History[edit]

The archaeological surveys and studies have found that the people of Harrapan civilization knew weaving and the
spinning of cotton four thousand years ago. Reference to weaving and spinning materials is found in the Vedic
Literature. There was textile trade in India during the early centuries. A block printed and resist-dyed fabric, whose
origin is from Gujarat was found in the tombs of Fostat, Egypt. This proves that Indian export of cotton textiles to the
Egypt or the Nile Civilization in medieval times were to a large extent. Large quantity of north Indian silk were traded
through the silk route in China [5] to the western countries. The Indian silks were often exchanged with the western
countries for their spices in the barter system. During the late 17th and 18th century there were large export of the
Indian cotton to the western countries to meet the need of the European industries during industrial revolution, apart
from the domestic requirement at the Indian Ordnance Factories.
Cotton is the world's most important natural fibre. In the year 2007, the global yield was 25 million tons from 35
million hectares cultivated in more than 50 countries. [1]There are five stages:[2]

 Cultivating and Harvesting

History[edit]
Cottage stage[edit]
Main article: Textile manufacturing by pre-industrial methods

There are some indications that weaving was already known in the Palaeolithic. An indistinct textile impression has
been found at Pavlov, Moravia. Neolithictextiles were found in pile dwellings excavations in Switzerland and at El
Fayum, Egypt at a site which dates to about 5000 BC.
In Roman times, wool, linen and leather clothed the European population, and silk, imported along the Silk
Road from China, was an extravagant luxury. The use of flax fiber in the manufacturing of cloth in Northern Europe
dates back to Neolithic times.
During the late medieval period, cotton began to be imported into Northern Europe. Without any knowledge of what
it came from, other than that it was a plant, noting its similarities to wool, people in the region could only imagine
that cotton must be produced by plant-borne sheep. John Mandeville, writing in 1350, stated as fact the now-
preposterous belief: "There grew in India a wonderful tree which bore tiny lambs on the edges of its branches.
These branches were so pliable that they bent down to allow the lambs to feed when they are hungry." This aspect
is retained in the name for cotton in many European languages, such as German Baumwolle, which translates as
"tree wool". By the end of the 16th century, cotton was cultivated throughout the warmer regions of Asia and the
Americas.
The main steps in the production of cloth are producing the fibre, preparing it, converting it to yarn, converting yarn
to cloth, and then finishing the cloth. The cloth is then taken to the manufacturer of garments. The preparation of the
fibres differs the most, depending on the fibre used. Flax requires retting and dressing, while wool requires carding
and washing. The spinning and weaving processes are very similar between fibers, however.
Spinning evolved from twisting the fibers by hand, to using a drop spindle, to using a spinning wheel. Spindles or
parts of them have been found in archaeological sites and may represent one of the first pieces of technology
available.[5] The spinning wheel was most likely invented in the Islamic world by the 11th century.[6]

Mughal Empire[edit]
Main articles: Mughal Empire and Muslin trade in Bengal

Further information: Economic history of India

Up until the 18th century, Mughal Empire was the most important center of manufacturing in international trade.[7] Up
until 1750, India produced about 25% of the world's industrial output.[8] The largest manufacturing industry in Mughal
Empire (16th to 18th centuries) was textile manufacturing, particularly cotton textile manufacturing, which included
the production of piece goods, calicos, and muslins, available unbleached and in a variety of colours. The cotton
textile industry was responsible for a large part of the empire's international trade. [9]Bengal had a 25% share of the
global textile trade in the early 18th century.[10] Bengal cotton textiles were the most important manufactured goods
in world trade in the 18th century, consumed across the world from the Americas to Japan.[7] The most important
center of cotton production was the Bengal Subah province, particularly around its capital city of Dhaka.[11]
Bengal accounted for more than 50% of textiles and around 80% of silks imported by the Dutch from Asia and
marketed it to the world,[12]Bengali silk and cotton textiles were exported in large quantities to Europe, Asia, and
Japan,[13] and Bengali muslin textiles from Dhaka were sold in Central Asia, where they were known as "daka"
textiles.[11] Indian textiles dominated the Indian Ocean trade for centuries, were sold in the Atlantic Ocean trade, and
had a 38% share of the West African trade in the early 18th century, while Bengal calicos were major force in
Europe, and Bengal textiles accounted for 30% of total English trade with Southern Europe in the early 18th
century.[8]
In early modern Europe, there was significant demand for textiles from The Mughal Empire, including cotton textiles
and silk products.[9] European fashion, for example, became increasingly dependent on textiles and silks imported
from The Mughal Empire. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, The Mughal Empire accounted for 95% of British
imports from Asia.[12]

Britain[edit]
Main articles: Calico Acts and Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution

The key British industry at the beginning of the 18th century was the production of textiles made with wool from the
large sheep-farming areas in the Midlands and across the country (created as a result of land-clearance
and enclosure). This was a labour-intensive activity providing employment throughout Britain, with major centres
being the West Country; Norwichand environs; and the West Riding of Yorkshire. The export trade in woolen goods
accounted for more than a quarter of British exports during most of the 18th century, doubling between 1701 and
1770.[14]
Exports by the cotton industry – centered in Lancashire – had grown tenfold during this time, but still accounted for
only a tenth of the value of the woolen trade. Before the 17th century, the manufacture of goods was performed on
a limited scale by individual workers, usually on their own premises (such as weavers' cottages). Goods were
transported around the country by clothiers who visited the village with their trains of packhorses. Some of the cloth
was made into clothes for people living in the same area, and a large amount of cloth was exported.River
navigations were constructed, and some contour-following canals. In the early 18th century, artisans were inventing
ways to become more productive. Silk, wool, fustian, and linenwere being eclipsed by cotton, which was becoming
the most important textile. This set the foundations for the changes. [15]

Industrial revolution[edit]
Main article: Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution

The woven fabric portion of the textile industry grew out of the industrial revolution in the 18th century as mass
production of yarn and cloth became a mainstream industry.[16]
In 1734 in Bury, Lancashire John Kay invented the flying shuttle — one of the first of a series of inventions
associated with the cotton woven fabric industry. The flying shuttle increased the width of cotton cloth and speed of
production of a single weaver at a loom.[17] Resistance by workers to the perceived threat to jobs delayed the
widespread introduction of this technology, even though the higher rate of production generated an increased
demand for spun cotton.
Shuttles

In 1761, the Duke of Bridgewater's canal connected Manchester to the coal fields of Worsley and in 1762, Matthew
Boulton opened the Soho Foundry engineering works in Handsworth, Birmingham. His partnership with Scottish
engineer James Watt resulted, in 1775, in the commercial production of the more efficient Watt steam engine which
used a separate condenser.
In 1764, James Hargreaves is credited as inventor of the spinning jenny which multiplied the spun thread production
capacity of a single worker — initially eightfold and subsequently much further. Others [18] credit the invention
to Thomas Highs. Industrial unrest and a failure to patent the invention until 1770 forced Hargreaves from
Blackburn, but his lack of protection of the idea allowed the concept to be exploited by others. As a result, there
were over 20,000 spinning jennies in use by the time of his death. Also in 1764, Thorp Mill, the first water-
powered cotton mill in the world was constructed at Royton, Lancashire, and was used for carding cotton. With the
spinning and weaving process now mechanized, cotton mills cropped up all over the North West of England.
The stocking frame invented in 1589 for silk became viable when in 1759, Jedediah Strutt introduced an attachment
for the frame which produced what became known as the Derby Rib,[19] that produced a knit and purl stitch. This
allowed stockings to be manufactured in silk and later in cotton. In 1768, Hammond modified the stocking frame to
weave weft-knitted openworks or nets by crossing over the loops, using a mobile tickler bar- this led in 1781 to
Thomas Frost's square net. Cotton had been too coarse for lace, but by 1805 Houldsworths of Manchester were
producing reliable 300 count cotton thread. [20]

19th-century developments[edit]
For further details of the operation and history of looms, see Power loom.

For further details of the operation and history of spinning mules, see Spinning mule.

With the Cartwright Loom, the Spinning Mule and the Boulton & Watt steam engine, the pieces were in place to
build a mechanised woven fabric textile industry. From this point there were no new inventions, but a continuous
improvement in technology as the mill-owner strove to reduce cost and improve quality. Developments in the
transport infrastructure; that is the canals and after 1831 the railways facilitated the import of raw materials and
export of finished cloth.
Firstly, the use of water power to drive mills was supplemented by steam driven water pumps, and then superseded
completely by the steam engines. For example, Samuel Greg joined his uncle's firm of textile merchants, and, on
taking over the company in 1782, he sought out a site to establish a mill.Quarry Bank Mill was built on the River
Bollin at Styal in Cheshire. It was initially powered by a water wheel, but installed steam engines in 1810. Quarry
Bank Mill in Cheshire still exists as a well-preserved museum, having been in use from its construction in 1784 until
1959. It also illustrates how the mill owners exploited child labour, taking orphans from nearby Manchester to work
the cotton. It shows that these children were housed, clothed, fed and provided with some education. In 1830, the
average power of a mill engine was 48 hp, but Quarry Bank mill installed a new 100 hp water wheel.[21] William
Fairbairn addressed the problem of line-shafting and was responsible for improving the efficiency of the mill. In 1815
he replaced the wooden turning shafts that drove the machines at 50rpm, to wrought iron shafting working at 250
rpm, these were a third of the weight of the previous ones and absorbed less power. [21]

A Roberts loom in a weaving shed in 1835. Note the wrought iron shafting, fixed to the cast iron columns

Secondly, in 1830, using an 1822 patent, Richard Roberts manufactured the first loom with a cast iron frame,
the Roberts Loom.[17] In 1842 James Bullough and William Kenworthy, made the Lancashire Loom, a
semiautomatic power loom: although it is self-acting, it has to be stopped to recharge empty shuttles. It was the
mainstay of the Lancashire cotton industry for a century, until the Northrop Loom (invented in 1894, with an
automatic weft replenishment function) gained ascendancy.

Roberts self-acting mule with quadrant gearing

Thirdly, also in 1830, Richard Roberts patented the first self-acting mule. Stalybridge mule spinners strike was in
1824; this stimulated research into the problem of applying power to the winding stroke of the mule. [22] The draw
while spinning had been assisted by power, but the push of the wind had been done manually by the spinner, the
mule could be operated by semiskilled labor. Before 1830, the spinner would operate a partially powered mule with
a maximum of 400 spindles; after, self-acting mules with up to 1300 spindles could be built. [23]

Number of looms in the UK[24]

Year 1803 1820 1829 1833 1857

Loom 1465 5550

The industrial revolution changed the nature of work and society The three key drivers in these changes were textile
manufacturing, iron foundingand steam power.[25][26][27][28] The geographical focus of textile manufacture in Britain
was Manchester and the small towns of the Pennines and southern Lancashire.
Textile production in England peaked in 1926, and as mills were decommissioned, many of the scrapped mules and
looms were bought up and reinstated in India.

20th century[edit]
See also: Clothing industry

Textile factory workers in Poland, 1950s

Major changes came to the textile industry during the 20th century, with continuing technological innovations in
machinery, synthetic fibre, logistics, and globalization of the business. The business model that had dominated the
industry for centuries was to change radically. Cotton and wool producers were not the only source for fibres, as
chemical companies created new synthetic fibres that had superior qualities for many uses, such as rayon, invented
in 1910, and DuPont's nylon, invented in 1935 as in inexpensive silk substitute, and used for products ranging from
women's stockings to tooth brushes and military parachutes.
The variety of synthetic fibres used in manufacturing fibre grew steadily throughout the 20th century. In the
1920s, the computer was invented; in the 1940s, acetate, modacrylic, metal fibres, and saran were
developed; acrylic, polyester, and spandex were introduced in the 1950s. Polyester became hugely popular in the
apparel market, and by the late 1970s, more polyester was sold in the United States than cotton. [29]
By the late 1980s, the apparel segment was no longer the largest market for fibre products, with industrial and
home furnishings together representing a larger proportion of the fibre market. [30] Industry integration and global
manufacturing led to many small firms closing for good during the 1970s and 1980s in the United States; during
those decades, 95 percent of the looms in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia shut down, and Alabama
and Virginia also saw many factories close.[30]
The largest exporters of textiles in 2013 were China ($274 billion), India ($40 billion), Italy ($36
billion), Germany ($35 billion), Bangladesh ($28 billion) and Pakistan ($27 Billion).[31]