Cotton Yarn Spinning

Cotton yarn spinning is a complex process that transforms raw cotton fibres into usable yarn. It involves cleaning and carding raw cotton fibres to align them, followed by drawing and twisting to form a roving. The roving undergoes further twisting on a spinning frame, creating a strong and cohesive cotton yarn suitable for various textile applications. In this article, we will learn about the cotton yarn spinning process, the yarn manufacturing process step by step and different types of spinning processes.

What is Yarn?

Definition of Yarn: Yarn is a long, continuous strand of interlocked fibres that can be used to make fabric.

Yarn is made of natural or synthetic fibers, such as cotton, polyester, silk, nylon, or wool. These fibres or filaments can be of varying lengths and can be either Staple fibres (short fibres) or Filaments (long fibres) in nature. Cotton has been a popular choice for centuries and makes up nearly half of all textile fibres worldwide. Yarn is manufactured through a process called spinning.

The spinning process transforms raw cotton fibres into yarn suitable for different end products, starting with selecting and organising the raw material based on properties and continuing with steps like cleaning, carding, drawing, roving, and spinning in order. It serves as the fundamental element in creating textiles, providing the structure and texture for fabric formation.

What is Spinning Process in Textile?

Spinning is the process of combining and winding long, drawn-out strands of fibres together to create a yarn. It is an essential process in the textile industry that takes multiple steps to turn raw fibres into yarn that can be used. These cotton yarn spinning steps must be completed in the proper order to generate yarn of superior quality. Additionally, the term “spinning” can also refer to the fibre extrusion process, which turns polymer filaments into a material that resembles yarn.

Types of Spinning Process

There are four general methods of cotton yarn spinning based on how these methods add twist to the fibres creating different yarn structures.

• Ring Spinning: Original and well known method creates compact and high strength yarn
• Open end or Rotor Spinning: Creates yarn efficiently by directing using fast rollers under the action of centrifugal force, resulting in evenly twisted yarn
• Air Jet Spinning: Air jet spinning is a modern technique that uses jet airflow to spin yarn.
• Compact Spinning: Compact spinning is closely related to ring spinning. The only difference being that in compact spinning, fibres are aligned parallel using vacuum pressure ensuring smoother and greater strength yarn .

Yarn Manufacturing Process Step By Step

Traditionally, Yarn production has involved a series of processes. The raw fibres contain impurities that are removed during pretreatment processes. Yarn manufacturing from cotton begins with opening the fibre bale and subsequently a series of mechanical operations. Processing stages in cotton yarn manufacturing are:

Ginning → Blowing → Carding → Combing → Drawing → Roving → Spinning → Winding and spooling

Step 1 – Ginning Process of Cotton

Ginning is a process that helps separate cotton fibres from the seeds and other impurities like leaves, and sticks from the fabric during the manufacturing process .

• This process was traditionally completed by hand and with the use of conventional machinery, such as the “Foot Roller” and its later, refined variant, the “Churka.”.
• Later, Industrialization introduced three types of machines: saw gins, McCarthy gins, and roller gins to help clean textile products.
• After that, the cotton is dried by an air dryer to remove moisture and cleaned to get rid of any remaining dirt or other impurities.
• Finally, the cotton fibres are separated from the seeds and lint to make clean cotton.
• This clean cotton is then packaged into bales, a weighted, standard-sized bundle by compressing under hydraulic pressure.

Step 2 – Blowing

The blow room is the initial section of a cotton yarn spinning mill, where machines are used in a sequential manner.

• The process begins with opening, which involves removing layers of cotton from bales by hand or in feeders equipped with conveyors with spiked teeth, or platforms which move them back and forth.
• This helps remove the compacted layers of cotton and turn them into small, fluffy tufts. After opening: first-level cleaning takes place small tufts of threads, facilitate the elimination of unwanted foreign particles.
• This is followed by blending or mixing to minimise variations in the yarn to create a uniform blend, where bales are open simultaneously and various cotton fibres are combined and mixed together using a reed table with spike apron fluffs that tear up and mix the fibres uniformly.

Step 3 – Carding

In the yarn manufacturing process, the card is the most important machine. It helps break up tangled balls of fibres into thin strands.

• The card separates the fibres in this way by employing two moving surfaces with sharp points.
• The card consists of three parts: a set of small, cleaned and separated fibre clumps, wire-covered cylinders and flat bars.
• The card removes most of the trash and other stuff that doesn’t belong in the fibres, which then gathers them into a neat bundle known as a “sliver.”
• Finally, the silver is put in a container for use in the next step of the process.

Step 4 – Combing

A small number of mills produce the highest quality cotton yarn by using a special machine called a comber. Combing gives more broad cleaning than is given by the card.

• The purpose of combing is to remove short fibres (less than 4 inch), neps and trash.
• The comber is a complicated machine composed of grooved feed rolls and a cylinder that is partially covered with needles to comb out short fibres
• The comber uses spinning rings or rows of steel pins to rotate and clean the cotton, resulting in a very clean and shiny yarn.

Step 5 – Drawing

In Drawing rollers are used to straighten out the fibres. Roller movement is primarily responsible for the drafting action throughout this operation.

• The silver containers from the carding stage are placed in the creel of the drawing frame.
• Drafting happens when a sliver is fed into a system of paired rollers operating at different speeds, straightens the sliver’s fibres by drawing them parallel to its axis.
• Parallelization is necessary to obtain the desired properties when the fibres are subsequently twisted into yarn .
• Drawing results in a more uniform sliver in weight per unit length, which enables greater blending capabilities.
• The final drawing process, known as finisher drawing, produces fibres that are nearly straight and parallel to the axis of the sliver. These fibres are too thick to be drafted into yarn on conventional ring-spinning systems.

Step 6 – Roving

The roving process helps make the sliver smaller and more suitable for spinning. The purpose of roving is to keep the integrity of the draft strands while reducing the sliver’s size to a diameter that is appropriate for spinning into yarn.

• The Cans of slivers from the finisher or combing are placed in a machine called a creel, and then fed through two rollers.
• The second set of rollers rotates faster, which reduces the diameter of the silver to approximately the size of a standard pencil.
• The fibres are then given a twist by passing the bundle through a roving “flyer.” The processed sliver is called “roving,” and it is rolled onto a roving bobbin that is about 37.5 cm in length and 14 cm in diameter.

Step 7 – Spinning

Spinning is the most expensive part in yarn manufacturing. Spinning is the process of The long, drawn-out strands of fibres of roving are combined and wind together to create a yarn.

• Currently, ring-spinning frames are used to draft roving into yarn of the desired size and count, while imparting the desired amount of twist. The twist makes the yarn stronger.
• The length of yarn on the bobbins is too short for subsequent processes, so it is collected into “spinning boxes “and delivered to the next step.
• In the modern age for production of heavier or coarse yarns, ring spinning is replaced by open-end spinning where a sliver of fibres is fed into a high-speed rotor. Here the centrifugal force converts the fibres into yarns. The yarn is then ready to be used in the next step of the process.

Step 8 – Winding and Spooling

The manufacturing process for yarn comes to an end once the raw fibres have been spun into yarn; the yarn needs to be packaged appropriately at this point in order to be distributed.

• A large package called a cone is used for shipping. The choice of package depends on whether the yarn will be used for weaving or knitting.
• For both knitting and weaving yarn, preparatory techniques including quilling, twisting, spooling, and winding are crucial.
• The products of spooling are typically used as warp yarns (that run lengthwise in woven fabric), while the products of winding are used as filling yarns or weft yarns (that run across the fabric).
• Yarns made by open-end spinning skip these stages and are packed directly into the warp or filler.
• Twisting produces ply yarns, where two or more yarns are combined and twisted together before further processing.
• Finally, in quilling yarn is wound onto small bobbins that can fit inside the shuttle of a special machine called a loom.

Conclusion: Cotton Yarn Spinning

Cotton yarn spinning is a complex yet remarkable process that converts raw cotton fibres into versatile yarns used in numerous textile applications. This process involves a number of stages from selecting the finest raw materials to utilising advanced spinning techniques, each step contributing to creating high-quality cotton yarn that meet the demands of customers around the world. By learning the details of cotton yarn spinning manufacturing process one develops a greater understanding of the complexities involved in textile production and the importance of quality control throughout the entire process.

FAQs on Cotton Yarn Spinning

What is the Basic Process of Yarn Manufacturing?

Yarn manufacturing consists of six essential stages. Initially, fibres are selected and classified based on desired characteristics. Fibres are then aligned and impurities are eliminated through cleaning, carding, and combing. Aligned fibres are then stretched, twisted, and spun to produce the desired yarn type and thickness.

What are the Two Basic Types of Yarn?

The basic classifications of textile yarn include staple fibre yarn, which uses mostly short natural fibres only a couple inches in length to make yarn; and filament yarn, composed of one or more long, continuous fibres, wind together.

What is the Raw Material for the Production of Yarn?

Yarn can be made from natural or synthetic fibres. Natural fibres can be obtained from animal(Sheep,Silkworm) and plant(Cotton, Flax seed etc.) sources. Synthetic fibres include: Nylon, Acrylic, Polyester.

What is the Difference Between Combed Sliver and Carded Sliver?

Combing is especially useful for longer cotton fibres, Combed sliver has better lustre and stronger ,tighter structure than carded sliver, with improved fibre alignment, smoother texture than carded yarn.

What are the New Developments in Spinning?

Rotor spinning is a newer method that combines mechanical force and aerodynamics. Ring spinning has seen improvements in various aspects such as drive systems and automation. Air-jet spinning’s fibre extent in yarns can be influenced by fibre type, nozzle pressure, and production speed.

What is Yarn Class 6?

Yarn refers to strand of fibers twisted together for weaving or knitting purposes, forming the basis of textiles and fabrics.

What is the Spinning Method of Yarns?

The spinning method of yarns involves ring-spun, rotor-spun, twistless, wrap-spun and core-spun yarns.

What is Cotton Spun Yarn?

Cotton spun yarn is a type of yarn made by twisting together cotton fibers, commonly used in textile production for making fabrics and garments.