We love our Australian lifestyle and landscape, and by choosing organic cotton, we are helping to sustain eco friendly farming practises that nurture our environment, and produce the safest, softest, most luxurious cotton fabric to wrap your little chickies in!  

Organic Cotton

The fabrics in our range are a jersey and rib knits made from 100% certified organic cotton (some limited edition print fabrics may be produced on eco-friendly blends). The information below has been supplied by Certton, our Australian Made fabric suppliers.

Growing

The cotton in our fabric is certified organic by Control Union World Group (fromerly SKAL) and Global Organic Textile Standards (GOTS). To view a copy of the Transaction Certificate provided to Certton upon their purchase of the certified cotton yarn click on the link Organic_Cotton_Certification.doc. We source raw certified organic cotton and certified organic cotton yarns from India & Turkey. All our fabrics are made in Australia. Certified organic cotton is farmed without the use of pesticides, genetically modified seed or synthetic fertilizers. The soil is built up over the years to retain moisture and fungus enabling in our case the organic cotton to prosper on a dry land (non-irrigated) farm. 

Ginning 

Once the cotton is picked, the cotton is passed through a gin where the seeds and leaves from the plants are separated from the cotton fibre. The gin is cleaned out of conventional cotton fibre prior to our organic cotton being processed. The ginned organic cotton is then packed into bales and each bale is tested by an independent body for its quality.

Spinning

The organic cotton lint is then transported to a spinning mill in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The spinning mill is cleaned out of conventional cotton and our organic cotton is spun into yarn. Our imported ring spun and combed cotton certified organic cotton yarns are shipped directly to our Australian fabric factory partner.

Opening, Blending and Cleaning

Opening, blending and cleaning are the first operations at the spinning mill. A row of bales is opened and blended to ensure a consistent and homogeneous blend. The fibres are also cleaned to remove contaminants/ extraneous matter, such as leaf and bark.

Carding

Carding individualises and aligns the fibres, and then condenses the fibres into a single continuous strand of overlapping fibres called “sliver”.
Short fibres and fibre entanglements (referred to as neps) are removed during carding.

Drawing

Drawing is the process where the fibres are blended and straightened. The drawing process also improves the uniformity of the sliver. The number of drawing passages utilized depends on the spinning system used and the end product.

Roving

In preparation for ring spinning, the sliver needs to be condensed into a finer strand, known as a roving, before it can be spun into a yarn. The roving frame draws out the sliver to a thickness of a few millimetres and inserts a small amount of twist to keep the fibres together

Spinning

Open end spinning technology was introduced in the mid 1960 ‘s and there are currently 8 million spindles installed world wide and together with ring spinning account for over 95 % of short staple yarn produced world wide. Sliver is fed into the machine and combed and individualized by the opening roller. The fibres are then deposited into the rotor where air current and centrifugal force deposits them along the groove of the rotor where they are evenly distributed. The fibres are twisted together by the spinning action of the rotor, and the yarn is continuously drawn from the centre of the rotor. The resultant yarn is cleared of any defects and wound onto packages. Rotor yarns are used in numerous products such as denim, towels, blankets socks, t-shirts and pants.

Schematic diagrams extracted from Short Staple Manufacturing-McCreight, Feil, Booterbaugh and Backe, Carolina Academic Press – 1997. Spinning process compiled by M.H.J van der Sluijs.

The certified organic cotton yarn we import has been ring spun. Ring spinning technology is not available in Australia.

Knitting

Our single jersey fabric is knitted on a cylinder machine in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The cylinder machine is a single latch machine with a higher running speed and is capable of knitting a wider range of structures.

Bleaching

We bleach our fabric through an oxidization process to remove impurities from the fabric. We use the J-Box continuous bleaching system which uses sodium chlorite applied to the fabric at 3.9PH and temperature of 95-98%. This system of bleaching is the most environmentally friendly bleaching method available and provides a stronger, softer and whiter
fabric.

Dyeing

We use the Jet & wash exhaust dyeing method whereby the fabric is treated with a diluted solution of dye, gradually
transferred to the material. This creates a colourfast fabric that lasts. It is necessary to control the rate of dyeing by
progressively adding dye to the dyebath. By circulating the fabric through the dyebath, the fabric can be evenly penetrated. Our Natural fabric is not penetrated with any dyes. The dyes in our fabrics all conform to the environmental standards of the Oeko - Tex Standard. www.oeko-tex.com

Finishing

Our organic cotton  fabric is finished in open width form, sut open on a fabric sutting machine and then passed through a stenter. The stenter dries and heats the fabric at 185 degrees C in a series of heating chambers. The overfeed action of the stenter removes the processing tensions and produces a non shrink fabric.

Hemp

Our eggcessories by cheeky chickies® eco collection uses fabrics that have been made from 100% organic cotton, or a combination of organic cotton and hemp.

Hemp Facts – the reasons why hemp as an industrial resource has achieved international recognition:

• Hemp yields more fibre per acre than any other source and is a more sustainable material to create paper out of than trees. This is significant because 50% of the world’s forests are cut down to manufacture paper.
• It becomes softer with every wash.
• It has rough stems that can be used to insulate houses and pack parcels.
• It naturally blocks harmful UV rays from the sun.
• Hemp fibres are renowned for being long, strong, and absorbent; it is four times more durable and tensile than cotton.
• One acre of hemp fibre is equivalent to two to three acres of cotton fibre. One hectare of hemp produces 8000-11000kg of dry biomass.
• As a fuel, hemp produces 10 tons of biomass in four months, 4 times the production of corn, which makes it the only legitimate cost competitive energy crop for charcoal, ethanol, etc.
• Fibres withstand mould and mildew, which is the reason why hemp has been used for the sails of ships for several decades.
• It is adaptable and smooth; it can emulate anything made from cotton and also adapts well to changing seasons.
• Hemp does not have any chemical residue (for example, pesticides or herbicides) and it is known for being easy to apply organic farming methods to.
• It can grow in a variety of climates and responds well to ice, endures droughts and does not need much water. This is because of its deep root system, which uses subsoil moisture while ventilating the soil.
• It stretches the least out of all the fabrics.
• Its original colour is beige but it can take an array of dyes and preserves colour well.
• Hemp absorbs water while resisting UV light.
• It can be fused together with other fabrics with ease, even knits.
• No bleach means it is good for those with sensitive skin.
• It is good for garments what endure a lot on a daily basis; for example, a uniform.
• Hemp see ds are a source of nutritious high-protein oil that can be used for human and animal consumption. Hemp oil is NOT intoxicating. Extracting protein from hemp is less expensive than extracting protein from soybeans. Hemp protein can be processed and flavoured in any way soybean protein can.
• Hemp oil can also be used to produce paint, varnish, ink, lubricating oils, and plastic substitutes. Because 50% of the weight of a mature hemp plant is seeds, hemp could become a significant source for these products.

Hemp facts courtesy of www.greentimes.com.au