L e c t u r e
by
Dr. Andrew F Richards
Thank you for inviting me to speak to the Manchester Section of the TI on the 22nd March 2001......
Andrew has just retired after almost 25 years as a lecturer at Bolton Institute specializing in Textile Science and Fibre Technology. For the last few years, he was a Principal Lecturer and Course Leader for the B.Sc. courses in Textiles. Although this talk is concerned with the major natural fibre, his background is in chemical fibres. He gained his B.Sc. in Chemistry at University College London, and researched in Inorganic Chemistry for a Ph.D. His initiation into textiles came from working for Courtaulds on the development of viscose and later acrylic fibres.
Andrew F Richards
Greenacre
Ribchester Road
Clayton-le-Dale
Blackburn
Lancashire
BB1 9EE
Telephone 01254 249694
.....Cotton is one of the world’s major agricultural crops and 3-4% of the earths farmlands are devoted to its’ production. In the twentieth century, programmes of selective plant breeding gave impressive gains in the quality of the fibres produced. The cotton produced became longer, finer, and whiter. However, cotton is now one of the most chemically intensive crops produced and 25% of the pesticides produced in the world are used in growing cotton.
The talk will review recent developments in producing ‘Green’ cotton. Organic cotton is produced without artificial fertilizers or pesticides. Their processing route is the same as for normal cotton. Coloured cottons are varieties, which have been bred to have a natural colour. The potentially environmentally damaging wet processing stages in the production process can be eliminated. Coloured cottons do have disadvantages; the range of colours is very limited, although the colours tend darken on washing. In general, the textile properties of the fibres are less satisfactory that those of comparable ‘white’ cottons.