how long does it take....

[flytire 0]

for COTTON THREAD TO ROT???

 

and where is your scientific proof!

[rockworm 0]

Cotton is composed of cellulose (as are wood and paper.) Although extremely stable, it can be broken down by certain fungi and bacteria. But to thrive, these organisms need moisture. So the answer to your question depends upon how damp your cotton is. Keep it warm and damp for a week or so and mildew will make short work of your thread or fabric. A display fly tyed with cotton floss and mounted behind glass could remain intact for many years in a dry environment (or in the presence of a dessicant.)

[JSzymczyk 0]

I mean no disrespect, but why does it matter?

 

Fly tying thread is cheap, and has been time-tested to be superior to cotton sewing thread for almost all fly tying uses. Trying to justify the use of sewing thread for fly tying is kind of pointless. The comparison is not only if it rots. Strength, stretch (or lack of), "slipperiness", ability for fibers to lay flat or be twisted tight, colors, translucency, and many other factors need to be considered.

 

Sure someone can tie great flies with cotton sewing thread if they have to, but for a little over a buck a spool for good fly tying thread which will last for many hundreds of flies on average, I'm happy to use fly tying thread. For $3-something a spool for GSP, I'm overjoyed to use it for deer-hair work, on which it is vastly superior to anything else. Why would you use cotton sewing thread when there are so many better alternatives out there?

 

 

[Stippled Popper 0]

To add to rockworm's points, Artist quality paper is made of cotton which doesn't have the lignin in it which is acidic and what quickly causes deterioration in newsprint and any other paper made from wood fibers. DaVinci's drawing on cotton paper are about 500 years old. A cotton tied display fly protected in a museum quality setting would also last a good long time. But use it and it might last until a fish decides to take it and perhaps not.

 

If you create a woven pattern using cotton floss and coat that part with something like Loon Hard Head to keep water from getting to the cotton, it's performance could well be acceptable.

[perchjerker 0]

There are too many variables involved in the rotting process to be able to answer your question with any validity, or certainty. Temperature, humidity, storage conditions (type container, air circulation), etc., all play a role in the answer. Bacterial and/or fungal contamination also play very big roles. The sum of all of this is that how long it takes can vary from household to household, and even more so from region to region across the country. Why not determine what it is for your situatiuon?

 

perchjerker

[phg 0]

...leave it to Norm....

 

Actually, though, the only time I use cotton is when I pick up a piece of embroidery floss of a specific color. Since all my flies are fishing flies, I really only need them to last one or two seasons. The only flies I routinely tie with cotton are woven body nymphs. I can't say as I've ever had any more problem with them deteriorating as I have with any other fly, though.