Cotton is a natural vegetable fiber with great economic importance as a raw
material for fabrics. It is known for its silky feel, luster and 1.75 inch
long staple. Cotton strength, absorbency, and the capacity to be washed and
dyed also make it adaptable to a considerable variety for textile
products.

 Cotton is produced by small trees and shrubs of a genus belonging to the
mallow family, which also includes hibiscus, okra, and the familiar swamp
mallow. The immature flower bud called square blossoms and develops into an
oval boll that splits open at maturity, revealing a mass of long white seed
hair called lint and covers a large number of brown or black seeds. When
fully mature and dry this hair is a thin flattened tubular cell with a
pronounced spiral twist and is attached to a seed. The length of the
individual fiber ranges from 1.3 to 6 cm (0.5 to 2.5 in). Shorter fibers
that grow from the seeds are called linters. 

  Sea island Cotton is considered a luxury fiber which is made into goods
that command some of the highest prices among the various cotton fabrics.

 Before textile milling, cotton undergoes different processes such as
manual or mechanized  harvesting and storage. At the textile mill, the
bales are opened by machines and the lint is mixed and cleaned further by
blowing and beating. The short lint that comes out is usually separated and
sold to other industries. The mixed and fluffed cotton is cleaned and the
fiber is straightened and drawn into a soft untwisted rope called a
"sliver". The sliver is then drawn through machines which make the soft
rope thinner. The fiber is then twisted and wound on bobbins as cotton
yarn. The yarn is woven on looms into fabrics. The woven fabric, the "gray
goods" are then bleached, pre-shrunk, dyed, printed, and given a special
finish before being wound on a bolt or made into clothing or products.