The era of manufactured fibers began with the development of Rayon in France in the 1890s. Rayon is derived from a natural cellulose and cannot be considered synthetic, but requires extensive processing in a manufacturing process cotton dish towel and led the less expensive replacement of more naturally derived materials. A succession of new synthetic fibers Kitchen Apron were introduced by the chemicals industry in the following decades. Acetate in fiber form was developed in oven mitt1924. Nylon, the first fiber synthesized entirely from petrochemicals, was introduced as a sewing thread by DuPont in 1936, followed by DuPont's acrylic  in 1944. Some garments were created from fabrics based on these fibers, such as women's hosiery from nylon, but it was not until the introduction of polyester into the fiber marketplace in the early 1950s that the market for cotton came under threat.The rapid uptake of polyester garments in the 1960s caused economic hardship in cotton exporting economies, especially in Central American countries such as Nicaragua where cotton production had boomed tenfold between 1950 and 1965 with the advent of cheap chemical pesticides. Cotton production recovered in the 1970s, but crashed to pre-1960 levels in the early 1990s.

Beginning as a self-help program in the mid-1960s, the Cotton Research & Promotion Program was organized by U.S. cotton producers in response to cotton's steady decline in market share. At that time, producers voted to set up a per-bale assessment system to fund the program, with built-in safeguards to protect their investments. With the passage of the Cotton Research & Promotion Act of 1966, the program joined forces and began battling synthetic competitors and re-establishing markets for cotton. Today, the success of this program has made cotton the best-selling fiber in the U.S. and one of the best-selling fibers in the world.