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ECOLOGICAL TEXTILES | Hemp info
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Hemp fabrics and textiles

Hemp field in the Netherlands

HEMP: SUSTAINABLE, STRONG, COOL AND WITH A SPECIAL LOOK

Until the early decades of the 20th century, hemp was still considered one of the most important agricultural crops, a plant that contributed to the economy and well-being in various ways. Hemp was used in multiple industrial sectors: in the textile industry, of course, for making clothing, but also for ropes and sails. Oil was pressed from the seeds, which was used as cooking oil and in personal care products, while the wood (the so-called hurds) from the stems was used, among other things, in paper production.


Hemp: benefits of cultivation


In addition, there is now a great deal of attention on the ecological benefits of hemp. Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is considered one of the most sustainable textile fibres. This is not without reason:

  • Hemp is a champion at storing CO2. One hectare of hemp stores 9-15 tonnes of CO2, as much as a young forest. But hemp needs only five months to grow into a mature plant
  • Hemp helps break the cycle of plant diseases if it is part of crop rotation
  • Hemp helps combat soil erosion and retains water
  • Hemp contributes to increased biodiversity
  • Hemp is grown almost everywhere without the use of synthetic plant protection products (against weeds or harmful insects)
  • Hemp can usually do without (much) extra irrigation. Like all other plants, hemp needs water, but natural rainfall is usually sufficient
  • Hemp can clean polluted or contaminated soil again, an ability of some plants called phytoremediation


Until the first decades of the 20th century, hemp was still considered one of the most important agricultural crops, a plant that contributed to the economy and well-being in many ways. Hemp was therefore applied in several industrial sectors: in the textile industry, of course, to make clothes, but also ropes and sails. Oil was pressed from the seed, which was used as food oil and in personal care products; the wood (called shives) from the stalks was used in paper production, among other things.

Yet the crop came under pressure in the 1930s due to its association with drug use. In the US, as a result of anti-drug legislation, the cultivation of industrial hemp was banned in 1937. Remarkably, US paper money was made from hemp, among other things, and the first US presidents were hemp growers. European countries quickly adopted the US ban and so the plant disappeared from fields for decades. The ban on hemp cultivation more or less coincided with the rise of synthetic fibres and the increasingly mass applications of (cheaper) cotton. When we talk about hemp here, we mean industrial hemp and therefore not soft drugs (marijuana). The main difference between the two plants is that one variety produces a fairly high level of THC - tetrahydrocannabinol, the substance that affects consciousness and gets users high. Industrial varieties of Cannabis sativa contain very little THC.

With the increasing demand for sustainably produced materials, hemp also came back into the picture. Cultivation bans were lifted before and after, far from everywhere at the same time by the way, and often with the necessary restrictions. However, the damage caused cannot be repaired immediately. These include, in particular, a knowledge gap and the fact that hemp could not (as was the case with other 'bast fibres' like linen) be further developed by companies that are specialised in seed breeding.


HEMP: SOME FACTS

Hemp field

MORE AND MORE HEMP

Hemp is grown in more than 50 countries worldwide. Globally, China and Canada are major producers; in Europe, France, Germany and the Netherlands are the main hemp producing countries. In Europe, the area under hemp cultivation has increased sharply from 20,540 ha in 2015 to 33,020 ha in 2022.
Hemp field in the Netherlands


DISTRIBUTION

In botany, Cannabis sativa is divided into four main groups that coincide with different geographical zones in which the plant grows best. Plants from the different groups differ from each other in such aspects as leaf shape, length, time they take to reach maturity. Within the groups there are again different varieties.

Hemp fabric


ECONOMIC VALUE

The economic value of hemp is high because a wide range of products can be made from it. Hemp produces fibre, oil seeds and woody parts (shives). These can be used in multiple industrial sectors. A US report came up with an estimate of 25,000 applications for nine industrial sectors. Of these, textiles is the most important worldwide.




Fineness of the fibre


Partly due to the fact that hemp was banned from fields for decades, there has been a backlog of knowledge. This has all kinds of practical consequences for the textile industry in particular. For instance, it is difficult to spin very fine yarns from hemp. With similar fibres like flax (linen), this is possible, mainly because here plant breeding has continued undisturbed. The hemp industry has a considerable backlog here, which it is now trying to make up. A few large projects involve farmers, scientists and industry working together to find and grow the most suitable varieties of hemp. Another problem is the disappearance of industrial infrastructure. Few spinning mills that can process hemp remain. Even at the agricultural level, there are challenges. The textile sector prefers to work with long hemp fibres, which are easier to process. However, this requires harvesting the hemp in a certain way, namely at the foot and at the top of the plant. These specialised machines are far from available everywhere.


Hemp, a high performance fibre

Hemp is one of the strongest plant fibres. For exactly that reason, hemp was traditionally used to make ropes, ship nets, sails, backpacks, workwear, etc. The first jeans produced by Levi Strauss for railway workers and miners in the western US were made of hemp for a reason. Famous is the logo of two horses trying in vain to pull apart a pair of jeans stretched between them. Because of their high tensile strength, hemp fibres are increasingly used in so-called geotextiles (reinforcement of dykes, for instance) and as a biobased alternative to fibreglass or metal in so-called biocomposites. Incidentally, this is not a very young development as experiments with this were already taking place a century ago in the German car industry (DKW) and also by Ford.


Hemp
Hemp rope
Hemp tape


Mixing hemp with organic cotton

Why is hemp so often mixed with (organic) cotton, we are sometimes asked. Now, mixing different fibres is not something typical of the hemp industry and each producer will have their own ideas about it. But we think we can say something about it.

Despite the fact that hemp acreage is growing, it is still a fairly little cultivated plant. The amount of cotton grown, for example, is many times larger, both in terms of arable land and tonnage. In addition, the long-fibre hemp preferred for textiles requires special harvesting machines that are far from always and everywhere available. For this reason, hemp is often shredded anyway. This short-fibre, shredded hemp can also be made suitable for textile applications. It is then processed and refined to such an extent that it resembles cotton fibres and can also be offered to spinning systems on which cotton is processed. To further facilitate spinning, blending with cotton is often applied. Blends with other fibres, e.g. wool, also occur.

Ultimately, the result of such blending is that more hemp can be processed, including the short-fibre ones. A not insignificant side effect is that a hemp/biocotton blend is cheaper than 100 per cent hemp. In addition, due to the addition of the much more elastic cotton, clothes of this composition will be less prone to creasing than clothes made of pure hemp. A side effect of this, in turn, is that these clothes do not need to be ironed as hot or as long.

Whether pure or blended with cotton, hemp always seems to add a little something extra, both when it is used for making clothes and for interior applications (e.g. curtains, furniture upholstery, cushions). As is also the case with other bast fibres, hemp yarns (and consequently the fabrics made from them) are always characterised by a slight irregularity. This is exactly what makes hemp fabrics have a 'rich' texture. Fabrics made from hemp are never super smooth but always lively, truly fabrics with a 'soul'.




The colour of hemp

The colour of different productions of natural (i.e. undyed and unbleached) hemp may well differ. How is this possible? The colour of hemp is determined during the so-called retting, the first stage to separate the fibres from the woody stalk. This involves leaving the hemp in the field after harvesting, where it is exposed to the influences of weather, rain, sunshine, and the bacteria and fungi present in the soil. Rotting turns the stalk from green to yellow-brown or brown-black. The duration of the retting determines the colour: the longer the hemp lies on the land retting, the darker the colour. Hemp can only be balled and brought in when it has a certain dryness, so in a rainy period, the retting will take longer and the hemp will be darker in colour. Since many European hemp varieties are not ready for harvest until September, just at a time when the chances of rain increase here, this is a regular phenomenon. This is often overcome by spinning mills by mixing different batches (sometimes from different years) so that the colours do not vary too much.


Perfect for summer


Hemp is a fibre with good heat-conducting properties, which means it does not retain heat well. For this reason, hemp clothing always feels cool and fresh and is an ideal material for summer clothing. Before that, there are other reasons why hemp is a perfect summer material. For instance, hemp has regularly been shown to inhibit the build-up of odorous bacteria, which is why it is said to have good anti-bacterial properties. In any case, it results in hemp needing to be washed less often; airing it can sometimes suffice. The thicker qualities of hemp, as produced mainly in Europe, also seem to have good UV-resistant properties.

Like all other natural fibres, hemp is a particularly breathable material. 'Breathable' means that a fabric is able to transport body heat and moisture to the outside air, away from the body. Synthetic fibres do not possess these properties or only to a small extent.


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