Cotton is a soft, affix fiber that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant (Gossypium sp.), a plant native to humid and subtropical regions around the world, including India and Africa. The fiber most often is spun into yarn or filament and used to make a soft, breathable textile, which is the most widely used natural-fiber cloth in clothing today. The English name derives from the Arabic (al) qutn قُطْن, meaning cotton. In the 1800s and 1900s cotton was called "King Cotton" because of the great power it had in the market.
Cotton fiber, once it has been processed to remove seeds (ginning) and traces of honeydew (a secretion from aphids), protein, vegetable matter, and other impurities, consists of nearly pure roughage, a natural polymer. Cotton production is very competent, in the sense that only ten percent or less of the weight is lost in consequent processing to convert the raw cotton bolls into pure fiber. The cellulose is arranged in a way that gives cotton fibers a high degree of strength, durability, and absorbency. Each fiber is made up of twenty to thirty layers of cellulose coiled in a neat series of natural springs. When the cotton boll is opened, the fibers dry into flat, twisted, ribbon-like shapes and become kinked together and interlocked. This interlocked form is idyllic for spinning into a fine fiber.
