Cotton linters are the short staple part of the fibres attached to the cotton seeds, which cannot be utilized for mechanical spinning in cotton mills. The fibres attached to the seeds are usually distributed over a certain range of length and a certain number of seeds are embedded inside one cotton ball. Cotton, and linters in particular, is the purest type of cellulose, which is naturally produced.

The long fibres are separated from the seeds in cotton gins and then further processed in cotton industry. The seeds are subsequently de-lintered i.e. the remaining fibres are cut off.