Fibre encyclopedia
Hemp
Also called hemp · true hemp · serat hemp · HA
Stem fibre from the fibre varieties of Cannabis sativa. Coarser than flax as it arrives, and softened by processing rather than by the plant.
Class
Natural
Comes from
From a plant
Where it comes from
Hemp is grown as a stem crop and the fibre is loosened by retting, as flax is. European labelling rules name it true hemp. Indonesian labels usually keep the English word.
How it feels to wear
Air
Air moves through the fibre easily
Water
Takes water into the fibre
Heat
Lets body heat go
Stretch
No stretch of its own
Wear
Holds up to hard rubbing
Hemp fibre bundles are held together more firmly than flax, so cloth made from it starts stiff and opens up over many washes. It takes water in and dries at about the rate linen does.
Care
- Wash cool and often; hemp softens with use.
- Dry in shade to keep the colour even.
Hemp is frequently blended with cotton to bring the first-wash hand closer to what a wearer expects.
End of life
Recycling route
Mechanical recycling
Hemp reaches the waste stream in volumes too small to be sorted on its own, and follows the cloth it was blended into.
In a blend
As with flax, a cotton blend can be shredded together; a synthetic share cannot be separated out.
Skin notes
Mechanical
New hemp cloth has stiff fibre ends at the surface and is felt as firm; the effect drops as the bundles separate with washing.
Chemical
Enzyme and alkali softening are common finishes on hemp, and neither appears on the label.
If your skin reacts to a garment, a dermatologist and patch testing are what can answer it. A label cannot, and neither can this page.
What the label cannot tell you
The label says hemp. It does not say whether the stems were retted in water or on the field, and that step is what decides how fine the fibre could be combed.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 on textile fibre names and related labelling, Annex I. Checked 22 August 2026
Written from primary sources and in our own words. Where a figure could not be traced to a source anyone can open, it is not printed here.
Read the label you are holding
The scan surface reads one care label and names which questions it answers and which it leaves out. A passport says for one specific piece what a label cannot: the composition with its percentages, where the cloth came from, who worked on it, how to repair it and where it goes next.