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The search for alternatives to high-energy, water-consuming fabrics is tough. Every alternative has its downside, whether it’s a lack of regulation, an unsustainable step in the manufacturing process, or a general misunderstanding of what the fabric is. Because of this, many sustainable alternatives are nothing short of a mystery. No alternative fabric is quite as mysterious as hemp. Exactly what is hemp? How is it made? Is it safe to wear? These are questions that I myself have wondered and I bet you have too. But it can be quite hard to track down the answers to these questions.
I wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery, so I reached out to the team at HempAge. They’re a manufacturer and researcher trying to innovate the world of hemp clothing. And while there’s so much more to hemp, I want to offer up an introduction. Read on for your first glance at understanding this natural fabric.
What is hemp and how is it produced?
Hemp is a bast fiber crop – like linen, jute or ramie. That means that the fibers need to be dissolved from the bast in which they are “glued” together by mostly pectin and some lignin [these are two naturally occurring compounds] . This can be achieved by field retting or water retting (in pools), or by boiling in water with caustic soda. But today many companies are searching for other innovative ways to dissolve the fiber, using enzymes, ultrasonic, electrical shockwaves, etc. Once the fibers are dissolved, the conventional way to produce a yarn is wet spinning – the same as it is used for linen. But today most fibers being made are suitable for cotton spinning machines. Hemp also works really well in wool spinning machines and other similar machines.
What makes hemp a sustainable material?
Hemp is naturally sustainable. It’s a weed that is used to control pests and other pest plants in agriculture and is therefore the most useful plant in organic agriculture. It does not need watering, it grows from the arctic circle to the equator–even on poor soils. It does not need any pesticides, herbicides or fungicides to improve the soil. And the next crop grown on the same spot will have a 20% higher yield. Hemp does all this while storing more CO2 than other crops.
Of course it comes down to the processing steps further used to determine how sustainable the end product will be. With such a sustainable raw material one should avoid using harmful substances in the refining and dying of textiles.
But there is another part that makes hemp so sustainable: its longevity. A well produced 100% hemp garment or accessory should last much longer than most other natural fibers. And finally it can be re- or up-cycled.
Is all hemp produced sustainably and ethically?
No. There is nothing ethical about any plant in the first place. It all comes down to how workers are treated from the harvest to the end product. As we all know, the textile industry has a huge ethical problem especially in the cutting and sewing part of the production chain and hemp itself is not changing any of that.
In terms of sustainability, it looks much better and the raw material can change a big chunk of the overall scoring. There is land and water usage per ton of fiber, not to mention the chemicals used in agriculture, with pesticides being the most worrying. But in the further production steps for textiles there can be as much done wrong as for cotton if you’re not serious about sustainability.
One of the biggest internet-myths around hemp is that degummed hemp (as a synonym for hemp produced in China) is bad and “organic hemp from Romania” is good. First of all, the process of growing hemp is the same everywhere. Additionally, there’s no difference in the usage of chemicals like caustic soda: while it is quite in the beginning of the processes for degummed hemp, the same chemicals are used for not degummed hemp at a step called “bleaching” in the later process of wet spinning. It all comes down to how those chemicals are handled, recycled and your wastewater is treated.
What sort of regulation exists in the hemp world?
Regulations exist for growing hemp. Usually there are limitations for the content of THC for the plants grown. This can be tricky sometimes for farmers, because the THC-levels can vary depending on the sunshine in the year the plant is grown. But, nobody can get high from a fiber hemp plant (Cannabis Sativa). Of course genetic engineering today can do most everything, but fiber hemp might have some medical properties – like being microbicidal – but you won’t get high.
What challenges do sustainable and ethical hemp manufacturers face?
In the past 27 years that I have been working with hemp there have been 2 main challenges. First, hemp is still the 2nd most counterfeit fiber in the world (after cashmere). The price for hemp is quite high and as long as there is money to be made from fake products they will show up on the market. Of course the customers buying those fakes will think that it was not worth the money they had spent on that garment. But true hemp really has value–even for your skin and well being.
The second challenge is finding the right producers/machines/workers to make the product. It is not that easy to knit a hemp sock or T-shirt compared to knitting cotton or synthetic fiber. You need people that like their jobs, love to accept a challenge, and don’t give up too fast.
There might be a new challenge – at least for producers of high quality – soon: big brands pushing into the market. This is, in general, a very positive thing and I have been waiting for a long time to get hemp into the mainstream. But these big brands bring their own perspective. They believe that hemp must be “optimised” for the most productive and cheapest production methods. This is done by “cottonisation,” a word used for multiple sorts of treatments using the most direct way from the plant to a fiber that is very similar to cotton. But each and every different way comes with the destruction of the elementary hemp fiber by using harsh forces, whether mechanical, electrical or else. Those destroyed fibers are very easy to spin, especially when blended with cotton. But they don’t have the longevity as carefully dissolved fibers.
Here’s a tip for consumers: if you want to check the quality of your hemp textile, then check the filter/mesh of your dryer for the amount of fibers after drying (honestly you should not use the dryer for hemp at all, but for this “test” it is the easiest method for everyone to see). Some of the mass products out there made from around 30% hemp will not have much hemp inside anymore after several washes and dries. This will have a negative impact on how consumers experience hemp, just like fake hemp.
How do you envision the future of hemp and hemp clothing?
Actually very bright, provided that mankind is coming to its senses regarding all the man made issues our planet is facing today. Hemp can play a key role in saving it for future generations and textiles are only one part of it. It can be much more affordable than today if we develop the right technologies – which we haven’t done for the past 70 years. And to all those engineers out there who are starting to understand the possibilities of this plant: stop trying to change this fiber so it fits existing machines developed for other fibers; start developing machines for this fiber so it can play its own advantages!
What’s one thing you would want consumers to know about hemp?
Well, if you’re skeptical just see for yourself what hemp textiles can do. If you have smelly feet, get a pair of hemp socks (the more hemp content the better)! You’ll be surprised what it will do for you. And if you don’t need that option, get a t-shirt to sleep in or to wear for hiking, cycling or other sports. You will feel the difference for sure!