Sustainable Fabric Series: All about Hemp Fabric

16. Feb.

As our last fabric series was so successful, we have decided to do a series focused on sustainable fabrics. Our first blog post in this series is all about Hemp fabric.

“In 20 years [hemp] will be the fabric of the future,” states Isabel Siracusa, Fabric Developer for denim brand Orta Anadolu.

Brands like Levis and even luxury designer Rick Ownes are using hemp in their collections already. Reading all the positive facts about hemp makes us think: Hemp is here to stay.

Hemp fabric could become a crucial part in creating a more comfortable, sustainable world and not only innovate the fashion industry but other areas too.

What would you do if you were told that you could buy a T-shirt that lasts longer, is cheaper, and harms the environment less than your average cotton T-shirt?

So…. What is Hemp?

Hemp has a very long history of being used as a fibre, in fact, it has been cultivated for thousands of years and on almost every continent. It has been used in clothing, ropes and sails. Rumours have it that the word “canvas” is derived from “cannabis”.

Hemp is a type of “bast fibre”, which means it’s one of many natural fibres derived from the stems of plants such as flax, jute and stinging nettle. The fabric has various natural advantages such as keeping you warm in winter, cool in summer and even protecting you from UV rays.

The fibre produced from pure hemp is similar to linen in texture. It can also be blended with other natural fibres to create fabrics with the durability of hemp and the softness of cotton or bamboo.

What are the benefits of using Hemp?

As mentioned above, hemp protects your skin by naturally filtering UV light. It also resists bacterial growth and breathes excellently, preventing odour retention. Hemp is four times stronger than cotton; It won't weaken when washed and it retains colour better than any other fabric.

Hemp uses about 5% the amount of water it takes to grow cotton and can often be rain-fed. It can grow in almost all soil conditions, and unlike cotton (which depletes the soil of nutrients) hemp’s deep-reaching roots preserve the topsoil and subsoil. Hemp grows densely as well, leaving no room for weeds and competing plants. It is also less vulnerable to insects, which means little to no use of pesticides. Lastly, hemp grows extremely fast, only requiring 120-days to be ready for harvest.

Strong and tough, hemp is a material that can last, which can make it a sustainable choice. What is more, once it finally reaches the end of its useful life, it is biodegradable, and so will not contribute to the global waste issue.

Another interesting and beneficial feature of hemp is that it can be grown on land polluted with heavy metals, and can extract and accumulate substantial amounts of elements such as copper, lead, zinc, and cadmium with no detrimental effect on the quantity nor quality of the crop.

“When you add processing into the equation, cotton uses more than four times as much water as hemp.”

Hemp also requires a relatively small amount of land to cultivate. According to the Guide to Sustainable Textiles, this means it can produce up to double the fibre yield per hectare than cotton.

How is Hemp produced?

The different steps of producing Hemp include:

Cultivation
Harvesting
Retting (The process whereby naturally occurring bacteria and fungi, or chemicals, break down the pectins that bind the hemp fibres to be released. Common techniques consist of soaking in water, or laying on the ground and letting dew do the ‘retting’.)
Breaking
Scutching (Beating stems, which separates the desired fibres from the hemp’s woody core.)
Hackling (combing of the stems to remove unwanted particles)
Roving (improves strength)
Spinning (can be wet and dry spun)

Modern-day production methods of hemp are closely related to the traditional methods, however done in a much more efficient manner, with the invention of more effective modern equipment. The core principles stand: grow hemp, break it down, separate the fibres, and then spin into a textile.

Who is already using Hemp fabric?

Some big brands and designers are aware of the potential of hemp and are already using the fabric within their brands and collections. Some of these brands are Jungmaven, Levi’s, Patagonia, Wama Underwear and the well-known designer Rick Owens. Hemp and other alternative fabrics are going to play a huge role in the future of the fashion industry, if brands want to create less clothing waste, a circular economy and solve the environmental issues with the fabrics we currently use.

We at Kleiderly always try to stay up to date with textile trends and innovation. It is important for us to educate our viewers about what a sustainable future of fashion could look like. To learn more about the different fabrics, please check out our blog post here: Fabric Series.

Brands using Hemp to look out for: