year old cotton fabric at Mohenjo Daro, an ancient town in the Indus River Valley of West Pakistan
Ancient Greek and Roman civilisations used cotton for awnings and sails as well as clothing
The Aztec civilisation used naturally coloured brown cotton as a principal form of payment
Denim fabric was initially produced in Nimes, France and denim derives its name from ‘serge de Nimes’ (‘fabric of Nimes’)
In the 16th Century, sailors from the Italian port city, Genoa, began to wear denim
Naturally coloured cotton varieties in South America have come in shades of red, yellow, beige, chocolate, pink, purple, green, striped like a tiger and even spotted like a leopard
Ancient Peruvians made fishing nets and lines from darker shades of cotton to be less visible to fish
The first light bulb manufactured by Thomas Edison in the late 1800s used a cotton thread filament
American ‘paper’ money is a blend of 75% cotton and 25% linen
Wale Joseph 