The Price of Cotton

According to International Cotton Advisory Committee, the price of cotton has double in the past year, reaching a record high of $1.90 per pound. The last time it was this high was during the Civil War when the price of cotton hit a record $1.89 per pound.

There are several reasons for this price increase. Bad weather in China, Pakistan, Australia and the United States, has destroyed the cotton crops.Restrictions for cotton export from India, which ranks second in the world, is another of the factors affecting cotton price. China, being the first cotton producing country in the world, has shut down many factories due to recession. Global demand for cotton has also driven the price up.

This price increase affects the price of rags also. Some of the products affected are new bar mops and huck towels. Here at RFI Inc. we try to keep the prices at our lowest possible, unfortunately
as you can see in our website, prices for these two items have to be quoted before we ship them.

We will continue to offer the best price and quality of our rags as the market allow us.

Recycling Update: Part 3, Textiles

The subject of textile recycling covers several different topics. Used clothing is collected through various means and after cleaning and sorting, is donated to the less fortunate of us or sold in second-hand venues such as Goodwill in order to raise funds. However, once a garment is no longer a viable garment, it eventually enters the "waste stream." Other textiles that are non-durable, such as sheets and towels, are often converted to rags and wipers. It is interesting to note that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not consider this type of "reuse" as recycling because the rags and wipers eventually do become waste material.

Hotels, motels, resorts, and medical clinics and hospitals are a major source of reused or recycled textiles. These "damaged" or used textiles are often processed by sorting, cutting, and hemming. Other sources are textile manufacturers themselves, that often have unusable or damaged material that is produced in the manufacturing process. Textiles that can't be used for rags have other uses. Cotton is used in high-quality paper making. Other knitted and woolen fabrics are "pulled" into fibrous state and reprocessed into fibers that are used in upholstery, insulation and other building materials.

Two companies that make clothing, Patagonia and Nike, have been in the news regarding their "green" policies. Patagonia, well-known for its "footprint" program, launched its Common Threads Garment Recycling Program to recycle used garments into modern styles. And in the recent World Cup games, no less than nine soccer teams were wearing Nike jerseys that were made from recycled plastic bottles.

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Sources:
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/recycled-cotton-saves-land-water-energy.html

http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/textiles.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile_recycling#Conversion_to_rags

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1995859,00.html