Hemp fabric comes from a plant with the same name. It belongs to the “bast fiber” family, which means it is one of several natural fibers from plant stems such as flax, jute, stinging nettle, and jute.
It is one of the fastest-growing plants, and it doesn’t need much water, energy, pesticide, or fertilizers. The plant is very good for the soil; it can be grown for many years in the same place without exhausting it. This is why hemp is considered to be eco-friendly.
Hemp requires a quarter of the water needed to grow cotton and produces 3 times more fiber per acre than cotton.
Hemp has properties that are very similar to linen which is why they are usually difficult to distinguish.
However, as hemp belongs to the same family as cannabis (although it does not have the same psychoactive effects), growing hemp is heavily regulated or prohibited in many countries.
Hemp belongs to SANE Approved Material List. It means that a product made of at least 90% hemp (or blended with other SANE Approved Material) and produced in a facility holding a SANE Scope Certificate is eligible to be certified SANE.
Organic hemp certified by GOTS or OCS also belongs to SANE Approved Material.
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Other sources: Duque A., Pequito S., Pazour J.A., 2020. Industrial hemp fiber: A sustainable and economical alternative to cotton.