How to make textiles from hemp?

[horseshoe3]

I was at a living history type gathering and saw a lady processing flax into linen cloth. That got me thinking about hemp fiber and whether is is the same process.

Basically, the process for flax is
1. Comb the seeds out of the plant.
2. Gently beat the stem to break and loosen the filler from around the fiber.
3. Comb it again to remove the filler and leave only the fiber.
4. Spin into thread and weave.

Does anyone know if hemp uses the same process, or is there something else I would need to do?

[Gaillo]

Yes... the process is similar - it goes like this:

Step 1 - Remove stems and seeds that you don't need
Step 2 - Smoke some of it in preparation for next steps
Step 3 - Hmmm... I seem to have forgot the rest! ;D

[TheNocturnalEgyptian]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z7t36hpMGc&feature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBqGzRbtggU&feature=related


The process is shown in these two videos. It is similar to what is described in the OP. The stalk is simply very fibrous and is processed like most plant based textiles.

It lasts a lifetime as a textile, yet as a plastic or cardboard replacement, becomes completely biodegradable and infinitely renewable.

[Glass]

Yes... the process is similar - it goes like this:

Step 1 - Remove stems and seeds that you don't need
Step 2 - Smoke some of it in preparation for next steps
Step 3 - Hmmm... I seem to have forgot the rest! ;D



There's always one isn't there? ;) I guess you could just wear a few leaves Adam and Eve style.

But seriously the hemp fibres are pretty tough when woven. Make very durable material.

[Gaillo]

Yes... the process is similar - it goes like this:

Step 1 - Remove stems and seeds that you don't need
Step 2 - Smoke some of it in preparation for next steps
Step 3 - Hmmm... I seem to have forgot the rest! ;D



There's always one isn't there? ;) I guess you could just wear a few leaves Adam and Eve style.

But seriously the hemp fibres are pretty tough when woven. Make very durable material.


;D

Seriously, though... I'm aware of the benefits of Hemp, not only for textiles but for a multitude of other uses. Henry Ford even made prototype car bodies out of it! It is a shame that misguided (or properly guided, depending on your agenda) prohibitional drug laws are keeping an entire industry from forming! >:(

For the record, I don't smoke, haven't for probably 10 years now - just couldn't resist the "inside" joke! ;)

[Glass]

Yes... the process is similar - it goes like this:

Step 1 - Remove stems and seeds that you don't need
Step 2 - Smoke some of it in preparation for next steps
Step 3 - Hmmm... I seem to have forgot the rest! ;D



There's always one isn't there? ;) I guess you could just wear a few leaves Adam and Eve style.

But seriously the hemp fibres are pretty tough when woven. Make very durable material.


;D

Seriously, though... I'm aware of the benefits of Hemp, not only for textiles but for a multitude of other uses. Henry Ford even made prototype car bodies out of it! It is a shame that misguided (or properly guided, depending on your agenda) prohibitional drug laws are keeping an entire industry from forming! >:(

For the record, I don't smoke, haven't for probably 10 years now - just couldn't resist the "inside" joke! ;)


Hehe. Is that don't smoke like a politician doesn't smoke? Doesn't inhale? I noticed when I gave you a karma you had 420.

but it is an amazing plant with uses on so many levels. that's for sure.

[Quixote2]

snipped from: http://www.madehow.com/Volume-6/Industrial-Hemp.html

The Manufacturing Process

Cultivation and harvesting

Hemp is an annual plant that grows from seed. It grows in a range of soils, but tends to grow best on land that produces high yields of corn. The soil must be well drained, rich in nitrogen, and non-acidic. Hemp prefers a mild climate, humid atmosphere, and a rainfall of at least 25-30 in (64-76 cm) per year. Soil temperatures must reach a minimum of 42-46°F (5.5-7.7°C) before seeds can be planted.

•1 The crop is ready for harvesting high quality fiber when the plants begin to shed pollen, in mid-August for North America. Harvesting for seed occurs four to six weeks later. Fiber hemp is normally ready to harvest in 70-90 days after seeding. A special machine with rows of independent teeth and a chopper is used. To harvest hemp for textiles, specialized cutting equipment is required. Combines are used for harvesting grain, which are modified to avoid machine parts being tangled up with bast fiber.

•2 Once the crop is cut, the stalks are allowed to rett (removal of the pectin [binder] by natural exposure to the environment) in the field for four to six weeks—depending on the weather—to loosen the fibers. While the stalks lay in the field, most of the nutrients extracted by the plant are returned to the soil as the leaves decompose. The stalks are turned several times using a special machine for even retting and then baled with existing hay harvesting equipment. Bales are stored in dry places, including sheds, barns, or other covered storage. The moisture content of hemp stalks should not exceed 15%. When planted for fiber, yields range from 2-6 short tons (1.8-5.4t) of dry stalks per acre, or from 3-5 short tons (2.7-4.5 t) of baled hemp stalks per acre in Canada.

Grain processing

•3 Hemp seeds must be properly cleaned and dried before storing. Extraction of oil usually takes place using a mechanical expeller press under a nitrogen atmosphere, otherwise known as mechanical cold pressing. Protection from oxygen, light, and heat is critical for producing a tasty oil with an acceptable shelf-life. Solvent extraction methods are also emerging for removing oil since they achieve higher yields. Such methods use hexan, liquid carbon dioxide, or ethanol as the solvent. Refining and deodorizing steps may be required for cosmetics manufacturers.

•4 A dehulling step, which removes the crunchy skin from the seed using a crushing machine, may be required. Modifications to existing equipment may be required to adequately clean the seeds of hull residues.
Fiber processing

•5 To separate the woody core from the bast fiber, a sequence of rollers (breakers) or a hammermill are used. The bast fiber is then cleaned and carded to the desired core content and fineness, sometimes followed by cutting to size and baling. After cleaning and carding, secondary steps are often required. These include matting for the production of non-woven mats and fleeces, pulping (the breakdown of fiber bundles by chemical and physical methods to produce fibers for paper making), and steam explosion, a chemical removal of the natural binders to produce a weavable fiber. Complete processing lines for fiber hemp have outputs ranging from 2-8 short tons/hour (1.8-7.2 t/hr).

Packaging

•6 The primary fiber is pressed into a highly compressed bale, similar to other fibers like cotton, wool, and polyester. Other products, such as horse bedding, are packaged in a compressed bale.
Paper making

•7 Bast fibers are usually used in paper, which are put into a spherical tank called a digester with water and chemicals. This mixture is heated for up to eight hours at elevated temperature and pressure until all fibers are separated from each other. Washing with excess water removes the chemicals and the extracted binding components (pectin). The clean fibers are then fed into a machine called a Hollander beater, which consists of a large tub equipped with a wheel revolving around a horizontal axis. This beating step, which lasts for up to 12 hours, cuts the fibers to the desired length and produces the required surface roughness for proper bonding. Bleaching chemicals are sometimes added during this step or to separate tanks with the fibers. The bleached pulp is then pumped to the paper machine or pressed to a dryness suitable for transportation to a paper mill at another location.

Read more: How industrial hemp is made - production process, making, history, used, processing, parts, components, steps, product, industry, machine, History, Raw Materials http://www.madehow.com/Volume-6/Industrial-Hemp.html#ixzz10x6SDV80

also: http://www.hempusa.org/hmps/articles/hemp-manufacturing2.html


Manufacturing Hemp Fabric

Because of its unique nature, hemp can easily be grown organically. In creating healthy, organic clothing, growing is only half the picture. Processing fiber into fabric and fabric into garments must also be done using processes that are healthy to the individual, the environment and the society. Hemp fabrics have been woven for at least 10,000 years.

The traditional methods have evolved during the centuries but the processes have remained friendly to the environment and to the wearer because they have remained mechanical rather than chemical. Many hemp fabric manufacturers, especially in Eastern European countries such as Romania and Hungary, use the traditional mechanical process that utilize modern machinery specially designed for hemp processing.

Modern methods are being developed which rely upon chemical rather than mechanical processes because they are faster, less labor-intensive and therefore less expensive. The hunger for profits undermines the health of people, the ecology and the environment.

We will examine the basic processes and how they are performed under modern chemical methods and under traditional organic methods. The basic processes involved in creating hemp fabric for garments are:

•Separating the fibers
•Spinning and weaving these fibers into yarn
•Cleaning and softening
•Dyeing and finishing

SEPARATING FIBERS.

Retting begins the process of separating the long bast fibers from the non-fiber portions of the bark and is completed during the decortication and hackling steps.

Chemical Methods.

Modern chemical hemp processing makes use of enzymes, chemicals and even ultrasound to rett, or separate, the long bast fibers from the plant for spinning into yarns for fabrics.

Some hemp fiber manufacturers in China use modern physical-chemical methods which create a cotton-like short fiber. This creates a short fiber hemp called "cottonized" hemp or "flock" hemp. But the quality of the resulting yarns still needs improvement, especially in the area of long-term wash-and-wear resistance. This may be due to chemical processes removing most of the natural binders lignin and pectin from the hemp fibers.


Organic Methods.

Traditional hemp processing of plants into yarn for fabrics relies on natural and mechanical processes to separate the long fibers from the plant for spinning into yarns. Two traditional types of retting are field and water retting. Basically, retting is the microbial decay of pectin, the substance that glues the fiber to the woody core of the hemp stem.

In traditional field retting, the process is bacterial, aided by dew or rain. Field retting will involve chopping of the stalk into lengths of 12-18 in., turning of the windrow at several-day intervals, and baling when retted and dry. Field retting takes 14 to 21 days to complete depending upon the weather. Ecologically acceptable water retting should be conducted near a sewage treatment plant to treat the waste water.

Water retting produces a more uniform and higher quality fiber but the process is time consuming and costly and can pollute the body of water being used for the process.

Another process being developed is green retting or mechanical retting. This process uses a machine at the field to mechanically separate the fiber from the hurd. Machinery for this process is currently being designed and tested by various companies throughout the world.

In Eastern Europe, the raw fiber is separated by traditional methods of water retting, breaking, scutching, and hackling. This produces the high quality long fiber that is first spun on special long fiber spinning equipment (up to 14 Nm) and then woven.

[Serpo]

Was a doco in OZ on hemp once and after all the uses they explained about ect they called it the billion dollar crop,which was the actual name of the doco.