What the Hemp? What is Hemp Fabric?

Hemp, you've probably never heard of it, or if you have its not a material your familiar with. Hemp however used to be the preferred fabric of choice being used as early as 800bc (its been found in tombs). It was used in the majority of military uniforms for the US in WW2 and it was even the fabric used to create the first pair of levi's. In today's world though the fabric maybe finally having a small comeback and with good reason as well!

The fabric origin is from the stalk of the hemp plant and comes in long strands. These long fibres can then be spun and woven into a fine, linen- like fabric. What makes hemp so great though are all the benefits that come with it.

You see hemp can effectively grow like a weed, therefore not requiring herbicides, fungicides or pesticides to grow well. Compared to cotton, it requires half the amount of water or land to grow adding in the high levels of pesticides many cotton farms use you can see that the environmental impact is therefore less. Hemp also absorbed CO2 meaning that it has a negative contribution to CO2 levels before production. Additionally the plant is also better for soils compared to cottons as it doesn't strip nutrients from the ground, instead around 60-70% of the nutrients are returned.

When in fabric form, hemp is still very impressive. The fibres are stronger, longer, more mildew resistant, more absorbent, more insulative and better at blocking out UV than cotton. What does this mean for your garments? Well, firstly they're warmer in winter and cooler in summer and also following dying, the garment retains its colour far better, preventing fading. The fibres just like cotton, can be blended with a variety of other fibres to create a wide variety of fabrics.

Finally hemp is on the of the most durable and one of the strongest natural textile fibres currently around. This strength allows the fibres to hold their shape, and thus stretch less than other materials. The fibre also gets softer as its worn in, instead of getting worn out which is pretty darn incredible.

Help is a fabric that is gradually coming back on the radar and its east to see why. I mean, who wouldn't want a garment that last longer, retains colour better, has a lower environmental impact and requires less pesticides. I and not forgetting that it can be used the same as cotton in every single way! So far the likes of patagonia, komodo and wearethought along with niche sustainbility brands ecofibres and global.prana are That's certainly good enough for me!

What do you think of hemp? Do you own any hemp clothing?

Love
Erin