PDP Hemp Facts

Hemp is a naturally strong, durable fiber, which is why we use it to make clothing you'll wear for years. It's also a remarkable crop: in the right conditions, it grows with relatively little irrigation and fewer chemical inputs than cotton.

The facts:

  1. Stronger fiber than cotton. In a peer-reviewed comparison, hemp fibers measured 310–850 MPa in tensile strength, compared with 287–597 MPa for cotton. [BioResources, NC State University]

  2. Resists pilling and wear. In 2025 lab testing of woven bast-fiber fabrics, hemp earned the highest pilling-resistance rating of the fabrics tested, holding up across repeated wear cycles. [Fibres & Textiles in Eastern Europe, 2025]

  3. Uses less water. Hemp uses about 38% less water than cotton over a growing season, and its water footprint is roughly 60% lower. [Journal of Agrometeorology, 2023; Journal of Cannabis Research, 2025]

  4. Needs fewer pesticides than cotton. Cotton is one of the most pesticide-intensive US field crops, with 42 million pounds applied across 10.3 million acres in 2021. Hemp is typically grown with substantially less pesticide input. [USDA data via Organic Trade Association]

  5. Captures carbon as it grows. Published estimates put hemp's CO₂ uptake at roughly 3–15 tonnes per hectare during cultivation. At the higher end, that outpaces the 2–6 tonnes per hectare per year typical of forests. [Portland State University review; University of Cambridge research]

  6. Can help clean soil. Hemp roots can absorb low levels of heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, and zinc from soil. This process is called phytoremediation. [Portland State University review]

Facts refer to hemp fiber and cultivation. Many of our garments are hemp–organic cotton blends.

Sources: BioResources/NC State · Fibres & Textiles in Eastern Europe · Journal of Agrometeorology · Journal of Cannabis Research · Organic Trade Association · Portland State University · Dezeen / Cambridge