absorption, breathability, and moderate strength [8].Nonetheless, cotton fibre manufacturing requires large amounts of land, water, and pesticide resources each year, making cotton less than ideal from a sustainability perspective. Cotton is a water intensive crop, requiring at least 20 inches of rainfall each year for optimal growth [9]. In countries with low annual rainfall, irrigation

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Qualitative Results. Visual Quality. Pictures were used to evaluate visual quality. Photos of the four different conditions can be seen above. All of these photos come from cellulose grown in the most productive medium, molasses mannitol. Hand. Test method AATCC-EP5 was used to evaluate hand with a 2 in by 2 in sample of fabric. Of the evaluated cellulose samples, those rated highest for pliability (M= 6.75) on the 7 point semantic differential scale were the soaked and freeze dried Molasses and High Fructose Corn Syrup varieties. These samples were ranked similarly in terms of softness as well, receiving the highest rank for softness (M= 6.00). However, High Fructose Corn Syrup samples that were soaked and air dried were most likely to be described as limp (M= 1.5). Due to the stiffness of the air dried only cellulose, this material was left out of the initial perception testing. Quantitative Results. Uniformity. When comparing the points of measurement taken from each material before samples were cut, the most uniform bacterial cellulose mat was from the soaked, air dried High Fructose Corn Syrup Mannitol condition. This mat was also the thinnest and had an average thickness difference between 4 points of measure of .0005 mm. Water Absorption. AATCC 79-2010 was used to evaluate water absorption with three, 100 mm by 100 mm samples from each type of cellulose. The most absorbent cellulose came from the non-soaked, freeze dried High Fructose Corn Syrup condition. Conclusion. While this unique material has potential for textiles and apparel use, several limiting factors must be addressed. Our results indicate that air drying with no pretreatment does not produce suitable material for textiles and apparel. Additionally, this nonwoven material did not prove to be sufficiently absorbent for textile and apparel use due to the lack of water spread observed in the absorbency test. References.