Antique spinning wheels and wooden frames for spinning and weaving cotton.
Antique spinning wheels and wooden frames for spinning and weaving cotton.
Unique paintings illustrating the cultivation and processing of cotton in 18th century China. Old Collections Hall (Heritage).
Unique paintings illustrating the cultivation and processing of cotton in 18th century China. Old Collections Hall (Heritage).
Unique paintings illustrating the cultivation and processing of cotton in 18th century China. Old Collections Hall (Heritage).
Unique paintings illustrating the cultivation and processing of cotton in 18th century China. Old Collections Hall (Heritage).
Unique paintings illustrating the cultivation and processing of cotton in 18th century China. Old Collections Hall (Heritage).
Unique paintings illustrating the cultivation and processing of cotton in 18th century China. Old Collections Hall (Heritage).
Old prints showing the spinning and weaving of cotton in Japan. Old Collections Hall (Heritage).
Old prints showing the spinning and weaving of cotton in Germany in 1540. Old Collections Hall (Heritage).
Old prints showing the spinning and weaving of cotton in France. Old Collections Hall (Heritage).
Old prints showing the spinning and weaving of cotton in China. Old Collections Hall (Heritage).
Old prints showing the spinning and weaving of cotton in England at Belper in Derbyshire. Old Collections Hall (Heritage).
Old prints showing the spinning and weaving of cotton in Peru (above) and in India (below). Old Collections Hall (Heritage).
Spinning
Spinning consists of a set of steps to transform raw fibers of cotton into the most uniform, strong and long enough yarn to produce fabrics and knits, for sewing or embroidery. These steps include:- preparation, which consists of opening, mixing and cleaning the flocks of plant residues.
- carding, unravelling the fibers, giving them some kind of order.
- spinning, twisting the fibers and transforming the carded material into threads of varying fineness.
The first spinning of textile fibers was done purely by hand.
In Neolithic times, this long and complex task was performed with the help of a spindle: a stick (one span long) inserted in a round hole (4-6 cm wide). The rotation of the pole, which was extended by the inertia of the rod, twists the fibers that are wound around the spindle.
The need to speed up the process led in the Middle Ages to the construction of a wooden device operated by a pedal: the spinning wheel.
The first manual spinning wheel, which originated in 1280. In the mid 18th century with the industrial revolution the mechanization of spinning began. In 1764 James Hargreaves invented the first intermittent mechanical spinning wheel (Spinning Jenny), which was patented in 1770. In 1769 Richard Arkwright operated it with a water wheel. In 1787 the steam engine was used.
A wooden model of a hydraulic machine that uses steam to press the cotton that has just been ginned, in bales ready for shipment.
A wooden model of a hydraulic machine that uses steam to press the cotton that has just been ginned, in bales ready for shipment.
A model of a carding machine.
A model of weaving machines.
Details of a wooden model of a mechanized spinning machine.
Miniature model of a carding machine.
Miniature model of a Hopper bale breaker, a machine for opening and mixing cotton bales.
Miniature model of single scutch and lapping machine for threshing and opening cotton.
Miniature model of a Ring spinning machine.
Chalk statues at work in a large and detailed factory, where cotton ginning takes place.
Egyptian peasants unload bags of the crop in the warehouses; a person in charge of logistics takes the cotton inside the factory pushing a wooden cart on rails; the women work the ginning machines.
The ginning is used to separate the cotton fibers from the natural residues of the plant: leaves, branches and capsules containing the seeds, which are sometimes sticky.
The ginning.
The various stages of spinning and finishing cotton.
The various stages of spinning and finishing cotton.
The various stages of spinning and finishing cotton.
The various stages of spinning and finishing cotton.
The various stages of spinning and finishing cotton.
The various stages of spinning and finishing cotton.
The various stages of spinning and finishing cotton.
The various stages of spinning and finishing cotton.
The various stages of spinning and finishing cotton.
The various stages of spinning and finishing cotton.
The various stages of spinning and finishing cotton.
The dyeing of cotton on cones.
An old weaving loom.
On industrial warping plant.
