Impact of Stickiness on Growers & the Marketplace

To growers, stickiness means higher costs for insect control and reduced cotton marketability. To ginners, stickiness may mean special handling and processing requirements. At the textile mill, stickiness means reduced processing efficiency, lower yarn quality, and in severe cases total shut down. For everyone concerned, stickiness means reduced profitability. Stickiness occurs when excessive sugars present on fibers are transferred to equipment and interfere with processing. Sugars may be insector plant-derived. Though sugars are ubiquitous in lint, they usually occur at levels that pose no processing difficulties. This bulletin details the sources and components of problem sugars on harvested lint, the processing and marketing impacts of stickiness, and strategies for avoiding or mitigating stickiness.