All the good reasons to fall for hemp

photo credit @Taylor Stitch

No, the title of this article is not about Snoop Dogg's favorite recreational product.

It is rather its close cousin, less euphoric, more legal, and used as a textile fiber.

You may have already come across hemp clothing, or heard of it. It is a fairly rare material on the market.

However, you will see that it has properties that place it on the podium of the best fibers to use for clothing. And that, hands down.

So, what is hemp, concretely? What are the advantages ?

And above all: why do we find so few of them?

To answer these questions , I will take you to discover this very special plant.

What is hemp?

Hemp, aka Cannabis Sativa , is a plant, of the cannabinaceae family.

Its cousin, Cannabis Indica , comes from the same botanical family. We can therefore also call it hemp.

The main difference between the two is the content of the psychotropic substance: Tetrahydrocannabinol. If you stop by to eat a local pastry in Amsterdam, it will tickle your brain and make you see life in green (or the color of your choice).

The THC content of Cannabis Indica easily exceeds 10%. Which makes it, as you know, an illegal drug in France.

Cannabis Sativa has a content of less than 0.2% . So you can chew as much as you want, you won't fly off to reggae heaven.

Nowadays, we speak more of hemp to evoke Cannabis Sativa, and of cannabis to define the drug in the broad sense.

Cannabis Sativa, which we will therefore call hemp, is cultivated, among other things, for:

• Its seeds, from which hemp oil is made, in the food and cosmetic sectors,
• Its stem, which can be used to make stationery,
• The fibers present in this stem, used to make thermal insulation, rope and clothing.

It is this last case that interests us. And we will see how the operators transform this stem into a fabric.

How is hemp made?

Hemp generally grows in three months, it can reach between three and five meters in height. Its harvest is annual.

In the past, this harvest was done by hand. Until the arrival of the industrial era, and its share of machine tools which save a lot of hands:

1. A combine harvester which recovers the upper part, particularly for the seeds
2. A mower which cuts the stems as close as possible to the ground.

These rods are then aligned together, and ready to go to retting.

The idea behind retting is to seek out the fibers present in the stem. But the latter are not easy to do: they are very hardened and complicated to release from the body of the plant.

Before industrialization, the plant was left to decompose in the sun: pectins present in the stem thus ended up letting the fibers become free.

Then, we peeled the whole thing, then we spun the fibers before weaving them.

But this technique, which was quite approximate, gave rise to heavy and rough fibers.

With time and technical progress, two new methods have appeared:

• A first which consisted of immersing everything in soap and soda ash, then diluted acetic acid
• A natural process, in the 80s, consisted of depositing mushrooms which nibbled lignin while cleaning the fibers.

Two approaches which made the textile exploitation of hemp easier, leading to significantly less rough fibers.

Nowadays, we mainly resort to grinding : Hemp bundles are crushed in a grinder, thus separating the fibers from the stem.

Finally, scutching allows these fibers to be extracted, between 70 and 80 cm in length. Here too, it was previously done by hand, by the “tillers” or “tillers”. Nowadays, the process is mechanized.

Once this fiber has been correctly extracted, it is transformed into yarn, notably by twisting. And it is from this thread that hemp clothing is woven.

Where does hemp come from?

Hemp is one of the oldest fibers cultivated by man. Its exploitation in Europe and China dates back more than 8000 years.

The first crops were in Central Asia, then China moved in to make stationery, clothing and food.

Hemp cultivation then spread across the Mediterranean basin to reach Europe in the Middle Ages, with royal clothing often being made of hemp.

In France, from 1661 to 1669, the Corderie Royale exploited hemp to make... ropes, destined for the Rochefort Arsenal.

But it was during the 18th century that French hemp cultivation reached its peak. A legend even says that it was used to make the first De Nîmes pants, ancestors of jeans , the story of which Jordan cleverly tells you here.

Representing 50% of world production, France is today the leading producer ahead of China.

Hemp crops are also found in Belgium, the United States, Canada and South America. And if the origins are so diverse, it is because hemp is a plant that adapts very well to different soils and climates.

Good reasons to wear hemp?

Hemp has many things in common with linen.

It is a natural, plant-based material, and therefore breathable.

As with linen, the structure of hemp fibers gives them thermoregulatory properties: they insulate you from the cold or evacuate your body heat, depending on the outside temperature.

Hemp also absorbs moisture very well and dries relatively quickly. This hydrophilicity allows it to preserve the dye well. Hemp clothing will therefore keep its color for a long time.

It is rather resistant, particularly to tension:

Its anti-bacterial properties limit the risk of allergies. And since it does not allow smelly bacteria to develop more than others, hemp limits bad odors.

Hemp is also anti-fungal: fungi and mold will struggle to grow on it. Hemp clothing will therefore be less likely to smell bad if it is poorly dried.

Hemp fabrics are very stable: they deform very little with use, and hardly move when washed. Moreover, maintaining hemp is quite easy for classic weaving: a machine at 30 degrees generally does the trick.

Finally, there is a big difference between hemp and linen: hemp wrinkles little.

Where it itches...

All these beautiful properties make the use of hemp in clothing more than interesting. But that’s without taking into account its main disadvantage: hemp is itchy.

Despite the advanced fiber extraction techniques mentioned above, hemp remains a rough fiber because of the lignin it contains. This polymer gives it its resistance, at the expense of softness.

This is why hemp is often mixed with cotton, to soften it and make it more elastic. So more comfortable.

Nevertheless , a hemp garment softens over time. With a hemp shirt, you have to be patient.

And for the planet?

This is the argument most often put forward in favor of hemp: it is ecological. And not just a little.

Its culture does not require water. Sometimes precipitation is even enough. Thus, hemp cultivation consumes up to 20 times less water than cotton cultivation. A real camel.

Hemp draws in and stores CO2, contributing to air quality. While its roots absorb extremely little nutrients from the soil, not depleting the latter.

A high-yielding plant, it grows quickly and requires almost no fertilizer.

No need to help hemp against harmful insects either: it already defends itself very well. Goodbye pesticides, then.

Which means that a large part of the hemp grown is organic. But even if your hemp clothing is not certified organic, its production often remains relatively chemical-free overall.

Finally, there is the carbon footprint: if you buy in France, clothing made in France, from French hemp, the impact in transport-related pollution is limited.

Of course, it only works in this case. There is not really anything to be happy about about your carbon footprint when purchasing French hemp pants, if they have traveled back and forth to Bangladesh to be assembled. .

Why do we find so few of them?

First, it must be said that the hemp botanical family does not have a very good reputation. And inevitably he inherits part of it.

Indeed, its relationship with cannabis, a drug that is certainly mild but illegal in most countries, has also earned it its share of legal misadventures.

And it must be said that in the 20th century, the context was already not favorable to it: the developments of cotton, linen, wool, and synthetic fibers fiercely competed with hemp which was not the easiest to work with. , because of its lignin which was tough.

And at the beginning of the 1950s, the sentence fell: the majority of countries banned the cultivation of hemp because of its THC content, but also to avoid camouflaged cannabis cultivation.

In Canada, for example, this ban lasted until 1998.

It took decades of political debates, decline in production, and changes in mentalities for these bans to end up being gradually lifted. Subject to regulations on THC content, of the order of 0.2 to 0.3%.

And in a world where environmental issues are more crucial than ever, consumers - and therefore manufacturers - are now focusing more and more on the benefits of hemp.

But due to the administratively heavy regulations, the difficulty in working with the fiber, and the limited creative possibilities that result from it on the textile level, it is not tomorrow that we will see hemp clothing flooding the e-shops of brands.

How to find hemp clothing?

Hemp clothing brands are not common in the streets. You understood it well.

And inevitably, you will not only come across beautiful pieces. The supply of hemp clothing is still far from complete.

If you want to obtain one, you will therefore have to proceed on a case by case basis. Both in terms of cuts and designs, which are not always in good taste.

So that you can test the material without regretting a purchase, here are some brands where you will find clothing with hemp:

• Merz B. Swchwanen, a German brand with excellent know-how, offers some pieces incorporating hemp in cotton weaves, such as this Henley.
• Taylor Stitch , which offers 3 pretty hemp shirts . It's a beautiful American brand that offers a wardrobe with slight workwear influences, without abandoning casual and even with a little bit of tailoring. In idea, we are between Drapeau Noir and Bleu de Paname .
• Outerknown, an American brand with a strong ethical commitment mentioned in this clever jogpant , for example.
• At Patagonia, you will also find certain technical pieces exploiting the qualities of hemp.
• Jungmaven, an American production and some cool t-shirts. However, stay attentive. Not everything is up for grabs.
• The French brand offers promising hemp jeans, worth testing.

• Hempage, German brand with some acceptable basics. But be careful with some rough cuts.
• Nunti Sunya, French made but sometimes very expensive. Not all cuts are up for grabs.
• Vital Hemp: some nice models, especially on the polo side. The sleeved pieces seem excessively long, you will probably need an alteration.
• Dash Hemp: go for t-shirts.

Finally, on the Daregreen multi-brand e-shop, you will sometimes find good clothes, but a lot of sorting work has to be done.

As a famous Jedi master of the color of hemp would have said: “Your patience will be rewarded”.