Linen is NOT Hemp

Linen Flax is not the same as Hemp;

but, they are made from similar plant stalks.

The use of hemp can be traced back to 8000 BC in the Middle East and China where the fiber was used for textiles, the oil for cosmetic purposes and the seeds for food.

From as early as 5 BC to the mid-1800’s hemp fibers were used to manufacture 90% of all ships’ canvas sails, rigging, nets, and caulk because of its strength and resistance to the destructive effects of salt water. Hemp was also used for making paper, twines, carpet thread, carpet yarns, sailcloth, and for homespun and similar grades of woven goods. From the 500’s to the early 1900’s, many of the worlds greatest painters including Veronese, Rembrandt, and Van Gogh, created their masterpieces on hemp canvas.

From the 1500’s to 1700’s hemp and flax were the major fiber crops in Russia and Europe and in 1606 French botanist Louis Hevert planted the first recorded hemp crop in North America in Port Royal, Acadia (present day Nova Scotia), where it became a major crop.

The Pilgrims first brought hemp seeds to America in 1632 and by 1850 hemp was America’s third largest crop. In fact, early American farmers were required to grow it. Two U.S. Presidents, Washington and Jefferson were hemp farmers when the U.S. was formed and they signed the Bill of Rights. Both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were first drafted on hemp paper. Hemp was the world’s largest single industry until the mid-1800’s.

Hemp was formally christened Cannabis sativa L. in 1753 by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus.

Linseed oil is made from seeds of the Flax plant while seeds and oils from the Hemp plant are eatable. Hemp seed oil has been dubbed, "Nature's most perfectly balanced oil" due to the fact that it contains the perfectly balanced 3:1 ratio of both the required essential fatty acids (EFAs) for long term human consumption.

What is the difference between hemp and marijuana?

Marijuana and hemp both come from the same species of plant, Cannabis sativa L., but from different varieties. There are different varieties of Cannabis, just as Chihuahuas and St. Bernards are different breeds of dogs, Canis familiari.

Marijuana is the flowering tops and leaves of psychoactive varieties of Cannabis that are grown for their high THC content.

Hemp, also referred to as industrial hemp, are low-THC varieties of Cannabis that are grown for their seeds and fiber. Hemp is grown legally in just about every industrialized country except the USA. For more detailed information see Hemp 101.

There is one caveat worth mentioning.

Due to the extreme sensitivity of the urine drug test for marijuana, it is possible for the test to show positive after one has eaten hemp seeds or taken the oil. This is more likely to happen if unhulled seeds or products made from unhulled seeds were ingested as some resin could stick to the seed hull. It is also interesting to note that a drug test may read positive for opium if one ingests a poppy seed bagel or muffin before testing.


Hemp stalks are dried and broken down into two parts:

thread-like fibers called the "bast" and the inside pulp or "hurd." They have some applications in common, yet each one has its own very individual and distinct applications as well.

The long bark fiber from the stalks is cleaned and spun into threads and yarn for cordage, rope, carpets, or knit or woven into a variety of durable high quality textiles which can be used for an endless variety of products including clothing, curtains, upholstery, shoes, backpacks, and towels. The variety of fabrics made from hemp range from those as tough as burlap and denim, to cotton-like fabrics, to those as fine as silk, or as intricate as lace. The original Levi’s were made of hemp cloth and today designer Giorgio Armani, as well as other clothing manufacturers, is weaving hemp into clothes. Shoe companies are now using it in the manufacture of shoes. Within the last few years many cottage industries, offering an amazing array of hemp products, have sprung up.

Hemp fabrics have added beneficial qualities of being stronger, more insulative, more absorbent and more durable than cotton and they don’t stretch out of shape. Natural organic hemp fiber "breathes" and is biodegradable. It is remarkable that hemp will produce 1500 pounds of fiber per acre, whereas cotton will produce only 500 pounds per acre and it is estimated that half of all agricultural chemicals used in the US are employed in the growing of cotton.

One of the disadvantages of hemp clothing is that it is not naturally soft like cotton. It has more of a texture comparable to burlap, or canvas. When combined with other fabrics, or if it undergoes a special processing treatment, it can be made to be extremely soft.