Do laundries understand fabrics like cotton, kapok (called “mu mian” in Chinese), velvet cotton, and mercerized cotton? Are these all cotton? If not, what’s their relationship with cotton fibers? Let’s clarify how these fabrics, with “mian” (meaning “cotton” in Chinese) in their names, relate to real cotton.
Kapok
Kapok comes from the fruits of the kapok tree. Ethnic minorities in Yunnan Province in China often make bedding by hand using kapok fibers. Then, what’s the difference between kapok and cotton?
Compared with cotton fibers, kapok fibers have a higher hollowness rate, lower density, better luster, and stronger warmth retention. They are less likely to twist or deform. However, kapok fibers have lower dyeability and poor spinnability.
Due to their excellent warmth retention, they are often used as thermal filling materials. Some autumn and winter cotton-padded clothes also add kapok as a thermal material.
Cotton fibers have lower warmth retention than kapok, but their structure gives them good spinnability, so they are more widely used in various clothing fabrics.
Mercerized Cotton
Mercerized cotton is produced by subjecting cotton fibers to a mercerization process. This process uses an alkali solution with a mass concentration of over 180g/L at room temperature, resulting in cotton with a silk-like luster.
After mercerization, cotton fibers have increased regular reflection of light. This gives cotton fiber products a bright, silk-like sheen on the surface. Additionally, the tightly arranged molecules make mercerized cotton stronger than unmercerized yarn, improving both the strength of the cotton fibers and their ability to absorb dyes.
Liquid Ammonia-Finished Cotton
Liquid ammonia finishing is a new finishing method to replace mercerization. It is to reduce environmental pollution caused by high-concentration alkali solutions.
In liquid ammonia finishing, cotton fibers are treated with liquid ammonia. This treatment swells the fibers, makes them smooth and straight along the longitudinal direction, and reduces natural crimps. As a result, the fabric’s luster is enhanced, and its shrinkage rate and wrinkle resistance are significantly improved.
- Cotton, mercerized cotton, and liquid ammonia-finished cotton are all made of cotton fibers. Therefore, laundry shops can refer to the washing method for plant fibers when cleaning them. However, since mercerized cotton and liquid ammonia-finished cotton have undergone special treatments, it is recommended to use neutral detergent when washing with Kingstar industrial washing machines. The specific washing parameters can be as follows:
– Pre-washing
Wash with normal temperature water for about 3 minutes.
– Main washing
For light-colored pure cotton clothes, set the water temperature to around 50°C, wash at a low water level for 15 minutes with a rotation speed of 30 rpm.
For dark-colored pure cotton clothes or those with printing/other processes, the washing temperature should not exceed 30°C, and neutral detergent is recommended.
– Rinsing
It is better to rinse 2-3 times. For pure cotton clothes washed at temperatures above 50°C, gradual cooling can be adopted during rinsing (e.g., 40°C for the first rinse, 30°C for the second, and no heating for the last) to reduce excessive wrinkling after washing. For those washed at low temperatures, normal temperature water can be used directly for rinsing.
– Dehydration
The rotation speed is generally 600-700 rpm, and the dehydration time is 3-5 minutes.
Artificial Cotton
Artificial cotton does not refer to a single type of fiber. Viscose fiber, modal, and lyocell fiber can all be called artificial cotton.
- Viscose fiber
Viscose fiber has good hygroscopicity, which meets the physiological needs of human skin. Its fabrics are soft, smooth, and breathable, with no easy static buildup, UV resistance, and comfortable wear. They are easy to dye, with bright colors and good colorfastness after dyeing.
- Modal
Modal has a soft and smooth touch, bright color, and good colorfastness. Its fabrics feel particularly smooth, with a bright surface luster and better drapability than existing cotton, polyester, and viscose. It has the strength and toughness of synthetic fibers, plus a silk-like luster and feel. Its fabrics are wrinkle-resistant and non-iron, with good water absorption and breathability, but poor fabric stiffness. Modal knitwear is mainly used for underwear, as well as sportswear, casual wear, shirts, and high-end garment fabrics. Blending it with other fibers can improve the poor stiffness of pure modal products. When drying modal clothes, laundries should can use Kingstar industrial dryers for low-temperature drying. The drying process should be carried out at a temperature below 60℃, and the humidity at the time of discharge can be set at around 5%. The Kingstar industrial dryer adopts dryness and humidity control technology, which can set the moisture content of the clothes when they come out of the machine. This avoids over-drying of the clothes and ensures their softness.
People can also lay them flat in a ventilated area to air dry. Hanging clothes to dry is not allowed, as it will deform the clothes.
- Lyocell fiber
Lyocell fiber has many excellent properties of both natural and synthetic fibers. It has a natural luster, smooth touch, high strength, almost no shrinkage, good moisture permeability and breathability, and is soft, comfortable, smooth, cool, and drapeable, as well as durable for long wear.
- Viscose fiber, modal, and lyocell fiber all come from natural plants. When laundry shops wash such clothes, they also need to use neutral detergent. Kingstar wet cleaning machinescan also be used, and the mechanical force should be gentle to avoid clothing deformation.
– Prewashing
Use a high water level and wash with normal temperature water for 2-3 minutes.
– Main washing
Wash at a low temperature below 30°C for 8-10 minutes. Use neutral detergent, and set the main washing rotation speed to 25-30 rpm.
– Rinsing
It is recommended to rinse twice with normal temperature water, 3-4 minutes each time.
– Dehydration
Set the dehydration rotation speed to 400-600 rpm, with a dehydration time of 2 minutes.
In short, the principles of low-temperature washing and gentle cleaning should be followed to prevent the clothes made of artificial cotton from deformation.
Other Fibers
- PP cotton, also called doll cotton or hollow cotton, has the characteristics of good resilience, smooth hand feel, and excellent warmth retention. It is mainly used for filling plush toys or thick cotton-padded clothes.
- Pearl cotton is a granular cotton. Its advantages include good warmth retention, light hand feel, ability to regain fluffiness after washing, and no easy displacement.
- Velvet cotton
- Down cotton is called so because it has a texture similar to down after special processing. It has a lightweight, delicate, and soft hand feel, good heat preservation, no easy deformation, and no easy fiber leakage. It is also often used as a filling material.
Conclusion
The above are various fabrics with the word “cotton” in their names. Some are genuine cotton products, while others are not. Only by clearly understanding all kinds of fabrics can laundry shops choose the corresponding washing and care solutions.
