How To Tell The Difference Between Jute, Linen, And Hemp?
When we shop for natural materials of homeware, clothing, and bags, it’s common to see ingredients of cotton, jute, linen, and hemp fabric. The first two are easy to tell from product surface touching, but linen and hemp are difficult to tell. Sometimes people think they are the same fabric. Jute, linen, and hemp fabric are all different fabrics.
This article will tell you the difference between jute, linen, and hemp fabric from its source, features, prices, and range of use.
What Is Jute? What Is Linen? What Is Hemp?
- Jute is a long, soft, shiny bast fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. Used to make burlap, hessian or gunny cloth.
- Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant.
- Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of Cannabis sativa cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. Hemp fabric is created from the outer fibers of the stalk of the plant.
From Wiki definition, we can know these three materials, Jute, Linen, and Hemp are all fibers collected from bast, the phloem of the plant sometimes called the “skin”, but they are different plants.
What are the features of Jute, Linen, and Hemp fabric?
- Jute material has a rough surface, it is one of the most affordable natural fibers, and second only to cotton in the amount produced and variety of uses.
- Jute is mainly produced in Bangladesh, India, and China. Making twine, rope, and mats like jute placemats, and jute floor mats.
- Jute is in great demand due to its cheapness, softness, length, luster, and uniformity of its fiber. It is called the ‘brown paper bag’ as it is also the most used product in gunny sacks to store rice, wheat, grains, etc.
- Jute can also be compounded with PE or PVC material, which has a waterproof effect and can be made into jute storage baskets, jute flower baskets, jute home organizers, etc.
- Linen also called flax, is moderately soft touching. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments, bedding, and socks.
- Linen is mainly produced in Europe, China, and India. There are two varieties: shorter tow fibers used for coarser fabrics and longer line fibers used for finer fabrics. Flax fibers can usually be identified by their “nodes” which add to the flexibility and texture of the fabric.
- Linen fabric feels cool to touch, and smooth, making the finished fabric lint-free, and gets softer the more it is washed. However, linen’s poor elasticity means that it easily wrinkles.
- Pure hemp has a texture similar to linen, but softer, stronger, durable fabrics that last decades. They can be blended with other fibers to add new beneficial properties.
- Hemp is mainly produced in Europe, China, and Australia. The clothing and accessories made of hemp have various functions such as moisture absorption, ventilation, comfort, heat dissipation, mildew resistance, bacteriostasis, radiation resistance, ultraviolet protection, sound absorption, etc. They can be used for both military and civilian use.
Linen and Hemp have many features in common, due to their production methods and availability, both fabrics are at the luxury end of the market. They are often around twice the price of a similar product in cotton.
What are the prices of Jute, Linen, and Hemp fabric?
- Jute price range from US$1.4 to US$3.5;
- Linen prices range from US$3.5 to US$9.5；
- Hemp fabric prices range from US$7.0 to US$ 10;
All prices depend on fabrics’ fineness, thickness, dyeing, textile technology, etc.
What are Jute, Linen, and Hemp fabric used for?
- Jute is mainly used for Different Kinds of Bags, Rug, Coffee/Rice/Corn Sack, etc;
- Linen is mainly used for Clothing, Curtain, Bedding, Tablecloths, Aprons, etc;
- Hemp fabric is mainly used for Rope, Clothing, Shoes, etc.
If you need a sourcing agent in Chian for jute, linen, hemp material, jute products, linen clothing, and hemp fabrics, please feel free to contact us.
