Lots of people ask me, what the differences are between hemp or bamboo fabric and which is the best to use. Of course like most things, there is no one answer, it depends on what you are going to be doing with them, and what you want out of them. I thought that it might be helpful to look a bit closer at the two different fabrics, showing their differences and qualities so that you can decide hemp or bamboo and which will work best for you.

Bamboo fabric

Bamboo fabric is actually a man-made fabric, but made from a natural fibre. Before you say it, yes, I know that all fabrics are technically man-made, but in this context I mean a bit more than that. With some fabrics, the fibres are just spun and then woven or knit together to make a fabric. With bamboo fabrics there is a bit more involved first. Technically most bamboo fabric (including everything that we sell and every piece of clothing or fabric that I have seen for sale before) is actually a type of rayon. Very basically, the bamboo leaves and inner of the bamboo are extracted using steam, and then are crushed. It’s then mixed with various chemicals and the fibres are spun into yarn. Unfortunately this does mean that there are some waste products that are produced, but as bamboo is often grown on waste land, with the use of fewer chemicals and pesticides than some other plants which are used for fabrics, it helps to balance things out a little from an environmental point of view. It is possible to produce a fabric like linen from bamboo, such as you might with flax or hemp, but this is not usually done.

There are lots of claims as to the benefits of bamboo fibres, people often say that they are naturally anti bacterial or better for the environment. Unfortunately the processing of the bamboo fibres, does remove much of the anti bacterial properties. There are some great features of bamboo fabric though.

• It’s highly absorbent.
• It doesn’t take lots of washes to reach full absorbency.
• It’s fairly hard wearing.
• It is quicker drying than hemp, although still a bit slow compared to cotton.
• It’s beautifully soft, even after lots of washes.

Most bamboo fabric is mixed with other fibres when manufactured. This is for a number of reasons, bamboo on its own tends to break down more rapidly, so mixing it with something else helps it to last longer and still keep its own great properties. There’s nothing worse than a nice, soft piece of pure bamboo fabric that starts to develop holes after a few washes. (Sadly, I’ve had that happen to me.) Our bamboo fleece is made with 60% bamboo, 30% organic cotton and 10% cool plus. The organic cotton helps to give stability to the fabric and makes it last longer while the cool plus is a fast wicking polyester, which helps the fabric to absorb liquids faster and make it slightly quicker drying.

Hemp fabric

Hemp has been used to make fabric for thousands of years. It is used for a wide range of products from paper, to rope and fabric. The fibres are extracted manually with the use of very few or no chemicals which make it quite environmentally friendly. They can be extracted by allowing the plants to begin rotting, or by soaking in water to speed up the process. Although not all parts of the plant are used to make fabric, the left over parts are usually used to make paper, fertilizer or even fire pellets, so there is very little waste. It is also a very quickly growing plant, it can produce over 250% more fibre than cotton on the same area of land.

The fabric that is produced from hemp is very hard wearing, one of the most hard wearing fabrics that is produced. The only down side to this, is that it can become quite hard and stiff with repeated use, which puts some people off when using it for something like a cloth nappy. It is a highly absorbent fabric, although it can take over ten washes to get up to full absorbency. The slight downside to this absorbency is that it is also very slow drying, often it can appear that the fabric is dry, when a little dampness remains. It is important to get it as dry as possible, particularly if using in cloth nappies, as not being dry will stop it from being absorbent and can make it retain odours.

The main advantages of hemp fabric are:

• It’s highly absorbent.
• It’s very good for the environment.
• It’s a hard wearing, long lasting fabric.

Our hemp fabric is a mixture of 55% hemp and 45% organic cotton. This mix stops the fabric from being too slow to dry and from getting too stiff with use. If it does become hard with use, you can soften it again by giving it a firm rub or scrunch between your hands.

Hemp or bamboo, which is for you?

Deciding which fabric is for you, hemp or bamboo can be a little confusing. It really does depend on what you are using them for.

If you are looking for a hard wearing, very absorbent fabric which is good for the environment, then hemp would probably be your best choice. Items such as:

• Night nappies
• Heavy duty sanitary pads (night time or post-partum)
• Boosters for cloth nappies

If you are looking for something quite absorbent, but soft to the touch, which is fairly good for the environment, then bamboo might be a better choice for you. Ideal for items like:

• Breast pads
• Cloth nappies
• Bib backing
• Washable sanitary pads

Sometimes it’s a case of trial and error to decide which fabric works best for you and often it just comes down to personal choice. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the two fabrics and whether you prefer hemp or bamboo, please comment below and let me know which you like to use and why.

Related posts:

Hemp, bamboo or microfibre Bamboo fleece Which absorbent fabric? What you need to make modern cloth nappies