Underexploited hemp fiber as a blend constituent with cotton in producing vortex yarns: Toward a sustainable and cleaner future

Building a sustainable and cleaner future depends critically on harnessing abundant, eco- friendly, and renewable resources. Hemp, an underutilized yet promising fiber, offers a sustainable alternative across various industries, helping reduce dependence on synthetic, non-biodegradable materials while significantly contributing to environmental cleanup and waste reduction. In textiles, hemp emerges as a green substitute for cotton, especially in light of rising cotton prices and environmental concerns associated to its cultivation. However, hemp is coarse and stiff leads to poor spinnability, necessitating its blending with virgin fibers to produce viable yarn. Herein, for the first time, hemp/cotton blend yarn has been successfully produced in vortex spinning system, especially for knitwear applications where low hairiness, and high pilling and abrasion resistance are necessary. Departing from the conventional use of combed cotton in vortex spinning, this study employed carded cotton to help lower production costs. Through careful process optimization, 20 Ne (29.5 Tex) hemp/cotton yarns up to 30% hemp content were successfully spun using the vortex method. For comparative analysis, yarns of the same count and blend ratios were also produced using ring and rotor spinning system. Results showed that vortex yarns had low hairiness similar to rotor yarns and notably lower than ring yarn. The unevenness and imperfections of vortex yarns are comparable to those of ring yarns but higher than rotor yarns. Tensile strength improved slightly in blends with 10% hemp; however, as the hemp content increased, strength tended to decline. Nevertheless, vortex-spun yarns containing up to 30% hemp were still deemed suitable for producing knit fabrics. • Produced hemp yarn in vortex spinning by blending with cotton for the very first time. • Comparative analysis of hemp/cotton blend yarns produced in vortex, ring and rotor spinning • Hemp emerged as a green substitute for cotton • Hemp fiber incorporated textile yarns for sustainable and cleaner environment