The Durability, Comfort and Beauty Of Hemp Clothing

When it comes to hemp clothing, there is no need to sacrifice durability for comfort. Hemp textiles are naturally endowed with both softness and strength, making it an excellent eco friendly clothing option for business or pleasure.

So often today’s clothing is created using inferior fibers that wear easily and fall apart after only a few washes. With hemp, that’s never a problem. The strength of hemp clothing means not only will your clothes last longer in your wardrobe (I have hemp clothing still going strong after 10 years!), you’ll save money by avoiding the necessity of replacing garments. This means less textile waste and more green in your pocket.

So how does hemp clothing get its unbelievable strength? The key to hemp clothing’s strength are the bast fibers. Measuring between 3 and 15 feet, bast fibers are those that grow on the outer portion of the hemp plant’s woody interior stalk. Bast fibers are what give hemp plants their strength, and they pass this strength on to the textiles made from them. Hemp is a fiber that has been used historically for its strength. Garments made from hemp have been found in tombs that are 8,000+ years old, having stood the test of time. They were also used to construct boat sails for Christopher Columbus because of their incredible strength, and were also used to construct flags for colonial Americans. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson even farmed hemp for its incredible strength.

Previous processes used to convert hemp fibers to textiles did not remove the rough lignin, making it less than ideal for clothing. But the hemp clothing of today is much more soft and luxurious than it once was. Starting in the 1980s, the lignin was removed from hemp fibers by using an enzymatic approach. This allows manufacturers to preserve hemp’s strength while making it much more soft and malleable.

The strength of hemp lends many benefits to organic clothing. Of course, most importantly, hemp clothing is much more durable and long-wearing because of the fiber strength. But hemp also holds it shape better than other fibers and stretches far less, which prevents uneven shaping and warping. Hemp can also be used to make high-wear items like shoes, handbags, and even furniture.Making the investment in hemp clothing is one of the smartest purchasing decisions you can make. Your hemp clothing will outlast almost all other textiles, and will even get softer the more you wear them – without losing their strength.

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