ORGANIC
NATURALLY COLOURED COTTON
ORGANIC
NATURALLY COLOURED COTTON
In 1982 Sally Fox was introduced to coloured cotton, which were strains of cotton that have been hand spun for centuries by the people of Central and South America. The fibre qualities of these strains were not sufficient for machine spinning. After many years of breeding the coloured cotton, Sally Fox succeeded in producing and testing a fibre, FoxFibre, the quality of which allowed it to be used in the commercial textile industry.
In 1989 Sally developed her company, Natural Cotton Colours Inc. and now contracts production of the cotton to farmers in Arizona and Texas as well as continuing her research on a certified organic farm near Wickenburg, AZ. In addition Sally designs fabrics with her cotton, to develop data necessary for commercial mills to utilize her cotton as well as to illustrate to her clients the potential of her product. FoxFibre is now used by brands such as Levi Strauss, Fieldcrest Cannon, L.L. Bean and Esprit.
FoxFibre has the ability to reduce the generation of waste and the use of pesticides associated with the production and manufacturing of conventional white cottons. FoxFibre in addition to being bred for fibre and colour quality was bred for pest resistance, facilitating organic production. Contrary to white cottons which are bleached and then dyed during the manufacturing process, FoxFibre has its own colour (coyote brown, palo verde green and buffalo brown,) eliminating the need for these processes and avoiding the associated waste. In addition to its colour the cotton:
- Darkens with washing, providing the consumer with a longer lasting product.
- Allows for efficient textile handling and processing, with a natural wool-like elasticity
- Can be spun from 100% solid colour to any percentage blend. FoxFibre colours can be combined with each other or with white cotton. All of the colour shades can be created within the beige, khaki, brown, red brown, dark brown, and green colour spectrums.
- Provides a natural fire retardant tendency. Presently they are in the initial stages of conducting research and tests in order to evaluate the potential of these inherent qualities for their Coyote and Buffalo colours.
- A cost advantage exists as a result of pesticide use avoidance and dye and bleaching savings.
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