Regularly confronted with the problem of cotton stickiness during spinning, those in the international market wish to see the implementation of a cotton bale classification system to describe the degree to which a given cotton is contaminated. Thermodetection equipment such as the H2SD high speed stickiness detector may be suitable for such a task. With a working capacity equivalent to that of HVI lines, this instrument evaluates the stickiness of cottons contaminated by insect honeydew. This paper discusses the feasibility of a qualitative classification based on within-bale distribution of the number of sticky points. A detailed example obtained with the H2SD illustrates the qualitative classification procedure. Sticky bales can be separated from uncontaminated bales for the latter to be marketed with a guaranteed stickiness level below a set threshold and a litigation risk selected in advance.