Hemp is one of the world's oldest and most loved fabrics, and it's not hard to see why. This fibre does some pretty neat stuff all the way from it's beginning as a plant, to its end as a piece of clothing!
We've rounded up 10 Reasons Why We Love Hemp, & why we love having it at Abicus!
Hemp is one of the world's oldest and most loved fabrics, and it's not hard to see why. This fibre does some pretty neat stuff all the way from its beginning as a plant, to its end as a piece of clothing!
We've rounded up 10 Reasons Why We Love Hemp, & why we love having it at Abicus!
1. Easy to Wash & Care For
You might think such a great fabric would be hard to look after, but that’s not the case! Just throw any of your hemp pieces straight into the washing machine. Regular washing actually improves the feel of hemp. It also drys super quick, so you don’t need to wait around.
2. No Synthetic Microfibres
Have you heard? Washing one load of synthetic clothes releases millions of microplastics into the wastewater system. Hemp is a natural, plant-based fibre, which means the fabric doesn’t contain or shed any microplastics.
3. Highly Durable
Hemp is one of the strongest and most durable organic fibres available today, with 3x the tensile strength of cotton. This makes hemp an excellent choice for outerwear. While a typical cotton T-shirt can last 10 years at the most, a hemp T-shirt may last double or triple that time.
4. Biodegradable
A completely natural material, hemp is entirely biodegradable and can break down quickly in nature without leaving any toxins behind. Your hemp pieces can even be composted, as long as 99% of the garment is made from natural fibres.
5. moisture-wicking & odour resistant
Hemp is a lightweight fabric, which makes it highly breathable. It can absorb up to 20% of its weight while still feeling dry. Perspiration is quickly absorbed and released by hemp fabric which means less moisture is retained and less odour-causing bacteria can build up in your clothes.
6. Highly renewable
Hemp is easily grown in most regions of the world, it is renewable and fast-growing. Hemp plants mature in around 100 days and can be harvested up to 3x per year. Hemp crops can yield 200-250% more fibre in the same amount of land as cotton.
7. Doesn’t Require Much Water
On average it takes 10,000 litres of water to create 1 kg of cotton. Hemp requires only around half the water it takes to grow the same amount of fibre. If you include processing, cotton uses more than four times as much water as hemp.
8. Absorbs carbon dioxide
Hemp can trap 10 tonnes of CO2 per acre, which is roughly 230% more than the equivalent of a fast-growing Eucalypt forest will absorb in a year. It is considered to be a carbon-negative raw material, which means that it absorbs more carbon than it produces.
9. Natural with No Petrochemicals
Hemp is a natural plant fibre and unlike synthetic fibres, it is not made from synthesised chemicals that are derived from petrochemicals. In fact, the entire process is entirely organic and requires no chemicals. Which also makes hemp very hypoallergenic.
10. Good for the Earth
Hemp improves the soil it grows in by returning 60-70% of any useful nutrients that it takes.
It also has the ability to remove pollutants from the soil, such as heavy metals by absorbing them through its roots. On top of that, hemp is also such a hardy plant that it requires no herbicides or pesticides.