Hemp is the stalkfibre of the cannabis plant.
The written history of the plant can be traced back as far as the second millenium B.C. when it was used as remedy, fibre provider and for ritual purposes.
The warriors of the crusades wore hemp under their armours and the underwear of the Russian soldiers in World War II was made of hemp too.
The Assassins, a spiritual and belligerent order of the 13th century in the Middle East, used the drug of the plant to demonstrate paradise to their members , thus taking away their fear of death which enabled them to carry out their deadly missions without fear, and many of them actually lost their lives. Today still the drugs’ name “hashish” relates to this context.
Up to Modern Age paper was made from hemp as well as ropes for navigation. Due to the fibres ability to hold up to 30% of its weight in humidity it is still used today to seal water pipes, pumps and fittings.
In the 1930ies hemp cultivation was forbidden due to the efforts an influential American paper tycoon who wanted to force paper production from the wood of his plantations.The official reason stated that hemp was a dangerous drug.
And so up to today the cultivation of the THC-containing plant is forbidden in Western Europe and the USA. Efforts have been made to grow species that contain less THC, but with little success because it is precisely the THC-content that acts as natural pesticide so that the use of chemical pesticides became necessary .
Hemp fabrics available on the market today come from China, Rumania and Poland.
They are robust and hardwearing, they can be boil-washed, they don’t crease much and become softer and cosier with every use.
Ramie too is a stalkfibre made from the raffia of a nettlelike, tropical plant called Boehmeria.
The fibres are fine, long and have a beautiful soft glow about them.
They are similar in quality to linen, can be boil-washed, are hardwearing and sadly enough find far too little use in the clothing industry.
Ramie mostly comes from China.
