Greige Cotton Research Articles

Progressive and cumulative fabric effects of multiple hydroentangling impacts at different water pressures on greige cotton substrate

A three-part practical study was conducted on a commercial-grade hydroentanglement system to determine the progressive and cumulative fabric effects of multiple hydroentangling impacts at three different high (hydroentangling) water pressures (HWPs) on classical properties of the resulting nonwoven fabrics made with a substrate of commercially cleaned greige cotton lint. In the first part of the study, the progressive and cumulative effects of a series of four hydroentangling passes (equal to eight hydroentangling exposures or impacts) were studied at a relatively low HWP of 65 bars. In the second and third parts, the progressive and cumulative effects of multiple hydroentanglements at relatively higher HWP(s) of 90 bars and 130 bars were studied. The hydroentangling energy required for the various fabrics (made with the different HWPs and number of hydroentangling passes or impacts) was calculated to assess the overall impact of the energy on the fabric properties. The study has shown that each successive hydroentangling pass and each elevated HWP generally resulted in decreased fabric weight, thickness and air permeability and increased fabric whiteness and water absorbency. The tensile properties of the fabrics, in both the machine direction (MD) and the cross direction (CD), generally increased progressively with each successive hydroentangling pass at the low HWP of 65 bars, but this trend, especially in the CD, was not pronounced at the HWPs of 90 bars and 130 bars, perhaps indicating the attainment of optimum hydroentanglements and hence of tensile properties in the first pass alone at the higher HWPs. The hydro energy imparted to formation of the various fabrics made with the above stated process parameters of interest have shown that the two or four passes of the substrate at the low 65-bar HWP required less energy and yielded greater fabric absorbency compared to the one or two passes of the substrate at (twice) the HWP of 130 bars. On the other hand, only one pass of the substrate at 90 bars and 130 bars yielded greater tensile strength with reduced energy requirement, compared to the four passes at 65 bars. These results show that, depending on the required or preferred fabric properties, the stated hydroentangling process parameters can be considerably manipulated to achieve efficient hydroentanglement and improved energy efficiency.

Development of hydroentangled nonwoven fabrics for the protective garments

The aim of this research was to establish the optimum processing conditions for producing hydroentangled nonwoven fabrics best suited for application in disposable and protective wear, such as surgical gowns, drapes and laboratory coats. Carded and cross-lapped webs, from greige cotton, viscose and polyester fibres of three basic weights, were hydroentangled, at three different waterjet pressures on a Fleissner’s Aquajet hydroentanglement machine. An antibacterial agent and a fluorochemical water repellent finish were applied in one bath using the pad-dry-cure technique to impart both antibacterial and water repellent properties to the fabrics. The standard spray ratings, tensile strength and extension at break for three treated and untreated fabrics were evaluated. The spray ratings for the treated fabrics ranged from 80% to 90% against zero for the untreated fabrics while the tensile strengths in both the machine and cross-machine directions of treated fabrics were greater than that for the untreated fabrics, the reverse being true for the extension at break. Contact angles for all treated fabrics exceeded 90° which indicate good resistance to wetting. The finishing treatment decreased the mean pore size of all fabrics and increase in waterjet pressure and fabric weight decreased the air and water permeability. In this study, it was observed that low weight fabrics of 80 g/m2 hydroentangled at low waterjet pressure of 60 bars were suitable for use due to their higher air and water vapour permeability as well as higher pore size distribution. These fabrics meet the requirements for surgical gowns, drapes, nurses’ uniforms and laboratory coats.

Ultrasound-Enhanced Bioscouring of Greige Cotton: Regression Analysis of Process Factors

Ultrasound-enhanced bioscouring process factors for greige cotton fabric are examined with custom experimental design using statistical principles. Optimal bioscouring conditions are determined for enzyme concentration, process time, ultrasonic power, and frequency. An equation is presented which predicts bioscouring performance based upon percent reflectance values obtained from UV-Vis measurements of ruthenium red stained fabrics. Significant material and engineering cost savings can be achieved through the adoption of optimized factors.

Electrokinetic and hemostatic profiles of nonwoven cellulosic/synthetic fiber blends with unbleached cotton.

Greige cotton contains waxes and pectin on the outer surface of the fiber that are removed when bleached, but these components present potential wound dressing functionality. Cotton nonwovens blended with hydrophobic and hydrophilic fibers including viscose, polyester, and polypropylene were assessed for clotting activity with thromboelastography (TEG) and thrombin production. Clotting was evaluated based on TEG measurements: R (time to initiation of clot formation), K (time from end of R to a 20 mm clot), α (rate of clot formation according to the angle tangent to the curve as K is reached), and MA (clot strength). TEG values correlate to material surface polarity as measured with electrokinetic parameters (ζplateau, Δζ and swell ratio). The material surface polarity (ζplateau) varied from −22 to −61 mV. K values and thrombin concentrations were found to be inversely proportional to ζplateau with an increase in material hydrophobicity. An increase in the swell ratios of the materials correlated with decreased K values suggesting that clotting rates following fibrin formation increase with increasing material surface area due to swelling. Clot strength (MA) also increased with material hydrophobicity. Structure/function implications from the observed clotting physiology induced by the materials are discussed.

Bleaching of hydroentangled greige cotton nonwoven fabrics without scouring

Previous research had shown that processing greige cotton on a commercial-grade hydroentanglement (HE) system at a water pressure greater than 120 bar resulted in a low-weight hydrophilic nonwoven fabric. With that ability to make hydrophobic greige cotton easily wettable and hence absorbent without the conventional scouring phase, an investigation was conducted to determine whether a fabric made by hydroentangling greige cotton fibers at a high water pressure could be successfully bleached without the traditional scouring. The investigation involved production of greige cotton nonwoven fabrics at a low hydroentangling water pressure of 60 bar and at a high hydroentangling water pressure of 135 bar and their subsequent evaluations before and after scour only, one-stage bleach only, and two-stage scour and bleach. In the results, both the 60 bar and 135 bar fabrics bleached successfully in the two-stage bleaching process and yielded acceptable absorbency and whiteness values. However, when bleached in the single-stage bleaching process with no separate scour, the 135 bar fabric still produced the whiteness index almost equal to that obtained in the two-stage bleaching process and even equal to that of a fabric made with commercially scoured and bleached cotton fibers, but the 60 bar fabric yielded about 15% lower whiteness index value while its wettability-induced improved water absorbency still was comparable to that obtained via the two-stage bleaching. This shows that a hydroentangled greige cotton fabric produced at a high enough water pressure (hydro energy) could be bleached satisfactorily without the traditional scouring chemicals and that a fabric produced even at a lower water pressure and bleached without scouring could still be satisfactory for subsequent aqueous treatments for certain end-use applications where the whiteness may not be as critical as the absorbency.

A pilot-scale nonwoven roll goods manufacturing process reduces microbial burden to pharmacopeia acceptance levels for non-sterile hygiene applications

A total of seven source fiber types were selected for use in the manufacturing of nonwoven roll goods: polyester; polypropylene; rayon; greige cotton from two sources; mechanically cleaned greige cotton; and scoured and bleached cotton. The microbial burden of each source fiber was measured as a preliminary assessment of microbial contamination using heterotrophic spread plate counts. Greige cotton fibers exhibited the highest levels of total microbial contamination, which were reduced by both storage time and trash removal in the form of mechanical cleaning. Changes in microbial burden levels were measured at each step in the nonwoven manufacturing process. The hydroentanglement process resulted in the greatest overall reduction in microbial burden with no detectable levels of aerobic microbial contamination present on any of the final hydroentangled roll goods regardless of the source fiber. No detectable levels of aerobic microbial regrowth were observed on any fabrics despite storage time or ambient storage conditions. Analysis of suspended solids present in hydroentanglement effluents collected during fabric production revealed significantly less suspended solids from synthetic fibers compared to all cotton fiber types. The study provided insight and potential guidelines that could be incorporated into a nonwoven processing line to ensure specific sterility requirements are met for various converters in end-uses such as hygiene and medical applications.

Whiteness and absorbency of hydroentangled cotton-based nonwoven fabrics of different constituent fibers and fiber blends

The aim of this research is to develop greige (raw/non-bleached) cotton-containing nonwoven fabrics that likely would be competitive in quality, cost and performance to existing products that presently and predominantly use man-made fibers and some bleached cotton for wipes and other similar end-use nonwoven products. Since the whiteness and absorbency of these end-use products generally are the most desired and perhaps even critical attributes, the research was mainly focused on attaining these attributes by exploring various choices and optimum use of a variety of cost-effective cotton fibers and the blends thereof with other fibers. Nonwoven fabrics were produced, via a modern hydroentanglement system, with possible choices of using several types of cotton fibers, including the greige cotton lint and certain of its co-products such as gin motes and comber noils, and their various blends with polyester and nylon staple fibers. Bleached cotton was also used to produce an equivalent fabric for comparison. The research has shown that although the desired and perhaps critical properties of whiteness and absorbency of the selected fibers vary considerably among the various fabrics produced, the blends of greige cotton lint with man-made fibers can provide the fabric whiteness and absorbency comparable to those of say, a, bleached cotton fabric. The research results suggest that the greige cotton lint and/or its co-products in blend with polyester fiber may be sensible approaches to the development of functionally acceptable nonwoven wiping products that are also environment friendly.

Electrokinetic analysis of hydroentangled greige cotton–synthetic fiber blends for absorbent technologies

Through nonwoven hydroentanglement of greige cotton blends with polyester and nylon, varying degrees of fiber surface polarity, swelling, and absorbance can be achieved. Electrokinetic properties of nonwoven blends made with Ultra Clean™ cotton (100% greige or virgin cotton) and polyester or nylon in 40:60 and 60:40 ratios demonstrated distinct differences in charge, swell, and per-cent moisture uptake capability. An electrochemical double layer analysis of charge based on a pH titration (pH 1.5–11 in 1 mM KCl) was employed to measure the relative fiber and fabric surface polarity (ζplateau), which ranged from −60 to −26 millivolts. A linear relationship of fiber swelling (Δζ) and per cent moisture content is apparent when greige cotton and synthetic fibers are blended. Water contact angles revealed that the cotton/synthetic fiber blends were hydrophobic (contact angle >80°) while retaining significant absorbency. The greige cotton/synthetic nonwoven materials, however, possess absorbent properties characterized by varying degrees of moisture uptake, fiber polarity, and swelling attributes similar to absorbent fluid transport materials present in the layers of incontinence products. Electrokinetic properties of the blended greige cotton/synthetic nonwovens are correlated to absorbent incontinence materials.

Effect of web formation on properties of hydroentangled nonwoven fabrics

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of two popular web-forming technologies, viz., the Rando air-laid technology and the traditional carding and cross-laying technology, on properties of the hydroentangled nonwoven fabrics made therewith. A mill-like fiber processing study was conducted in a commercial-grade pilot plant using a variety of short staple fibers and their blends. The fibers used in the study were greige cotton, bleached cotton, cotton derivatives, and cut-staple polyester. The hydroentangled fabrics produced with the two systems were mainly evaluated for their physical and mechanical properties, absorbency, absorbency capacity, and whiteness. The study has shown that, with the exception of greige cotton linters, the greige cotton lint, greige cotton gin motes, and even greige cotton comber noils, either alone or in blend with the other fibers mentioned, can be mechanically processed into hydroentangled nonwoven fabric structures without any insurmountable difficulties. The drop test and sink time followed each other pretty closely, as the drop test time increased so did the sink times. The "whiteness" of fabric, which is significantly more dependent on the fabric's constituent fiber content than on the fabric's surface-based light reflection, obviously varied considerably. However, the whiteness index within the same fiber types and their blends shows no trend of significant difference between the fabric produced with carded fiber web and the fabric produced with random Rando fiber web. Incidentally, the Rando sample of bleached cotton was not available. Since the nonwoven fabrics of this discussion generally are disposable, the optional use of ‘brighteners’ to improve whiteness of certain whiteness-deficient fabrics may be considered as long as the brighteners do not easily bleed from the fabrics.

Effects of greige cotton lint properties on hydroentangled nonwoven fabrics

This study determined the effects of fiber length, the length uniformity index, micronaire (fineness), and strength of greige cotton lint on properties of nonwoven fabrics. Seven bales of pre-cleaned greige ( non-bleached) cotton were procured from a US cotton producer and ginner. Each bale primarily had only one particular fiber quality parameter (e.g., length, length uniformity, micronaire, or strength) as a significant variable of interest, while other metrics remained subdued to the most practically possible extent. The fiber stock from each separate bale was processed into a lightly needlepunched substrate/fabric and then uniformly converted into a hydroentangled nonwoven fabric structure of the same nominal weight. All of the fibers and fabrics involved in the study were analyzed for their quality attributes. Although this study did not reveal any clear-cut, significant effects (obvious relations or correlations) of the fiber quality variables/metrics investigated, for the first time ever new information has been given that may be useful in the selection of optimally economical cotton for the production of cotton-based nonwoven fabrics for certain applications. At the minimum, this study has demonstrated that, unlike in traditional yarn-based textile processing, the greige cotton lint(s) of (typically) varied fiber metrics could be satisfactorily processed into viable nonwoven fabrics of acceptable physical and mechanical properties, as determined by standard test methods and procedures.

Effect of cotton pectin content and bioscouring on alkyl-dimethyl-benzyl-ammonium chloride adsorption

Previous research has shown that both the rate and the total amount of alkyl-dimethyl-benzyl-ammonium chloride (ADBAC) exhausted from a bulk solution of ADBAC are significantly greater for greige cotton nonwovens than cotton nonwovens that have been both scoured and bleached. The presence of pectin in greige cotton samples was offered as one of the possible explanations for this observed phenomenon. To elucidate the effect of pectin and cotton’s natural waxes on the adsorption of ADBAC on greige cotton nonwovens, low-weight greige nonwovens were bioscoured with a pectate lyase prior to being immersed in aqueous solutions of ADBAC. The eco-friendly scouring process was optimized for greige cotton nonwovens and the optimal process parameters were as follows: pH of 8.5, temperature of 55°C, and an incubation time of 90 minutes. Under these conditions, the amount of pectin removed from the fabrics was equivalent to that removed by traditional scouring and bleaching procedures. Pretreatment of greige cotton nonwovens with pectate lyase was found to significantly reduce the amount of ADBAC exhausted from the bulk solution. Through partial scouring via traditional and pectinase-based methods, the adsorption of ADBAC onto cotton nonwovens was found to be linearly dependent on the amount of pectin present in the fabric. Both waxes and pectin were found to play an important role in ADBAC adsorption; however, the observed effect of pectin was significantly greater than cotton’s natural waxes.

Effect of urea additive on the thermal decomposition kinetics of flame retardant greige cotton nonwoven fabric

Urea is well known to have a synergistic action with phosphorus-based flame retardants (FRs) in enhancing the FR performance of cellulosic materials, but the effect of urea on the thermal decomposition kinetics has not been thoroughly studied. In this study, the activation energy (Ea) for the thermal decomposition of greige cotton nonwoven fabrics treated with various amounts of urea at fixed contents of diammonium phosphate (DAP), was measured using the Kissinger, Friedman, and Flynn-Wall-Ozawa methods. The three methods produced consistent results revealing a dual function of urea additive in the kinetics depending on the concentration. Those functions were correlated with the synergistic FR action of urea. Up to a certain concentration, the addition of urea raised the overall Ea. The steeply increasing trend of Ea observed in the low conversions indicates that urea enhanced the multiple reactions of DAP, which were confirmed by 31P MAS NMR and ATR-FTIR. Higher concentrations of urea additive, however, significantly lowered the Ea values for both the DAP reactions and the decomposition of cellulose. As evidenced by a slight reduction in char yield, the decrease in Ea suggests that the excess of urea acted to facilitate the diffusion of volatiles and heat transfer in the cotton structure, resulting in catalyzing the decomposition of cellulose at low temperatures. The latter function was predominant when the greater synergistic FR action of urea was achieved.

Evaluation of three flame retardant (FR) grey cotton blend nonwoven fabrics using micro-scale combustion calorimeter

Unbleached (grey or greige) cotton nonwoven fabrics (with 12.5% polypropylene scrim) were treated with three phosphate–nitrogen–based flame retardant formulations and evaluated with micro-scale combustion calorimeter. Heat release rate, peak heat release rate, temperature at peak heat release rate, heat release capacity, total heat release and char yield were determined. The peak heat release rate and total heat release results demonstrated that nonwoven fabrics treated with a formulation having higher diammonium phosphate and no dimethylol dihydroxyethyleneurea were superior to those treated with a formulation containing dimethylol dihydroxyethyleneurea. Nonwoven fabrics treated with these formulations were both superior to the nonwoven fabrics treated with a commercially available flame retardant formulation. These results were supported by the percentages of phosphorus and nitrogen on these fabrics, confirming that P–N synergism imparts high flame retardancy to the nonwoven fabrics. Grey cotton (untreated) consistently showed better flame resistance than (untreated) bleached cotton. As a result, its flame retardant products had lower heat release rate/peak heat release rate and other flammability characteristics than those of the bleached cotton. Additionally, grey cotton is softer than bleached cotton and saves the cost of bleaching and waste disposal. These three flame retardant formulations were used primarily to treat the cotton component of the nonwoven blend to make it flame retardant without flame retardant improvement for the polymer component.

Effect of urea additive on the thermal decomposition of greige cotton nonwoven fabric treated with diammonium phosphate

This study showed that greige cotton nonwoven fabric can effectively be flame retardant by applying the phosphorus of diammonium phosphate (DAP) as low as 0.8 wt% with the addition of urea. At such a low content of phosphorus, the char length and limiting oxygen index (LOI) were continuously decreased and increased, respectively, as the concentration of urea increased. The effect of urea additive on the thermal decomposition of flame retardant greige cotton nonwoven fabric was investigated by thermogravimetry, ATR-FTIR, XRD, 1H → 13C CP/MAS NMR, and SEM. The results indicated that, upon heating, urea not only facilitated the phosphorylation reaction of DAP but also introduced carbamate groups into cellulose to decrease the degree of crystallinity prior to the decomposition of the crystalline cellulose. Compared with DAP treatment alone, the addition of urea accelerated the decomposition of glycosyl units, which resulted in a slight increase of weight loss and decrease of char yield. The char morphology observed after LOI tests indicates that urea released nonflammable gases, which blew the carboneous char layer to protect the underlying substrate.

Greige cotton comber noils for sustainable nonwovens

The aim of this study was to determine feasibility of utilizing greige (non-bleached) cotton comber noils in the development of hydroentangled cotton fabrics for certain end-use products and thereby to promote an economically and environmentally efficient utilization of cotton in sustainable textile products. The data from the feasibility study show that greige comber noils can be efficiently processed into nonwoven fabrics using an air-laid system for preparing a fibrous batt to feed a down-stream hydroentangling system. Furthermore, the study has shown that, for certain specific end-use applications where bleaching is required, the hydroentangled greige cotton fabric can be efficiently bleached without the customary costly and time consuming cotton scouring process. The elimination of the scouring process was made possible by the removal of cotton's natural hydrophobic contaminants (waxes) by optimizing the hydraulic pressure/energy metrics of the hydroentanglement process of producing nonwoven fabrics.

Effect of water pressure on absorbency of hydroentangled greige cotton non-woven fabrics

A greige (non-bleached) cotton lint was used to fabricate non-woven fabrics on a Fleissner MiniJet, using different water pressures for the fiber entanglements. The greige cotton and its hydroentangled non-woven fabrics were primarily tested for their hexane extracts (waxes) and water-soluble (sugars) contents using the AATCC TM97 Standard Extraction Test. Tests have shown that a water pressure of 125 Bar or higher almost totally removed the greige cotton’s inherent hydrophobic waxes and water-soluble sugars. This discovery is a significant milestone in the development of greige cotton-based non-wovens because it could change the greige cotton’s native hydrophobic character into a desirable hydrophilic character for many end-uses. In fact, the AATCC Test Method 79-2007 has confirmed that the greige cotton non-wovens fabricated with high water pressure of 125 Bar are absorbent, as indicated by the 1-second time or less it took for the water drop to completely diffuse onto the fabric surface.

A comparative study of nonwoven fabrics made with two distinctly different forms of greige cotton lint

Two sets of nonwoven fabrics of nominal density, 80 g/m2, have been produced on the pilot plant equipment comparable to that used in commercial production, using two different forms of greige (non-bleached) cotton lint. One was regular cotton taken from a randomly picked classical bale and the other was mechanically pre-cleaned cotton produced by a well known US cotton producer and ginner. The fabrics were produced by using a pre-needling, needlepunch system and a hydroentanglement system. Some of the fabric in each set was scoured only and some was both scoured and bleached. All the fabrics were tested for a comparison of their typical physical and mechanical properties, which, along with the fiber and fabric processing metrics, are discussed in this article. The information obtained from this comparative study has shown that although both the regular and the pre-cleaned greige cottons can be satisfactorily processed on the conventional cotton opening, cleaning and carding equipment to ultimately produce acceptable nonwoven fabrics, the pre-cleaned cotton may be processed without the traditional cotton cleaning/carding equipment that is not available at almost all nonwovens manufacturing entities today. A ‘nonwovens card’ (i.e., without the revolving flats) should be adequate to efficiently card the pre-cleaned greige cotton, since the latter is indeed very clean to start with.

Adsorption of alkyl-dimethyl-benzyl-ammonium chloride on differently pretreated non-woven cotton substrates

The adsorption of alkyl-dimethyl-benzyl-ammonium chloride (ADBAC), a cationic surfactant commonly employed as an antimicrobial agent, on greige, alkaline scoured, and bleached non-woven cotton fabrics was investigated at varying surfactant concentrations using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. Results show greige cotton non-wovens adsorb roughly three times the ADBAC in aqueous solution than bleached cotton and 1.5 times more than scoured cotton non-wovens. At a constant ADBAC concentration of 0.625 g/l, the rate of surfactant adsorption approached equilibrium after 35 minutes in all fabrics studied. Increasing surfactant concentration increased the total mass of ADBAC exhausted onto the cotton fabrics at equilibrium. Adsorption of ADBAC on cotton fabrics can be attributed to bulk entrapment, dispersion forces, and hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions. Polyester fiber was blended with greige and bleached cotton fibers to further elucidate the adsorption of ADBAC. A linear decrease in the amount of surfactant exhausted was observed as the amount of polyester added to the blend was increased. This indicates that the adsorption of ADBAC on cotton fabrics is primarily an effect of surface interactions of the cotton fiber with the surfactant molecules rather than absorption via bulk entrapment. The results of this research can aid in the development of cotton-based antimicrobial wipes.

The evaluation of ozonation as an environmentally friendly alternative for cotton preparation

Ozone is a strongly oxidative gas that is generally used in medical sterilization and decolorization of the effluent of textile spent dyebaths. Recent studies have reported the use of ozone to bleach textile fabrics. In this study, ozone was utilized in cotton preparation for greige, desized and scoured 100% cotton fabrics. Hydrogen peroxide bleaching was performed as the control treatment. The degree of whiteness of cotton increased after prolonged ozonation times. The scoured samples reached the whiteness level of the control (hydrogen peroxide bleached) samples. The whiteness of the hydrogen peroxide bleached, 60-min ozonated and 90-min ozonated samples all had a Stensby degree of whiteness of 81 for the scoured fabric samples. The strength loss after prolonged ozonation times was negligible. Ozonation increased the starch-size removal of the greige cotton samples and the water absorbency of the greige and desized cotton samples.

Advent of Greige Cotton Non-Wovens Made using a Hydro-Entanglement Process

Using greige (scour/bleach-less) cotton, non-woven fabrics have been successfully produced by adopting conventional fiber opening, cleaning and (modified) carding machines followed by cross-lapping, pre/light needling, and hydro-entanglement (HE) on modern commercial machinery and equipment. Using standard test methods and procedures, the fabrics were evaluated for their weight, thickness, burst strength, tensile and tear failures in both machine (MD) and cross (CD) directions, and absorbency. Dimensional characteristics of the fabrics were determined before and after an ordinary wash. Microscopic examinations of the fiber/fabric surfaces before and after various conditions/degrees of H-E were conducted. Results of these preliminary research investigations have shown that a run-of-the-mill greige cotton, processed on a conventional cotton cleaning and preparatory system, can indeed be efficiently processed on the downstream non-wovens production equipment. In addition, it has been shown that different processing conditions, especially the high-pressure (HP) hydraulic energy of the H-E system, have a considerable influence on properties of the fabrics produced. At the nominal fabric production rates deployed in the research trials, pressure greater than 100 bar (at the system’s two HP jet-heads) produces a fabric that is partially hydrophilic: a desirable attribute for many end-use applications of cotton non-wovens. Based on a previous in-house investigation, it seems that the HP (hydraulic energy) at certain levels partly removes some of the greige cotton fiber’s natural hydrophobic defensive membrane (outer-surface barrier) of heavy hydrocarbons, such as waxes, pectins, etc., thus making the fiber/fabric partially hydrophilic. Further, it has been observed that the high water pressures (HP), under otherwise similar processing conditions, tend to fracture some cotton fibers into tiny fibrils, as evidenced by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. These ruptured fibers, by way of exposing their inner (hydrophilic) walls, could also partly contribute to the fabric’s improved absorbency at elevated hydraulic energy levels. Furthermore, a rather unique fabric structure, comprising certain well-defined fibrous “strands and channels,” observed at elevated (HP) pressures is also deemed to partly contribute to the greige fabric’s improved wickability.