Has Anyone Tried Hemp Paper Lately?

[leahmarie64]

I googled "hemp paper" and came up with this website: My link Has anyone tried paper with hemp content lately? I'm curious how it behaves with fountain pens and might give the mini ream a try as well as the Tree Free Note Cards.

[SlipyNaricis2112]

Never really gave it a thought, I'm interested to hear what (hopefully) some people have to say.

[mstone]

people keep setting mine on fire

[WendyNC]

It seems that many of the papers with a substantial proportion of post-consumer waste are not FP friendly. However, finish can make all the difference. I don't particularly care for laid paper myself, but would be interested in your review if you decide to get some.

[Chiro75]

I've been curious about hemp paper, too, as there are a lot of options out there. Hemp is much, much, much, much, MUCH more environmentally friendly than pulp-based paper, so I would love to find a FP friendly supply...

[jleeper]

What makes hemp more environmentally friendly than wood pulp?

[Randal6393]

Oh, yes, I have several sheets of hemp paper left, with matching envelopes. I am reserving them for "very special letters". Can't say enough good about hemp paper. Although it doesn't get you high or smoke well at all. Takes ink very nicely.

 

Advantages of hemp paper are that it is ecologically sustainable, very strong, thin, and takes ink very well.

 

Ecologically sustainable because a hemp crop grows in less than three months and produces a tremendous amount of hemp per acre. One estimate is that all of the office paper in the USA could be grown in less than 50 hectares of ground. (No, I don't really know how much land that is -- but it sounds impressive.) Hemp grows well on ground that is marginal for other crops and has a large number of uses, over and above just paper. The same acres can be used over and over with less treatment than most crops require. Saves a lot of old-growth forest, doesn't it? However, due to the ban in the USA on cannabis crops, hemp requires special licenses and is currently only available from sources outside of the USA.

 

Hemp grows long (like, 8 feet) fibers that are thin and weave into wonderful fabrics. Same fibers may be used to produce a paper that is very close to 100 % cotton content paper. (Actually, it's thinner and stronger.) Treated properly, the paper is far superior to wood-fiber papers. The left-over cortex (hurds) can be processed for cellulose and used to make papers very similar to the wood-pulp paper that we are all familar with. That's double bang for the buck.

 

As stationery, hemp paper resembles the original linen-laid paper. Something that isn't even available much anymore. Almost all current "linen" papers are wood-cellulose papers that are stamped to resemble the finish of the old linen paper. For centuries, linen paper -- usually made from old linen rags -- was THE quality paper for writing on. And much of that linen was made from hemp. (Only an expert can determine if linen is made from flax or hemp.)

 

I would recommend that you buy and try the Hemp Paper Mini-Ream. And be sure to get the matching envelopes. Then monogram some of the paper and several of the envelopes. You will then have a formal stationery that is better than many of the most expensive. And USE it -- while a touch rough compared to copy papers, hemp paper is a high-quality stationery that should be much more used than it is currently.

 

Enjoy,

[jleeper]

50 hectares ~= 124 acres. That sounds impossibly small. I try to be careful and only purchase paper that is made from farmed trees. I wonder if there is an advantage to farmed pulp-wood vs. hemp.

Edited February 2, 2011 by jleeper

[leahmarie64]

Wow Randal..thank you for all that information and your opinion on the paper. It's a definite buy for me now.

 

mstone -

[GreenVelvet]

Can't say enough good about hemp paper. Although it doesn't get you high or smoke well at all.

 

I laughed out loud and had to re-read this, because the first thought that popped into my mind was, "What, did you try smoking it?"

 

Seriously, Randal, thank you for an extremely interesting and edifying post. I must try this paper.

[USMCMom]

How heavy is hemp paper?

[wykpenguin]

Hemp grows much quicker than trees and is not picky about the land. People correctly refer to it as weed.

[Bo Bo Olson]

1922 the US Government was pushing farmers to grow Hemp, in it made a paper that lasted 200 years. The Government wanted to save trees.

 

In the middle thirties the tree paper pulp industry, combined with the Dupont rubber* rope, to make it illegal.

 

Hemp was the second best rope in the world behind Manila. Dupont *nylon rope bounced to the max, didn't take many of the normal rope knots.

 

So back in 1922 Hemp paper was good enough that the US Government supported it.

I read the Official Government article on it, before I started needing a 200 year fountain pen friendly paper.

Back then all papers were fountain pen friendly.

Edited February 7, 2011 by Bo Bo Olson

[texaspenman]

Any suggestions for a good hemp paper? I'd like something with a very smooth texture for Spencerian writing.

Edited March 9, 2011 by texaspenman

[Randal6393]

Yes, Dupont Chemical et al convinced Congress to outlaw hemp because it is a form of cannabis. That secured the rights to the shipping cordage to the nylon lines, produced by various major chemical manufacturers. Which caused a new category of accident in ships -- the "line snap-back", where a nylon line is stretched to the point of breakage and snaps like a broken rubber band. If you are in the way when the line snaps, you have major accidents. Steel-cored hemp lines just give way.

 

Bo Bo, the Manila lines are a cordage made from a fiber that is almost identical to hemp fiber. Makes a lovely textile as well -- the classic barang Tagalog is made from that same fiber, processed to be softer, I believe. (Maybe one of our Philippine members can confirm this for me?)

 

The hemp paper listed in the first link at the top of this thread is the one I have. A bit rough, compared to most stationery nowadays. But not rough enough to keep me from writing both Italic and copperplate hands on it. I like the character of the paper. And much stronger than wood-pulp paper.

 

@jleeper: Farmed wood pulp requires years to grow to a harvesting size. Hemp may be grown and harvested three or four times a year. The land required for hemp is marginal land, much less arable than the lands used for growing trees. Economically, hemp makes a lot more sense -- unless you have plants already made and in operation that are set up to process wood pulp. In addition, hemp may be processed with hydrogen peroxide instead of sulphites, making less of an environmental impact.

 

On my last trip through Illinois, I noticed a paper plant south of Chicago. It was on a railroad spur and did not appear to have much processing space available. My father-in-law commented that the plant produced paper from pulp shipped in by the boxcar. Boy, would I like to see more plants like that in operation! Buy what is best, ready to process and go with it. Although, in a way, it is an invitation to corporations to export their environmental damage to developing countries ...

 

1922 the US Government was pushing farmers to grow Hemp, in it made a paper that lasted 200 years. The Government wanted to save trees.

 

In the middle thirties the tree paper pulp industry, combined with the Dupont rubber* rope, to make it illegal.

 

Hemp was the second best rope in the world behind Manila. Dupont *nylon rope bounced to the max, didn't take many of the normal rope knots.

 

So back in 1922 Hemp paper was good enough that the US Government supported it.

I read the Official Government article on it, before I started needing a 200 year fountain pen friendly paper.

Back then all papers were fountain pen friendly.

[repairperson]

I have a tablet of hemp/recycled blend. Us Milled. Vegetable oil based inks. That is what it says at the bottom of each page. it has something that looks like purple turtles on the top. Well, I think someone gave this paper to me as a gift. I think it is good for a grocery list using pencil or a ballpoint pen.

When using fountain pen ink. It feathers quite a bit. I am not enamoured by it at all. I am of course only speaking for my own hemp/recycled blend paper not all hemp paper. This is the only one I have ever used.

 

June's antique Deskstuff

hambrooq.com

[USN Air TrafficController]

Hemp has virtually no cannabinoids and is not suitable for smoking. Hemp could be the next agricultural and industrial revolution. Hemp requires far less herbicides and pesticides to grow a healthy crop. There are a multitude of by products including food, oils, and believe it or not building materials. Hemp had a great history before du pont and the terrible film marijuana madness.

[Possum Hill]

 

Ecologically sustainable because a hemp crop grows in less than three months and produces a tremendous amount of hemp per acre. One estimate is that all of the office paper in the USA could be grown in less than 50 hectares of ground. (No, I don't really know how much land that is -- but it sounds impressive.) Hemp grows well on ground that is marginal for other crops and has a large number of uses, over and above just paper. The same acres can be used over and over with less treatment than most crops require. Saves a lot of old-growth forest, doesn't it? However, due to the ban in the USA on cannabis crops, hemp requires special licenses and is currently only available from sources outside of the USA.

 

 

 

50 hectares is about 124 acres, .5 square kilometer, .193 square miles, 5381955 square feet. That is a tiny, tiny, tiny area. One U.S. midwestern farmer could easily divert one field from corn to hemp and produce that entire supply.

 

If the dry matter yield of hemp is 25 tonnes per hectare (maximum according to Wikipedia) and all that can be converted to paper, that implies that the total U.S. market for office paper is 50,000 to 100,000 10-ream cases. I use one of those cases in a year.

 

That level of production requires soil fertility on the level of wheat production. Marginal land will not do.

 

I think that 50 hectare estimate is completely incredible.

[waterman1924]

If you sell Hemp paper does that make you a "hemp paper pusher?" :ltcapd: