Hemp fabric is used in the making of clothes among many other products. A cellulose fiber is produced from the stalk of the hemp plant and it is this that is used to make hemp fabric. The seeds are use to make various oils and food supplements. The plant has no to little waste and is an extremely environmentally friendly product. An interesting fact prior to 1920, 80% of all clothing was made from textiles made from hemp.
Considering the growing of hemp is a very JACQUARD FABRIC sustainable product as it grows quickly, replenishes the soil, uses very little water, uses no pesticides and uses the energy given from the sun to grow, no wonder it was so widely used at one point in time. What happened to hemp apparel, it seems’ to have gone the way of the electric car and solar power. All things green seem to have come and gone for other faster cheaper products. The photovoltaic effect was discovered in 1839 and in the early day of the automobile they had electric cars. Did mankind take the wrong road by leaving all these green initiatives behind us?
Hemp has been used for clothing and medicinal purposes for 100’s of years and for one reason or another was made illegal in the 1930’s and made hemp apparel once again scarce. It started making its way back in popularity and in 1998, Health Canada issued 241 growers licensed and it looked like industrial hemp was back and back with a force. Again it was not to be, for one reason or another the industry was again going through down grading and growing licensing was at an all time low.
Not to worry the green revolution rears its head again in the 21’st century and the rise in hemp growing licenses being issued has risen by 95% in 2010, mostly in the Western Provinces. Green is in and using such a product, as hemp is just the best route to take (again), because hemp is just a very reusable, sustainable product it has no harmful affects, it just makes sense to get back to our roots. Only in Canada the U.S. still restricts the growing of hemp, grow up USA.
Hemp apparel in the past has gotten a bad deal perhaps to its cousin in the same Cannabis Sativa family Marijuana. As they seem to look the same the biggest difference between the two is the amount of THC that the plants produce, hemp being low in THC and Marijuana higher in amounts making it the illegal choice.
An enzyme process called Crailar has been developed to make hemp softer and whiter to compare to cotton. Without this enzyme hemp is generally not as soft or as white as cotton, but very durable and with time hemp softens up. Hemp is up to 3x stronger than cotton and has the same texture as linen:
