The term used in 18th and 19th century for cotton was "king". Cotton's exact age is unknown. It is the world's most used fiber. It is a soft, staple fiber that grows around the seeds of cotton plant i.e. Gossypium. Every part of cotton plant is useful. Cotton is the number one fiber used for apparel in the United States. Cotton is used for apparel, for home furnishings and for industrial type products and exportation.

The fiber is most often spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft, breathable textile, which is the most widely used natural-fiber cloth in clothing today.

Cotton fiber is processed in a sense that ten percent or less of the weight is lost in subsequent processing to convert the raw cotton balls into pure fiber. Each fiber is made up of twenty to thirty layers of cellulose coiled in a neat series of natural springs. When the cotton ball is opened, the fibers dry into flat, twisted ribbon like shapes and become kinked together and interlocked. This interlocked form is ideal for spinning into a fine yarn. It is used in summer and mostly in winter seasons.