Hemp is used very largely in its natural state. When dyeing
is necessary, direct color is often used. Basic dyestuffs provide bright
shades, the fiber being mordant with antimony and tannin.
Structure and properties:
Hemp is a coaser fiber than flax; it is dark in color and
different to bleach. The fiber is strong and durable, and is used very largely
for making string, cord and rope.
Some Italian hemps are produced with great care; they are
light in color and have an attractive luster similar to that of flax.
Strands of hemp fiber may be 2m in length. The individual
cells are, on average 13-26mm long. They are cylindrical in shape, with joints,
cracks, swellings and other irregularities on the surface.
Like flax, the cells of hemp fiber are thick-walled; they
are polygonal in cross-section, and the ends of the cells are blunt.
The hemp fiber is
more lignified than flax, and is consequently stiffer.