This post includes some links to products, some of which I make a small commission from. Hope you find the info helpful. 

When you choose a Twitter name like JPlovesCOTTON, you should be ready for strange tweets about cotton. Over the decade I’ve been on Twitter, they have come and gone…  This one made total sense to me but it sure got a few folks asking questions! Seriously? Some guy is going to be working at a steel mill and wants my advice on 100% cotton socks and underwear, preferably grown and made in the USA.

Looking for 100% cotton socks and underwear. Prefer US Cotton, but will settle with other. Can only find 90% cotton at local stores. Needed to work at the furnace at a steel mill. @JPlovesCOTTON any help?

— Shannon Family Farms (@ShannonFamFarms) May 26, 2019

I knew immediately, Jonathan (the guy who will be working at the steel mill) wasn’t wanting fashion tips or anything. He wanted cotton for the same reason I try to wear cotton when I am in front of a campfire, etc. It is about safety in heat and flames.

So in this post, I want unpack a few things:

• Fiber Response to Heat/Flames — We talked about the differences in 100% cotton products & blends earlier, but let’s talk about how different fibers react to heat & flames a bit today.
• Sources of hundred percent cotton goods — I try to unearth all the goodness!
• Some of the gear steelworkers wear — He’s looking for the personal items, there are other parts of the “uniform” that there are clear guidelines on.

Fiber Response to Heat/Fiber

Safety of natural fibers and synthetics differ in a major way when it comes to heat. Natural fibers like cotton, silk and wool will burn when exposed to flames unless they are treated with flame retardants. Synthetic or man-made fibers like polyester, nylon, acetate, etc will melt.

This video demo is a bit long, but really shows you what happens when the fiber just gets close to the flame or is put in it directly.

100 Percent Cotton Socks & Underwear

What this video doesn’t prompt you to think about is what if you were wearing a garment of those fibers? It’s kind of scary to pause and think about. I mean none of them bode well really. But what you want to look at and think about is what happens after. The ashes produced from natural fibers, simply would mean those garments would be gone. But the melting, the beading of a hot, somewhat plasticized residue, can actually adhere to skin and continue doing damage to your skin. So a lot of those novelty socks from nylon and polyester could really hurt your feet and I’m sure none of us want to think what would happen with underwear of synthetic fibers!

The brand of socks that immediately comes to mind is Wigwam. They are sold in a lot of the farm supply shops but Wigwam also has a website where people can purchase directly from the company. I loved that it was the first company to come to mind for me and later some farmers weighed in with the same tip!

On the underwear side, I’m a big fan of Jockey cause they are 100 percent cotton (with the exception of waistbands and well made. Working in ag, we can be hard on clothes so knowing that seams won’t pop quickly, etc matters. They have lots of different styles, designs, etc. a good 100% cotton Jockey boxer brief is available on Amazon.

Other Steelworker Gear

Working in a steel mill with the furnace means some fairly extreme temperatures. With that in mind, you definitely want to protect yourself and companies would want to be sure they have really good safety programs in tact. Think like the fire department but even more intense temperatures.

While we talked about the things he yet needed to buy, the outerwear has really specific requirements. Jonathan shared a few photos with me to show the types of fabrics involved — all 100 percent cotton but they also had various protective coatings, etc.

His pants and shirt are by Carhart — no surprise as they are a leading maker of work clothes. They have a Force FR line (FR = flame resistant) that totally hits the nail on the head. And to protect his head from sparks, etc, he has a welders cap. All of that 100% cotton.

The post Why would a steelworker ask me for shopping advice? 100% cotton of course! appeared first on Hundred Percent Cotton.

a favorite photo from AgMS -- I'm flanked by Troy Hadrick & Tim Zweber

While at the Ag Media Summit, it was interesting to be called by my Twitter ID so much of the time. Somehow it has just caught hold. And when I set up the blog, it seemed a natural fit. A year ago, at the AgMS there were probably less than a dozen tweeps there. This year the number skyrocketed and twitter name recognition jumped as well.

Granted, there were a few folks who called me by JPlovesCOTTON at other events (Memphis tweetups, NAFB and the American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting come to mind parts 1, 2 & 3 very quickly). But the number of new faces to go with long-time Twitter friends at the AgMS (posts 1 & 2), was incredible. And more of my pre-Twitter friends (yes, there was a time before Twitter), stay in touch through social media as well.

So hearing JPlovesCOTTON was far more frequent this past week and we used other Twitter handles alongside our given names. And as conversations turned to personal branding, it seems clear I have one clearly out there – my initials that friends first called me by in high school and my love of a fluffy white crop.

I didn’t give my Twitter ID a lot of thought when I set up the account. Went with a couple of things that tell who I am. Somewhere along the way, I thought pretty long & hard about changing it so it was shorter. But I decided retweets be damned, I talk ag a lot and cotton is my thing, its my passion, and the cotton industry is one of the places I feel most at home.

I love them old cotton fields back home, even when its a good cotton summer (which means far hotter than a good Janice summer). I can explain the parts of a cotton plant with the enthusiasm of a cotton physiologist thanks to friends who took time to help me understand. I love getting into a discussion with PhDs about some new genetics or a new biotech trait. And I love making an on-farm visit with a Mississippi cotton farmer or a Texas crop consultant who’s been field testing that product. I enjoy talking to a marketer about what textile mills are buying right now and where demand is headed. And I must admit its exciting to me to pass along some of the info I’ve learned about cotton fabrics and other products made from this important crop in the South.

Friends who don’t work in agriculture, sometimes say I’m a cotton girl. Farmers in other crops sometimes chuckle when I connect a crop or practice they are in to the white gold (some have even said they learned a thing or two). And in the cotton business, I cozy up to folks even if they are one of the rare names or faces I don’t know. (I know a few folks who should see themselves in this paragraph!)

It wasn’t til I had a good night’s sleep this weekend that I realized “JPlovesCOTTON” is just like a friend of mine’s dad who farms alongside the Mississippi River. The dad always refers to himself as a cotton farmer, even though a few years cotton prices have made the crop a rarity on his farm. Yep, I am pretty sure this is something that I am good with even though it could also be JPlovesAG and be a little shorter for the retweet. Lots of folks love agriculture, but espousing a love of cotton… that differentiates me a bit out here. but no worries, I’ll keep sharing the love!

Stopping alongside a cotton field near Antakya, Turkey while on vacation a few years ago.

The post Cotton as a Passion, Career Path & Personal Brand appeared first on Hundred Percent Cotton.