A Question (probably a really silly one) about spinning...

[Elle]

I was reading a site today about spinning, and the photos showed a woman using a drop spindle to spin cotton. In her hand she had a small blob of plain white cotton, and it occurred to me that the blob looked EXACTLY like a triple-sized cotton ball that you can buy in bags at any store, all spread out and "fluffed".

 

Now, my silly question is this - with time and patience, would it not be possible to use these cotton balls (the triple-sized ones) to spin your own yarn? I have seen raw cotton on the plant, and the length of the raw cotton didn't seem to be that much longer than the cotton puffs when they're fluffed out. Wouldn't it be possible (and material VERY easy to come by) to use cosmetic cotton for spinning? I am aware that there is a difference between cotton balls and those horrid things called "cosmetic puffs", so it would only be real 100% cotton balls that I would consider using.

 

I'm just tossing this out there to see what your thoughts would be. Try not to laugh too hard at me.

 

Elle

[ava]

I'm not laughing. It sounds like an interesting experiment. I have unrolled cotten balls before and they would probably need a lot of work to get them into individual strands. I haven't got a supported spindle (for cotton spinning) - if you've got one, give it a try and let us know!

[MullersLaneFarm]

I haven't done it myself, but yes, you can use 100% cotton balls to spin. You need to unroll them first. With Easter coming up, you can get the cotton balls in colors. I heard the green was the hardest to spin

[needlesandpinza]

hey never hurts to try it.

hahaha coming from someone who has tried to spin polyfil.

I would love to hear after you try it

[MullersLaneFarm]

How did the spinning of polyfill go??? I have thought about it, but figured why when I had so many gorgeous fleeces already ... one of these days, maybe!

[needlesandpinza]

How did the spinning of polyfill go??? I have thought about it, but figured why when I had so many gorgeous fleeces already ... one of these days, maybe!

oh my well not so good. hahaha. I had it up here to stuff something so the thought crossed my mind. but to pull it apart and all that jazz ended up being one big mess. so it only took about 3 inches before tossing the bag back in my craft room. lol lol but you never know til you try lolol lol.

 

and like you said yes there are much better options out there.

so I finished spinning some mohair that night lol lol lol.