Marking World Cotton Day, Trützschler Nonwovens has highlighted the opportunities cotton offers for producing premium spunlace nonwovens, alongside the specialised technologies needed to process this demanding natural fibre.
Cotton’s softness, absorbency and skin-friendly properties make it an attractive raw material for wet and dry wipes, feminine hygiene products, cosmetic pads, wound-care materials and other medical applications.
However, differences in fibre length, the presence of short fibres and the risk of nep formation create specific challenges during web formation. Trützschler has developed dedicated carding, hydroentangling and drying technologies to address these requirements.
Specialised Cards Process Different Cotton Raw Materials
Cotton nonwoven manufacturers can use several raw-material options depending on the required product characteristics and production economics. These include virgin cotton, bleached or unbleached fibres, lower-cost comber noils, blends of virgin cotton and noils, and certain cotton linters.
Compared with more uniform man-made fibres, cotton can show considerable variation in fibre length and physical behaviour. Short fibres must be opened, blended and formed into a web without excessive damage or nep generation.
Trützschler’s TWF-NCR random card has been developed for processing raw materials with varying fibre lengths, including cotton and comber noils. The system uses double-sided carding and dynamic web formation to produce soft, bulky webs with a balanced relationship between machine-direction and cross-direction strength.
The TWF-NCA airlay card uses aerodynamic web formation and can process short and long fibres into nearly isotropic nonwoven structures. It can operate independently or in combination with NCR and other carding technologies, particularly when producing multilayer materials or absorbent cotton pads.
According to Trützschler, the NCR and NCA cards are currently operating in dozens of cotton and natural-fibre nonwoven production facilities worldwide. Typical applications include baby and body wipes, feminine hygiene topsheets, wound-care products and cosmetic pads.
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Hydroentangling and Drying Require Careful Water Management
Hydroentangling, also known as spunlacing, is a well-established method for bonding cotton webs. High-pressure water jets entangle the individual fibres, producing soft and strong nonwovens without requiring chemical binders or thermoplastic bonding fibres.
Trützschler’s AquaJet technology can process both single-layer and multilayer webs. It can also be used to create structured or perforated surfaces depending on the requirements of the final hygiene, wipe or medical product.
Cotton’s high water absorption, however, creates an additional processing challenge.
Efficient dewatering and drying are essential for maintaining production speed and controlling energy consumption. Water filtration and circuit management are also important for sustaining line availability and stable hygiene conditions.
Trützschler combines its AquaJet hydroentangling technology with the Modular Performance Dryer, or MPD. The dryer uses a vertical drum configuration and can be adapted to different production capacities and heating systems.
The MPD is available with heating options including natural gas, electricity, steam, thermal oil, biogas and hydrogen. Different systems can also be combined to reflect local energy availability and production requirements.
Trützschler states that the dryer’s intermediate chamber, burner distribution and heat-recovery design can reduce heating-energy consumption by up to 20%. Its stackable arrangement is also claimed to require up to 40% less floor space than a conventional multi-drum dryer. These figures represent company-reported performance and may vary according to the line configuration and processed material.
Growing Opportunities for Cotton Nonwovens
Interest in renewable and biodegradable raw materials is creating new opportunities for cotton in the nonwovens sector. Its established consumer recognition, tactile qualities and absorbency support its use in premium personal-care and medical products.
Achieving consistent production nevertheless requires technology designed around cotton’s natural variability. Gentle opening, specialised web formation, controlled hydroentangling and efficient drying must operate as an integrated process.
Through its NCR random card, NCA airlay card, AquaJet hydroentangling system and MPD dryer, Trützschler Nonwovens is positioning itself as a complete technology partner for manufacturers seeking to expand into spunlaced cotton nonwovens.
