"when it comes to products being made from cotton...then house insulations...other textiles![/quote]jaciqltznok
You may be mistaken about modern insulation, at least in the U.S. Building insulation is made of #1=Fiberglass (this is the itchy horrible stuff you don't want to work with without a good mask), #2=Cellulose, which is a wood fiber like newspaper shredded...no cotton here. I am a licensed builder. You can read more about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulose_insulation
"Cellulose is the oldest building insulation material. Many types of cellulosic materials have been used (in the past), including newspaper, cardboard, cotton, straw, sawdust, hemp and corncob. Modern cellulose insulation, made with recycled newspaper, using grinding and dust removing machines and adding a fire retardant, began in the 1950s and came into general use in the US during the 1970s."
I think the real reason the price is up is that the third world is becoming more prosperous & are now part of world demand for clothing, blankets & all things textile! As builders we noticed a sharp increase in concrete (poured-in-place), as well as lumber prices about 15 years ago, due to massive building in China...it has never gone down again. Same idea. If you plan to build something for yourself, better do it sooner than later; it will only get harder to afford.