Cloth is one of the most important resources in RimWorld. It’s used to craft clothing, furniture, medicine, defensive structures and countless other items, making it a material you’ll need from the early game right through to the end.

Fortunately, Cloth is relatively easy to obtain once you understand the different ways to acquire it.

Grow Cotton

The primary way to get Cloth in RimWorld is by growing Cotton Plants.

Unlike real life, harvested cotton is automatically converted into Cloth, so there is no need to process it at a crafting station. Once a Cotton Plant reaches maturity, harvesting it directly produces Cloth.

How to Grow Cotton

Agriculture Guide

Setup Steps

1 Open the Architect menu.
2 Select Zone and create a Growing Zone.
3 Click the newly created Growing Zone.
4 Choose Cotton Plant as the crop.
5 Ensure at least one colonist has the Grow work type enabled.

Automated Harvesting

Once assigned, your growers will automatically sow the crop and return to harvest it at full maturity without further intervention.

Plant Cotton on Rich Soil

While Cotton grows on ordinary soil, planting it on Rich Soil will significantly improve your harvests.

Indoor Cotton Farming

Year-Round Growth

Hydroponics Basin Strategy

If you have access to the Hydroponics Basin, you can grow Cotton indoors throughout the year—making it an excellent option for colder biomes or colonies with short growing seasons.

If you have access to the Hydroponics Basin, you can also grow Cotton indoors throughout the year, making it an excellent option for colder biomes or colonies with short growing seasons.

Producing a steady supply of Cloth early on means you’ll rarely have to worry about running out later in the game.

Buy Cloth From Traders

If you need Cloth immediately, trading is one of the quickest solutions.

The following traders commonly sell Cloth:

Bulk Goods Traders
Trade Caravans
Settlement traders

Buying Cloth is especially useful if you’re playing in a biome where farming is difficult, such as an Ice Sheet, Extreme Desert or Sea Ice map.

Although purchasing Cloth costs Silver, it can save your colony during emergencies when you need medicine, clothing or furniture without waiting for a harvest.

Recycle Existing Cloth Items

If you’re running low on Cloth, check whether you have any items you no longer need.

Deconstructing objects such as:

Carpets
Armchairs
Sandbags
Bedrolls

returns 75% of the materials originally used to build them.

You can also recover Cloth from furniture found in ancient ruins, abandoned structures or quest locations. This can provide a useful emergency stockpile without having to wait for your next Cotton harvest.

Loot Cloth

Cloth can occasionally be obtained as loot.

Item Locations

Acquisition Guide

In Ancient Complexes

Search ancient ruins and subterranean vaults scattered across the map. These complexes often contain rare artifacts and valuable salvage, though they may be defended by security systems or hostile entities.

Inside Cargo Pods

Monitor incoming orbital drop events. Cargo pods periodically crash-land near your colony or outposts, providing a chance to recover high-tier items and resource shipments.

As Quest Rewards

Complete diplomatic requests, faction favors, and world map missions. Major factions often offer these rare items as guaranteed contract payouts upon successful task completion.

In Abandoned Buildings

Scour forgotten structures, derelict settlements, and abandoned outposts. Checking crates, storage lockers, and forgotten hidden rooms often yields useful scavenged components.

While these methods aren’t reliable enough to supply an entire colony, they can provide a welcome boost during the early game.

Can You Craft Cloth?

No.

In vanilla RimWorld, there is no recipe that converts another resource into Cloth.

The only renewable method of producing Cloth yourself is by growing Cotton Plants. Otherwise, you’ll need to obtain it through trading, loot or by recycling existing Cloth items.

What Is Cloth Used For?

Cloth has a huge number of uses throughout RimWorld.

Some of the most common include:

Shirts
Pants
Dusters
Parkas
Hats
Beds
Armchairs
Carpets
Medicine
Recreation buildings
Sandbags
Bedrolls

Because so many recipes require Cloth, it’s worth maintaining a healthy stockpile whenever possible.

Build Sandbags for Early Defence

One of the first things many players use Cloth for is building Sandbags.

Sandbags provide valuable cover during raids and can dramatically improve your colonists’ chances of survival in the early game.

Since Cotton is relatively easy to grow, Cloth is often the preferred textile for expanding defensive positions before transitioning to more permanent fortifications.

Craft Bedrolls Before Sending Caravans

Cloth is also an excellent material for Bedrolls.

Bedrolls are lightweight, inexpensive to craft and allow colonists travelling in caravans to sleep much more comfortably than they would on the ground.

Keeping several Cloth Bedrolls ready before sending traders or exploration parties can make long journeys much easier.

Be Careful – Cloth Burns Easily

Although Cloth is incredibly useful, it also has one major weakness.

With a 120% flammability, Cloth catches fire much more easily than many other textiles.

Covering large sections of your base with Cloth carpets and furniture can create a serious fire risk, particularly during electrical short circuits, Molotov attacks or other fire-related incidents.

If your colony frequently experiences fires, consider limiting the amount of Cloth used in key buildings and install firefoam poppers in important rooms.

Is Cloth Better Than Leather?

It depends on what you’re making.

Cloth

Easy to mass produce
Completely renewable
Excellent for everyday clothing
Great for furniture and crafting
Poor armour protection

Leather

Usually offers better protection
Some leathers provide superior insulation
Requires hunting or animal farming
Harder to produce consistently

Many colonies use Cloth for everyday items while saving valuable leathers and advanced textiles such as Devilstrand for armour and high-quality clothing.

Tips for Getting More Cloth

If you’re constantly running out of Cloth, these tips can help:

Plant Cotton as early as possible.
Expand your Cotton fields as your colony grows.
Use Rich Soil or Hydroponics for larger harvests.
Buy Cloth from traders during shortages.
Recycle unwanted Cloth furniture and sandbags.
Keep a reserve stockpile for emergencies.

Final Thoughts

Growing Cotton remains the best way to get Cloth in RimWorld, providing a renewable supply that can support everything from clothing and medicine to furniture and defensive structures.

If farming isn’t possible, traders, loot and recycled furniture can all help keep your stockpile healthy until your next harvest.

Since Cloth is required for so many essential items, maintaining a steady supply should be one of every colony’s priorities.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you get Cloth in RimWorld?

The main way is by growing Cotton Plants, which produce Cloth when harvested. You can also buy Cloth from traders, loot it from various locations or recover it by deconstructing Cloth items.

Can you make Cloth without Cotton?

Not in vanilla RimWorld. Cloth cannot be crafted from another material.

Can traders sell Cloth?

Yes. Bulk Goods Traders, caravans and settlements frequently stock Cloth.

Is Cloth renewable?

Yes. Cotton can be grown repeatedly, making Cloth one of the easiest renewable textiles in the game.

What is Cloth used for?

Cloth is used to craft clothing, furniture, medicine, sandbags, bedrolls, carpets and many other essential items.

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