TIL hemp fabric isn't all it's cracked up to be

I designed a line with hemp for its eco claims, but the pieces pilled after minimal wear. This totally undermined the premium feel I was going for. Are we just accepting lower quality for the sake of being green?

5 comments

5 Comments

emma_garcia1mo ago

Ugh my linen pants did that too!

david_reed221mo ago

Your 'premium feel' got ruined by pilling? Welcome to real world use. Hemp isn't magic, it's just fabric. If you're that bothered by a bit of pilling, maybe eco fashion isn't for you. The point is being sustainable, not making indestructible clothes.

mary_hernandez1mo ago

Dealing with hemp pilling was a headache for me too. Blending it with organic cotton, about 70% hemp to 30% cotton, made a big difference. Pre-washing the fabric before sewing reduced pilling even more. It kept the sustainable feel without the quality drop.

rivera.riley1mo ago

Totally. This reminds me of how the best solutions usually involve mixing things, not using one pure thing. I see it when cooking, where blending two cheap ingredients makes something better than one fancy one alone. Or fixing up my old car with a mix of new and used parts instead of all new. Sometimes the perfect answer is letting go of that "all or nothing" idea.

emmay671mo ago

I used to be all about that "all or nothing" pure material idea too. Seeing how blending fabrics actually works better totally changed my mind.