What is hemp?

 Why is hemp apparel so desirable? 

If you’re enthusiastic about green products, you must have heard of hemp fabrics because it’s one of the best things that happened to environment-friendly textiles. Backpacks made using hemp are just one of its numerous derivatives that are worth considering. But why?

What makes them so valuable and more importantly, why should we be choosing hemp bags? To find out, read what we have to say and by the end, you’ll definitely be motivated to buy a hemp backpack. Let’s take a look.

What really is hemp?

Hemp belongs to the family of Cannabis sativa plants. Environment-conscious manufacturers are increasingly resorting to hemp in making textiles, construction materials, foods, oils and a lot more. Its fibrous stalk grows quite tall and has minimal THC levels. Hemp’s use as fabric is just one of its numerous other applications.

How is Hemp in fabric used?

Apart from being a self-sustaining product harvested organically and enhancing the soil it takes root in, hemp in fabric is durable, strong and efficient too. Not only that, hemp is amazingly healthy for your skin and is very comfortable and good for you to use, not just from the environment perspective, but for your body as well. This is why a huge portion of hemp applications are invested in apparel. Here are some other ways in which manufacturers use hemp fabrics and garments:

• Children’s clothing, shirts, dresses and pants
• Upholstery
• Tablecloth
• Bedroom fabrics like blankets, bedsheets and duvets.
• Sturdy ropes

In this close-up photo of the Tulum backpack, the cotton strands are the lighter colored ones (horizontal) and the hemp strands are the vertical, darker ones. The blend is 55% hemp and 45% cotton. 

Hemp is a valuable plant that can be used up in its entirety. The seeds are edible, and so are the roots. The stem produces fibers for usage while the leaves and stem both contribute to creating paper.  

Why are hemp backpacks recommended?

Hemp backpacks are miles ahead of their cotton counterparts. Why? There are a lot of reasons. For starters, the liquid absorption rate of hemp is higher than cotton helping the color to stay on the bag for a longer time. Its porous structure makes it lightweight too. 

Here are some of the reasons why we should pay more attention to hemp:

Strength

Hemp fabrics have almost 3 times more tensile strength than cotton, making it more durable despite being lightweight.

Resistance to weather

Hemp doesn’t let mold grow and repels harmful UVs, making it a great choice for outdoors.

Versatility

There are products available that combine the properties of hemp and other fabrics like silk, cotton etc. Such blends provide versatility to the qualities of hemp.

Low water requirements

Unlike cotton, hemp doesn’t require a lot of water for growing up. In fact, it takes more than four times less water to grow hemp than it takes to grow cotton while producing cellulose in a smaller timeframe.

Environment-friendliness

Farmers need a very small amount of time to yield a big hemp harvest without investing in fertilizers or pesticides. The process of producing them is also easily renewable after every 2 or 3 years, providing more fiber and oxygen for every acre than trees themselves. Hemp also requires less land than cotton to grow.

 

For this backpack, I chose to have cotton mixed with hemp for even more softness and a tighter weave. The durability of this material is high.  

This is the outside material of the backpack, a blend of cotton and hemp that is very durable, breathable and washable.

 

Despite its light color, the beige backpack does not get dirty easily. I wear it for months before I have to wash it.