Due to the high spindle speed of the latest ring spinning frames, the spinning tension has been of particular importance to the cotton yarn manufacturers. The hairiness of yarn is considerably influenced by the spinning tension. During the ring spinning process, the yarn hairiness varies due to the fluctuation of spinning tension. In this study, we investigate the effect of spinning tension on the yarn hairiness which depends on the spindle speed and the traveller weight. The results show that low spinning tension due to decrease in spindle speed and high spinning tension due to increase in traveller weight lead to decrease in yam hairiness. It is shown that the correlation between spinning tension and short hair characteristics is greater, compared with the longer ones.