Hemp fabric: an absolutely environmentally friendly product

Historical facts

According to some archaeologists, hemp began to be used more than 4 thousand years ago. Even in ancient times, this plant was a raw material for the manufacture of clothing, bed linen, sailing sheets, curtains and many other textile products. It was also widely used for the manufacture of ropes, ropes and cables. In Russia, hemp began to be cultivated under Peter I, and the fibers extracted from the plant were called hemp or hemp. It was also used as caulking for wooden houses.

There are two types of the plant: Cannabis Sativa, which is legal for cultivation and used for industrial production, and Cannabis Indica, which contains higher amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (a psychoactive drug), its fibers are of lower quality and are used in the production of drugs and some types of medicines.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the famous company LEVI'S produced its first jeans made from hemp fabric and tried to establish their mass production. But the process was very labor-intensive, and then the war on drugs began to interfere with this. Nowadays, when they began to cultivate hemp that does not contain narcotic substances, and the technological process became easier, this type of fabric began to rapidly gain popularity.

Cannabis is a dioecious plant, meaning there are male and female plants. Bushes with male flowers are called “poskonyu”, and those with female flowers are called “materka”. Male ones ripen faster, so they used to be collected by hand, even before they hardened, and the mother was left to ripen to obtain seeds. Thin fabrics for clothing were made from the raw material, and ropes and ropes were made from the mother cloth.

Head of the Russian Academy of Sciences: growing hemp will help the Russian Federation achieve carbon neutrality

We are talking about industrial hemp. You can make ropes, clothes, and oil from it. How promising is the cultivation of this plant and are farmers ready to cultivate it?

Alexander Sergeev. Photo: Dmitry Feoktistov/host photo agency TASS

The head of the Russian Academy of Sciences spoke about the benefits of growing hemp. We are not talking about a plant with a high content of a substance that has a psychotropic effect. Alexander Sergeev talks about technical hemp, that is, industrial hemp.

The head of the Russian Academy of Sciences believes that hemp is good for the environment. “It deposits better per hectare of plantings than good deciduous forest.” And this will help Russia avoid the cross-border carbon tax that the EU plans to introduce soon, Sergeev said.

This tax means that every company importing something into the European Union will have to report how much emissions occurred during the production of its products, and pay accordingly. And what will help us achieve our low-carbon goals is the absorption capacity of forests, of which we have many. But the absorption of such a large area, unfortunately, is not so great, experts say. Apparently, this is why we started talking about what absorbs CO2 better.

Can hemp help you evade the carbon tax? Alexander Perov, head of special projects at the National Energy Security Fund, comments.

Alexander Perov, head of special projects at the National Energy Security Foundation “It is possible that growing a crop such as hemp will reduce the overall emissions that come from the territory of our country. As for the reduction in the carbon tax that Europe is preparing to introduce, there are big doubts about this: whether the European Union will count the absorption that will occur as a result of the implementation of such measures. This has already happened in third world countries, when money was allocated for green projects, forests were grown, and then these forests were simply cut down.”

However, growing industrial hemp is a good idea, experts say. The head of the Russian Academy of Sciences also said that this would restore Russian presence in the technical fiber market. In the USSR, hemp fiber was produced in huge quantities, surpassing all countries in the world in terms of plantings. But in recent decades, the area under cultivation has gradually decreased, and from the 900 thousand hectares sown in the Soviet years, there are now about 10 thousand left. Although today it would be justified to increase the production of hemp fiber, says Elena Yembaturova, associate professor of the department of botany, selection and seed production of garden plants of the RSAU-MSHA.

Elena Yembaturova Associate Professor of the Department of Botany, Selection and Seed Production of Garden Plants RSAU-MSHA “The hemp grown in our conditions is industrial. There is an expression in English: Itʼs rope not dope (this is a rope, not a dose). And Russia was once one of the most important exporters of hemp, the rope made from hemp. Hemp is one of the most important textile plants and spinning crops. They also made clothes from it, and they say that these clothes repel insects, it worked as a repellent. Since everyone is now interested in environmentally friendly production, this is more than justified. More and more people are supporting various eco-products.”

Despite the obvious advantages, Russian farmers are skeptical about the idea of ​​growing hemp. Everyone sees periodically appearing news that criminal cases are being brought against pensioners for a bush that suddenly grew on their property.

Ulyanovsk farmer Alexey Yakushev, who grows sunflowers, believes that from a business point of view, hemp is a fairly promising crop. It can also be used to make very useful (and expensive) hemp oil. But not in the current realities, he notes.

Alexey Yakushev farmer “Science is moving forward. Varieties of fine-fiber hemp have been developed; they make very good clothes. These clothes are superior in properties to cotton ones, because hemp also has antibacterial properties. Hemp can be processed into fiber. In Soviet times, hemp oil was made very expensive. Everything is fine, except that there will be problems with the police. You know our state: if you do everything, they can find fault, but here whole hemp grows.”

The head of the Russian Academy of Sciences draws attention to the fact that in many countries around the world the use of hemp has been legalized. For example, drugs have been created based on it to make it easier for patients to tolerate chemotherapy. That is, according to him, hemp may have “a very serious medical future, and therefore a business one.”

*Illegal distribution, acquisition, storage, transportation, manufacture, processing of drugs, as well as their use on the territory of the Russian Federation are prosecuted by law. Business FM does not support or promote any of the above activities.

Add BFM.ru to your news sources?

Production Features

Read about: velvet: incomprehensible, great and perfect.

The fabric is produced from the stems of the plant, which consist of pulp and fibers. The bushes are planted in the fields very close to each other, when the leaves fall, the remaining stems are mowed down and left to lie on the ground in rain and sun, sometimes turning over so that the sun hits each side. The fibers become soft, and all minerals return to the ground along with rainwater. This process is called biological lobe or spread. The stems are then collected by a special machine that separates the fiber from the pulp. Previously, this was done manually. The resulting fiber is bleached and dried.

On a note

The production of hemp fibers does not use a large number of chemicals, unlike the production of synthetics and cotton.

Hemp textiles

A distinctive feature of the hemp plant is that its stems have strong bast fibers, which, after processing, turn into an excellent textile material used:

• for sewing bed linen;
• clothes (work, everyday);
• tablecloths and napkins;
• paper;
• hemp ropes;
• fillings for blankets and pillows;
• reusable diapers.

The stems of the plant are subjected to long-term processing using special technology. The fibers are so strong that they surpass the quality of cotton and linen. The fabrics have a porous structure; unlike linen, they are soft and somewhat rough.

What is the name of their hemp fabric? The agricultural crop in English is read hemp, which means hemp. And cannabis (Cánnabis in Latin) is a genus of bast plants whose stems have a fibrous structure. This is where another name for the fabric comes from.

Hemp textiles are a safe product. It does not have any negative effect on the body, only a beneficial effect.

Hemp fabric and its properties

Hemp products are practical and easy to use, as they have many positive qualities:

• strength and wear resistance. Hemp fibers are the strongest among plant fibers, they are several times stronger than cotton and wool. Clothes made from such fabric can withstand repeated washing and will last for many years;
• hygroscopicity. The fibers are porous, due to which the fabric is able to absorb large amounts of water. This ensures good “breathing” of the skin and optimal thermal balance. Hemp clothes are warm in winter and cool in summer;
• hypoallergenic. When growing a plant, there is no need to use fertilizers or chemicals to control pests, so clothing made from such fibers is environmentally friendly and non-toxic, suitable for people with sensitive skin. In addition, it does not attract dust particles;
• do not accumulate static electricity, unlike synthetics, wool and cotton;
• softness. Hemp is softer and warmer than cotton, its fibers are longer and stronger;
• lightness and color fastness. Dyes better than cotton and other types of fabrics;
• resistance to deformation. The fibers do not shrink at water temperatures up to 300 degrees.

Benefits for the body

Textiles made from hemp are protected from the effects of fungi and pathogens. They are not afraid of mold and bacteria, they completely destroy the smell of sweat.

Read about: lightness and airiness in beautiful chiffon fabric.

The fabric refreshes and tones the body, and also has a restorative, calming and analgesic effect. It is recommended for the treatment of erysipelas, diathesis, mastitis, and bruises.

Clothing made from hemp almost completely (95%) blocks the harmful effects of ultraviolet rays, thereby preventing premature aging of the skin.

Application

hemp jeans

The fabric, which retained all the beneficial properties of the plant during production, began to be used again for the manufacture of clothing, accessories, interior items, and is even used to decorate indoor walls.

Hemp clothing and accessories

Hemp fibers are used to produce various items of women's and men's clothing: shirts, T-shirts, dresses, sweaters, socks. Thanks to modern technologies, the fabric can be very rough and textured (like burlap), or, on the contrary, thin and smooth like silk. Due to its positive effect on the body as a whole and its hypoallergenic nature, this fabric is often used in the production of clothing for newborns.

Due to the lack of a "greenhouse effect" in clothes made from hemp fabric, it is pleasant and useful to exercise. Knitted items made from hemp yarn are very light, do not shrink, do not stretch or fall off even when machine washed. The yarn can be made from 100% hemp fibers or with the addition of cotton, linen and cashmere.

Backpacks and bags made of hemp fabric are durable, wear-resistant and look very stylish.

Home textiles

In eco-style interiors, curtains made of hemp fabric are used, and decorative pillows, tablecloths, bedspreads, and canopies are also sewn from it. They repel dust, do not fade, do not deform and last a very long time.

It is very comfortable to sleep on bed linen made from such fabric; it absorbs moisture without sticking to the body. Hemp fabric is capable of emitting electric waves corresponding to the electronic waves of human skin.

Advantages and disadvantages

Hemp fibers, even after processing and fabrication from them, remain biologically active. The material interacts with the skin, protects it from the negative effects of the environment.

In addition, the fabric has many more positive aspects:

Clothing made from hemp does not electrify, is wear-resistant, does not shrink, and does not retain odors. The strength of the fabric increases after each wash, and the material becomes softer.

Author:

Zakharova Nina Afanasyevna

I hope you like my article! If you find any shortcomings, just write to me about it! I am always ready for a conversation and will answer any questions you have, ask them!