Mordanted Handwoven Hemp-Cotton Towels

Description

Mordanted  Handwoven Hemp-Cotton Towels

We are offering mordanted handwoven towels for easy natural dyeing. These are handwoven from sturdy, vintage hemp-cotton fabric and have a hanging loop. We’ve scoured and mordanted them with aluminum acetate, our standard cellulose mordant and they are ready to be dyed. Simply dampen and add to a dye bath or sprinkle a selection of dyestuffs on them for a pretty eco-printed towel. The towel sizes range approximately from 14 to 18 inches wide and 18-24 inches (35.5 to 46 cm wide and 46 to 61 cm) long. These fabrics were woven on household floor looms and were typically narrow width (about 15-20 inches wide) so the long edges are the fabric selvedges and the short edges are machine-hemmed.

Our vintage handwoven hemp-cotton towels may have minor stains, shadings and marks. The fabric is unused but acquired blemishes due to its age. Nearly all the irregulars are stains and discolorations. The fabric is perfect for overdyeing, stitching, eco printing, bundle dyeing and surface design. In some cases, one side of the towel is a lighter bleached shade and the back side is a little darker from age. These towels are handwoven in rural Romanian villages from locally grown, processed and spun hemp. The fabric is vintage and no longer available.

The towels are a blend of hemp and cotton, with the cotton often used as the weft. The edges are machine-hemmed. They soften beautifully with wear.  The price is per towel.

Note about using Indigo

Even though these towels are mordanted, they indigo dye beautifully!

More information

Hemp is the ancient “new” wonder fiber, and rightly so with production now legal in the United States. This is a huge win to create a more sustainable fiber source. It is considered among the first agricultural crops as traces of the fiber have been found and dated to 8000 BCE in China and Taiwan. The plant uses minimal water, is pest-resistant, and fast-growing. It is a nitrogen-fixing plant with a deep tap root that helps enrich and condition the soil. At harvest time, the stalks are cut, bundled and dried. The tough outer cortex is removed through a natural process called retting to break down the outside of the stalk. The fine inner fibers are collected, scoured, washed and sun bleached, and then spun into yarn.