Surgical cotton or absorbent cotton or cotton wool is used to cover or tie wounds. They are used extensively for medical purposes in every government or private hospital, dispensary, nursing home, maternity home factories, at home (for first aid) etc. because of its high fluid absorbency. As a result of the increasing awareness of the general public about health and awareness about other facilities, surgical cotton has been started in large quantities in schools, colleges and offices etc. In view of the present and future estimated consumption of surgical cotton through government procurement program, along with sale in open market, medical shops and hospitals / dispensaries etc., such units should also be set up at the town / tehsil level. There can be substantial chances of success in this business.
Machinery Needed
The main machines that are needed to start a surgical cotton business are :-
Willow/opener machine, Kier compartment, Wet cotton opener, Hydoextractor, Drying chamber, , Racking Tesure Machine, Finisher - scripture and lap former, Cardest Heavy duty semi high speed, Packing machine, Circular cutting machine, , Carding machine, Coal fired boiler, Weighing scale, chemical balancer, pH meter, soxhlet extractor, crucible, Furnace.
Raw material required to make surgical cotton
Raw ginned cotton.
Comber or Mill wasted cotton.
Caustic soda.
Bleaching Agents.
Wetting Agents i.e Lisapol etc.
Paper.
Gum.
Gunny bags.
Labels.
Licenses And Registration
Since surgical cotton comes under the Drug Act, it is mandatory to get the license of the department concerned to do business. This type of license can be obtained from the office of Joint Commissioner Food and Drug.
Documents required to apply for a license for surgical cotton manufacturing business:-
Layout of land and plant.
Proof of ownership of land.
Copy of Lease Agreement if it is rented land.
If copy of Memorandum of article of association is being done in business partnership then copy of Partnership Deed and list of company director.
Sample copy of Packing Material.
Copy of No Objection Certificate from State Pollution Control Board.
Entity registration copy.
Surgical cotton Manufacturing Process:-
In the surgical cotton manufacturing process, raw cotton is first opened with the help of a willow opener machine and in this, the cotton is washed off and the remaining impurities are removed.
Then the raw cotton is moved to Kier compartment, where it is boiled in steam for 3 to 4 hours and then various chemical like caustic soda, soda ash, detergent etc. are added to it. These chemicals are added to eradicate the left over impurities.
After it is boiled for 3 to 4 hours it is moved to tank for washing.
After the above process, the cotton loses its colour when it is washed and to bring back the white colour of cotton it is bleached with Hydrogen peroxide or sodium hypochlorite and this bleaching not only helps in whiting but it also helps in drying up the cotton.
To remove the added bleaching chemical from surgical cotton, a little sulfuric acid is diluted and mixed and washed.
After this the cotton is moved towards Hydoextractor to extract the water from the cotton and after this it is moved towards the Wet cotton machine.
After all these processes the cotton is moved towards the drier machine where cotton is dried. People who don't have drier machine can dry cotton under the sun.
The cotton is sent for blow room to make cotton laps.
After this the cotton is put into carding machine from where the cotton comes out in thin layers.
Then the cotton is prepared for making rolls where paper is kept in between cotton laps.
After these rolls are made according to the size needed and then the labels are put on it and are packed.
Finally our surgical cotton is prepared for selling.
Before starting this Business, you must get the mill insured.
