Effects of Gin Cleaning and Mill Opening on Fiber Quality

ABSTRACT A smooth-leaf and a hairy-leaf Midsouth cotton were processed through minimum, maximum, and two intermediate levels of gin cleaning and later further cleaned at the mill opening line. The opening line cleaning machinery ranged from a minimum of a hopper and a No. 12 cleaner to a maximum of a hopper, No. 12 opener, Superior Cleaner*, Rando Cleaner*, and two blade beaters in a picker. Fiber data showed that minimum gin cleaning yielded the best fiber quality. Fiber damage as a result of maximum gin cleaning was evident through all levels of mill cleaning. Differences were also observed in nonlint content as a result of cleaning machinery and cotton varieties.