It comes from the long strands of pot fiber that make up the stem of the hemp plant. Long bast fibers are most desirable for textile production. They can be spun and woven into a fine, linen-like fabric. This fabric can then be used alone or mixed with cotton, linen, silk or artificial fibers such as lycra and lyocell. Hemp fibers are resistant to mold and microbes, making them a valuable product in the manufacture of sails, tarpaulins, awnings, carpets and clothing.

Compared to other potting fibers such as hemp, ramie and jute, hemp ranks second in fiber length, final fiber length, aspect ratio, strength, tensile strength and breaking length, and third in cellulose content.

The main differences between hemp and linen are:

• Although most processing methods and machinery reduce hemp fiber lengths, hemp fibers can reach longer lengths. New processing techniques for hemp can be developed to allow fiber length to become an advantage in certain applications.
• Linen is reported to have a "farm odor" when used to make composite boards, while hemp exhibits very little odour.
• Hemp is colorless.
• Less processing is required to produce textile quality long line linen fiber. The hemp is larger and the bonds are stronger to separate the fibers.
• Linen is thinner than hemp, so wetting is easier. This is an important issue and a critical factor affecting the quality of the fiber.
• Linen is preferred over hemp in the textile industry, even in geographical regions where there is no restriction on hemp cultivation.

Hemp fabric is naturally more suitable than cotton for people with chemical sensitivities such as Multiple Chemical Sensitivities. Hemp grows well without herbicides, fungicides or pesticides. Cotton production, on the other hand, consumes almost half of the agricultural chemicals used in American products. Hemp bast fibers are one of the longest natural soft fibers. They are longer, stronger, more absorbent, more mold resistant and more insulating than cotton. This means that hemp will keep you warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer than cotton. Hemp is more effective at blocking the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. The nature of hemp fibers makes them more absorbent to dyes, which combined with hemp's ability to filter ultraviolet rays better means that hemp material is less prone to fading than cotton fabrics. Like cotton, hemp can be made into a variety of fabrics, including high-quality linen. When mixed with materials such as cotton, linen and silk, hemp provides a stronger, longer-lasting product while maintaining its quality and softness.

FROM FIELD TO FABRIC Hemp has shown that it can have a significant positive impact on the environment and people's lives. The processes to transform hemp plants into fabrics and clothes can be examined in detail under the following headings;

Growth: Hemp grows very fast, taking 80-120 days to germinate to maturity (depending on variety, latitude and area/climatic factors) - Reaching a height of 15' is one of the most impressive features of hemp. On a summer's day, some claim you can almost see the hemp growing. Unlike cotton, hemp grows in many climatic zones. It gives good results especially in regions where corn is grown. The plant has a short growing season of three to four months. Hemp is densely packed with up to 150 plants per square meter to produce tall plants containing long primary bast fibers. Hemp plants have reached a height of two to four meters when they are ready to be harvested. Hemp does not require pesticides to help it grow, as it is naturally pest resistant. It is known to reduce pests in future crops when grown in rotation. Hemp does not require herbicides, as it is grown so densely that it suffocates other plants. Hemp also requires little or no fertilizer and returns 60-70% of the nutrients it takes from the soil.

Weed Control: Herbicides are not required to grow hemp. Hemp grows very quickly and its dense leaves suffocate most grasses. Field selection, tillage before seeding, shallow seeding and packaging after seeding are easy.

Insect Control: The Bertha caterpillar is a cyclic pest of canola and other crops in Canada. Other pests observed include Lygus plant bugs, earthworms and grasshoppers. Organic farming methods can be used to control these insect pests.

Disease Control: Diseases that hemp can attack include Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea. Wild mustard and volunteer canola or adjacent canola stands can be sources of Sclerotinia root rot infections. Adequate rotation with non-susceptible crops, providing seeds free of diseased organisms, and management of host species such as wild mustard and volunteer canola are key approaches to managing disease risk. Lower plant densities used for seed production should be less risky for sclerotinia than higher-density plots for fiber production, but because fibrous crops will be cut by mid-flowering, the disease may have fewer consequences.

Harvest: For hemp, there are two crops to harvest - hemp fiber and hemp seeds. The best quality fiber is obtained by cutting in the early and mid-flowering period. Mowers and round balers with the pinch rollers removed may be suitable for low to medium quality end uses. The best approach for harvesting seems to be to run the shear bar 1, 1.5m above the ground. Care should be taken not to dehull the seeds in the combine, as hulled seeds are more prone to spoilage or loss of quality in storage. The straw material remaining after splicing can be cut and baled. The mature stem contains a coarse, low-grade fiber compared to the stem cut at early flowering, but is still marketable.

Drying and Storage: The average moisture content of freshly blended seeds can be 16-20%. The moisture content at which hemp seeds/grain can be considered "dry" is not exactly known. Seeds should be dried between 12% and 10%. The airflow through the hemp grain should be relatively free. Since grain can be tough when combined, drying should be started as soon as possible after harvest to ensure the quality remains high. Large fans, some with heaters, are used to dry hemp seeds grains.

Grain Cleaning: Ultimately, hemp seeds need to be cleaned to a strict standard for food processing. A conventional seed cleaner should be able to handle most foreign matter or weed seed problems. If there is a significant amount of green foreign matter in the harvested grain, the grain should be pre-cleaned before storage to prevent spoilage.

Grading: Grading standards have not been set for hemp seeds. Buyers will be concerned about foreign matter, seeds with sticky bonds, seeds that have been hulled or otherwise damaged, and non-species crop or weed seeds.

HEMP FABRIC PRODUCTION

Hemp can be easily grown organically due to its unique nature. The transformation of hemp fiber into fabric and fabric into clothing should be done using processes that are healthy for the individual, the environment and the society. Hemp fabrics have been woven for at least 10,000 years. Traditional methods have evolved over the centuries, but remain friendly to the environment and the user, as the processes remain mechanical rather than chemical. Many hemp fabric manufacturers, especially in Eastern European countries such as Romania and Hungary, use the traditional mechanical process using modern machinery specially designed for hemp processing.

Modern methods are being developed that rely on chemical rather than mechanical processes as they are faster, less labor intensive and therefore more economical. Profit starvation harms the health of people, ecology and the environment.

We will examine the basic processes and how they are carried out under modern chemical methods and traditional organic methods. The main processes used in producing hemp fabric for clothing are:

1. Separation of fibers;
2. Spinning and spinning these fibers;
3. Cleaning and softening;
4. Painting and finishing;

1-FIBER SEPARATION IN HEMP FABRIC PRODUCTION:

Retting starts the process of separating the long pot fibers from the non-fiber parts of the bark and is completed during the decoration and fuzzing stages.

Chemical Methods: Modern chemical hemp processing uses enzymes, chemicals, and even ultrasound to melt or separate the long bast fibers from the plant to spin them into yarn for fabrics.

Some hemp fiber producers in China use modern physico-chemical methods that create a cotton-like short fiber. This creates a short fiber hemp called "cotton" hemp or "herd" hemp. However, the quality of the resulting yarns still needs to be improved, especially in the area of long-term wash and abrasion resistance. This may be due to chemical processes that remove most of the natural binders, lignin and pectin, from hemp fibers.

Organic Methods: The traditional processing of hemp by plants into yarn for fabrics relies on natural and mechanical processes to separate the long fibers from the plant for spinning. The two traditional types of pooling are field and water pooling. Basically, the rot is the microbial decay of pectin, the substance that sticks the fiber into the woody core of the hemp stem.

In traditional field wetting, it is bacterial with the aid of dew or rain. Pooling in the field will include cutting the straw into 30-45cm lengths, turning the pile at intervals of several days, and baling when rotted and dry. Depending on the weather, it takes 14 to 21 days to complete the watering in the field. Ecologically acceptable water pond should be constructed near a sewage treatment plant to treat wastewater. Settling in water produces a smoother and better quality fiber, but the process is time consuming and costly and can contaminate the body of water used for the process.

Another method is green pooling or mechanical pooling. This process, machines used in the field to mechanically separate fiber from scrap, are currently being designed by various companies around the world.

In Eastern Europe, crude fiber is traditionally separated by soaking, crushing, scratching and piling. With this method, high-quality long fibers are produced, which are first spun on special long-staple spinning equipment (up to 14 Nm) and then woven.

2- FIBER SPINNING AND WEAVING IN HEMP FABRIC PRODUCTION

Spinning takes hemp fibers and combines them to produce a long, continuous yarn. This yarn is then used to weave or knit fabric, which is used in hemp garments and textiles. What differs in the spinning process between chemically processed hemp fibers and organic-processed fibers is generally the length of the hemp fiber and the spinning machines required to spin long-fiber organic hemp and short-fiber, chemically-treated hemp. However, textile manufacturers who want to reduce costs also use chemical methods to process hemp fibers.

When the hemp fabric is washed and shrunk, the webbing will naturally close. This is directly proportional to the degree of shrinkage achieved. In practical terms, this means that one of the same woven fabrics may look different if washed, dyed, bleached or shrunk.

Chemical Methods:

Unlike long-staple hemp, short-staple “cottonized” hemp created by chemical treatment can be spun and finished on slightly modified cotton or wool processing equipment, so existing and cost-effective infrastructures can be used for processing cotton and wool. This enables textile manufacturers to start processing hemp fabrics quickly and at a lower cost to enter this new market. Today, it is spun using short-staple hemp on modern rotor spinning machines.

Organic Methods:

Today's fiber spinning machines are designed for the shorter fibers found in cotton and wool. Since hemp melted using conventional organic methods preserves the long fibers in hemp, special spinning machines are required to process the long fibers into spun yarn. The additional expense of special spinning machines and the higher operating cost have discouraged existing textile manufacturers from expanding their operations to the production of long-staple hemp yarns.

3- CLEANING AND SOFTENING IN HEMP FABRIC PRODUCTION

Among those familiar with hemp fabric from years ago, hemp has a reputation for being harsh and even skin abrasive. Naturally long and strong fibers created a harder and heavier fabric. Hemp textile manufacturers have sought ways to improve the softness of hemp fabric.

Chemical Methods:

Chemical processing uses heavy caustic sodas and acid rinses to pulp, clean and soften the fiber. Unfortunately, this destroys much of the fiber's rich character and strength and produces hazardous, environmentally damaging waste.

Organic Methods:

Eco-minded hemp textile manufacturers are researching and developing new methods to produce chemical-free, organic hemp fabrics that are gentle to the skin and yet retain hemp's exceptional durability. ECOLUTION®, an eco-friendly hemp producer and producer based in Romania, has pioneered many new ways to produce superior hemp apparel and products. They achieved this by refining the fuzzing phase of their combing technology and the taping phase in fiber preparation.

Due to its low lignin content, hemp can be pulped using fewer chemicals than wood. Its natural shine can eliminate the need to use chlorine bleach. A gentler and gentler chemistry is possible with hemp fibers using hydrogen peroxide instead of chlorine dixoid. All scrubbing and cleaning agents are biodegradable and not solvent based. Therefore, all these methods are more environmentally friendly.

4- DYE & FINISHING IN HEMP FABRIC PRODUCTION

The environmental impact of textile dyeing varies widely around the world. In many developing countries, there are no regulations regarding dyeing methods, dye types used and waste disposal. In the United States, and particularly in California, environmental laws regulate the types of dyes and dyeing methods used by commercial dye shops.

There is a lot of confusion about what textiles should be dyed and what should be considered "environmental". Three factors should be taken into account when determining the extent of environmental damage caused by the dyeing process:

1. The actual dye used and whether it has toxic properties.
2. The dyeing method and how much energy is required.
3. How much dye enters the fabric and the method of removing excess dye and chemicals.

The handling of waste is probably the biggest factor in determining how harmful the process is to the environment. Is excess waste filtered and neutralized before discharge? Or is it discharged into a river without the use of any filtration? The fact that the cheapest waste method is generally used in developing countries makes it important to develop environmental protection laws.

Hemp fabrics can be dyed or beige, which is the appearance of hemp fibers after processing.

Chemical Methods:

Chlorine is often used to clean clothes and prepare them for dyeing, followed by synthetic dyes. Synthetic dyes are produced in the laboratory and synthesized from other chemicals. Some synthetic dyes contain heavy metals and other elements that react negatively when released into the environment. Newer synthetic dyes used in the USA and Europe tend to have less harmful elements. The dyeing method also plays a factor. Harmful chemicals can be added to the dyebath to help the dye molecules bind to the fibers of the fabric. In addition, the amount of energy used to operate the dyeing machine in the form of mechanical movement and heat also varies greatly from company to company and from country to country.

Mercerization is sometimes used to prepare garments for dyeing, as it increases the gloss, strength, and tendency to accept dyes. Mercerization is a process that swells the fibers of the yarns by dipping the yarns in sodium hydroxide, a caustic soda, followed by neutralization with acid.

Organic Methods:

For hemp to be considered organic, the finishing of the fabrics is done largely without the use of synthetic chemicals. If it is to be used absolutely, only chemicals that meet strict ecological criteria are used. New ecologically safe technologies have been developed in dyeing and finishing, such as air finishing technology, which uses powerful compressed air jets to soften the hemp fabric during the finishing stage.

Sometimes a starch sizing can be used before dyeing and finishing. Sizing is a general term for compounds applied to fabrics to improve their smoothness, abrasion resistance, hardness, strength and gloss weight. Starch is often used in organic processing and enzymes are often used to reduce the size of natural sizing. Hydrogen peroxide bleach is used to prepare fabric for light or brightly colored dyes.

Natural dyes can be made from plants, soil clays, and even insects. Many people believe that fabrics dyed with natural dyes will be less harmful to the ecosystem than traditional dyeing methods, but this is not always the case. The process of extracting pigment molecules from nature may require more energy and harmful chemicals than synthesizing them in the laboratory. In some paints, the actual pigment molecules are the same, whether they originate from nature or from the laboratory.

Low-impact and fiber-reactive dyes are made from water-soluble natural ingredients with a fixation rate of at least 70%. It has no heavy metal content. The low-impact dye process recovers the heat used in the dyeing process and has in-situ water filtration to clean up the effluent used in the dyeing process. Additives used in the dyebath must be biodegradable.

The following eco-friendly process can be used to make hemp fabric.

(Note: These processes can also be used on other natural fabrics.)

• Stretching: It is the process of keeping a fabric at the desired width during drying. A stretch frame machine holds the fabric firmly at the edges with pins or clips as it travels through a heated chamber. This is usually the final step of the finishing process that gives the fabric its finished appearance.
• Sanforized: The trademarked control standard of shrinkage performance. The fabric is forced to conform to less than 1% tension.
• Compression: It is a permanent process that makes the texture obtained by shrinking a fabric by heat and pressure, making it crepe/wrinkled and voluminous.
• Calendering: The fabric is passed between rollers heated under pressure to obtain a flat, shiny, smooth, high-gloss surface.
• Steam Chamber: Stabilizes the colors of the dyes after printing and dyeing processes. The process in which steam is passed through the fabric. This partially shrinks and conditions fabrics, especially when applied to fabrics.
• Heat Shrinkage: Improves the fabric's shrink resistance and shape retention and other desirable properties such as crease resistance, often through dry or moist heat.
• Burning: Burning the fibers protruding from the fabric by passing them over a flame or heated plates. It gives the smooth surface necessary for printing and clear surfaces.
• Brushing: Uses multiple brushes or other abrasive elements to raise the fiber ends so that a fluff forms on the fabric surface.
• Sanding or Sueding: It is the process of passing the fabric through rapidly rotating rollers covered with abrasive paper.
• Napping: Raising the surface fibers of the fabric by passing metal tips/fine wire brushes or rapidly rotating rollers covered with teasel (plant) burrs.
• Enzyme Wash: The use of an enzyme (organic catalyst used to speed up a chemical reaction) to produce stone washed effects on fabrics. This process is less damaging to fabrics than real stone washing and produces a highly desirable soft hand.
• Biopolishing: Where cellulose (any group of enzymes that break down cellulose) enzymes hydrolyze fiber surfaces. This treatment heals the hand, reduces pilling and pilling, and gives a clearer result. Biopolishing agents must meet the following requirements to be considered environmentally friendly:

-The softeners used are biodegradable.

-Does not contain formaldehyde-based resins.

-No undisclosed chemical coating.

-No acid wash / No stone wash.