FIAS (Fiber Image Analysis System) was developed as a relatively high-speed method of measuring fiber maturity looking at ribbon width instead of the much slower method of making, cutting and analyzing cross-sections. An uncombed cotton sample is chopped and sprayed on a slide and then measured under the microscope using image analysis. The highly transmissive sections are detected by the system as “dead” fiber. These dead fibers become the dye defects known as white speck neps in finished fabrics.

This work compares maturity measurements from bale fiber samples to the level of white specks on dyed fabrics. The 21 US cottons from the 2001 crop year have a wide range of white speck neps in the fabric. They were processed identically in the mill through dyeing. We report here preliminary FIAS maturity data on these cottons and compare them to cross-section maturity data and white speck levels determined by image analysis.