EcoZeal

An industrial hemp blended yarn has been successfully spun on conventional cotton ring-spinning equipment without modification and then knitted into jersey fabrics in trials sponsored by Hanesbrands Inc.

The hemp yarns were spun at North Carolina State University using fibres made with the ‘Crailar’ enzyme process from Naturally Advanced Technology, which uses enzyme technology to produce soft, comfortable textiles made from hemp and bast fibres that can better compete with cotton.

Tim Pleasants, Spun Yarn Lab Manager, NC State University, said, “We successfully carded and spun a blended Crailar yarn on our cotton ring spinning system. The resulting 20/1 Ne ring spun yarn was knitted into a 5-ounces per square yard jersey fabric.

This is the first time in my 23-year yarn spinning career that I have seen hemp processed on conventional cotton spinning equipment.”

Earlier this summer, British Colombia-based Naturally Advanced Technologies (NAT) raised nearly US$2 million through a private placement of its shares and more recently signed a new promotional deal with Costco’s US stores.

“Crailar’s success on the cotton system elevates hemp fibre from a niche market to the mainstream cotton market through the traditional supply chain, which enables mass production,” claimed Ken Barker, CEO of NAT. “Crailar employs a simple, efficient 100% organic, enzyme bath and scales easily to leverage the global industrial hemp industry. In addition, Crailar Organic Fiber will be cost-comparable to organic cotton. Therefore, Crailar enables the transformation of hemp into a better sustainable alternative to organic cotton.”

The company expects to send its first organic and hemp-based Crailar fabrics into production in the first quarter of 2009, with hopes of hitting the market in fall 2009.

Source: Eco Textile News