MJBizMag July 2020 - 74

Tough Fiber
Entrepreneurs exploring the use
of hemp fiber to make textiles are
learning it can be a challenging
endeavor in the United States.
The plant's decades-long
prohibition-combined with textile
manufacturing largely moving
overseas-has left the country with
a shortage of equipment needed
to process textile-grade fabric from
hemp. Those looking to enter the
hemp textiles business should
consider:
* A North Carolina bedding startup
recently partnered with Macy's to
sell its hemp bedsheets in U.S.
stores.
* Growing hemp for fiber is different
than cultivating the plant for
cannabinoids, and the machines to
convert hemp fiber into fabric aren't
widely available.
* Farmers and others in the industry
have started working to address the
lack of machinery, but it is still unclear
whether hemp fiber for textiles
will catch on and become profitable
in the United States.
Delilah Home sells bedsheets made from 100% hemp fibers. Courtesy Photo
A
ttentive shoppers walking
through a Macy's department
store last winter might
have spotted a rarity in the bedding
department: hemp sheets, advertised as
being 100% made from the plant's fibers.
The sheets were a rarity because such
textiles are " a brand-new category " in the
market, according to Michael Twer, who
founded Delilah Home, the Weddington,
North Carolina-based company that
makes the product.
Currently, 100% hemp textiles cannot
be made in the United States because
of a lack of equipment. " There is no
American hemp fabric yet made from
American-grown hemp, " said Guy
Carpenter, president of Bear Fiber, a
Wilmington, North Carolina-based
supplier of fiber produced from hemp
and other sources.
SPINNING HEMP INTO FABRIC
Getting hemp from a farm to Macy's
or any other store is a time-intensive
process that requires patience and a bit of
luck. It doesn't hurt to have connections
with overseas factories that have machinery
and technology for hemp spinning.
In the United States, the technology
is nearly nonexistent because growing
hemp commercially has been illegal
for decades and textile manufacturing
largely moved overseas years ago. So
Twer, who lives in Matthews, North
Carolina, has had to make his products at
a family-run factory in Portugal.
" The U.S. does not have the machines
or the technology yet to produce the
high-quality textiles that I want to
produce, " said Twer, who also serves as
chair of the Fiber Council at the Organic
Trade Association.
72 Marijuana Business Magazine | July 2020
Twer developed connections with
factories overseas through his previous
job as general manager and vice
president for a European company that
made organic cotton. But by January
2019, the company was sold and his
position was eliminated.
His idea for hemp sheets was born
shortly after the family dog, Delilah,
went missing for 62 days in the North
Carolina mountains before neighbors
helped find her. As a tip of the hat to
the dog's rescuers, and to give back to
the community, he named his company
Delilah Home and decided to donate a
portion of profits to organizations such
as Beds for Kids in Charlotte, North
Carolina, and 1% For the Planet in
Burlington, Vermont, which donates to
environmental nonprofits worldwide.
The company also has donated sheets
MJBizMag July 2020

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