It’s no secret that hemp is a miracle plant. From the myriad of hemp clothing benefits  to the innovative creation of hemp toilet paper , this plant is one with a wide array of contributions to sustainability.

But even if you consider yourself an expert on the subject, get ready to be pleasantly surprised by these hemp facts. I’ve rounded up the most fascinating information on hemp’s history and modern use. So read on to find out the wildest facts about hemp, like what famous works were created on hemp paper, which founding fathers were fans of hemp, and so much more.

Hemp is thought to be one of the first cultivated plants globally, dating back 6,000 years in China and back to 8000 BCE in ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Turkey). Archeologists have found hemp fibers and seeds at sites in China and near Ankara, meaning the plant had an early use for cloth.

Even the famous Chinese herbalist and emperor, Shen-Nung, who lived in the 28th century BCE, used and taught about medicinal ma , the word for “cannabis,” or hemp. Today, China is the world’s largest producer of hemp, which is partly why WAMA sources all hemp in China !

One of the main reasons I’m a devoted hemp fan is that it makes naturally sustainable and antibacterial underwear . I know it sounds a little gross, but think about what your undies do for you and then imagine the bacteria party down there. With breathable weed underwear , you don’t have to worry about bacterial buildup or smell.

My go-to styles are high waisted underwear (hallelujah high waisted is fashionable) or thong underwear (sometimes it’s necessary). And seriously, you can spend all day in a hemp thong and not smell. Girl Scouts honor! I basically live in hemp undies and a hemp bra , so I feel like an expert.

For guys, try mens boxers for a more relaxed fit or opt for a traditional cut with the mens briefs . And it doesn’t stop with undies. 

Wait, is hemp stronger than steel ? How is that possible? Okay, you can’t really compare a stalk of hemp to a steel pipe, but when you use hemp plant fibers to create a material similar to steel, it’s 1,000% stronger . I know, I was shocked, too!

It gets a little scientific, but basically, you can break down hemp cellulose (plant fibers), create a liquid, and then mold it into a solid. And when comparing that hemp solid to solid steel (using something called tensile strength—how much pressure something can take before it breaks), hemp is far stronger.

To further prove that hemp is stronger than steel, did you know that Henry Ford made a car out of hemp? And to validate its strength, he took a sledgehammer to it! Not only was it 10x stronger than a traditional car, but it also weighed 300 lbs less and had 25% better fuel efficiency .

Although Henry Ford created his hemp car in 1941, it was never manufactured. But thanks to the 2018 farm bill supporting industrial hemp , the idea has reemerged and many of the biggest car companies use  hemp in the manufacturing process , including BMW, Mercedes, Audi, and Volkswagen. There’s even an airplane made with hemp !

During the 1850s gold rush in California, Levi Strauss (the man behind the American staple) made pants out of hemp canvas for miners . They were durable, dyed blue to minimize stains, and had riveted pockets to withstand pockets of gold. Perfect for the work, they grew in popularity, and the rest is history.

Today, Levi’s takes a page from its origin story and uses a cotton-hemp blend to perfect its Wellthread line. Just one pair of classic cotton denim blue jeans requires over 900 gallons of water, from crop to manufacturing. By using this new blend, the company can reduce its water consumption by 30%. 

Of all the facts about hemp, this story might be the most interesting! Think back to Henry Ford for a moment. Why wasn’t his hemp car manufactured? One article details the history, as the U.S. government didn’t differentiate cannabis with higher THC levels (the substance that makes you high) with hemp, which has less than 0.3% THC (so there’s no psychological influence). So cannabis and hemp were lumped together and made illegal.

But in WWII, the U.S. couldn’t import ship-building materials (often made with hemp) from Japan, so they started a program called “Hemp for Victory.” This allowed farmers to cultivate and manufacture hemp for a short period of time to make things like canvas, rope, and shipping supplies. 

Although the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act  criminalized growing hemp, the plant was quite popular in the 19th and 18th centuries. In a real plot twist, it was actually against the law if you didn’t grow hemp in some places. And to make it even juicier, the Founding Fathers were huge fans.

•  George Washington grew hemp at his Mount Vernon estate and considered it one of his most important plants.
• Thomas Jefferson smuggled hemp seeds from China and patented one of the first hemp-processing machines .
• And when it comes to hemp paper facts, Benjamin Franklin is at the center of it all. He owned the first hemp paper mill in the U.S. and sold his goods to Thomas Paine, who then used hemp paper to create his famous “Common Sense” pamphlets against the British.
• Although not technically a Founding Father, Betsy Ross sewed the original American flag using (drum roll) hemp!

Because the Founding Fathers saw the promise in hemp products , they knew that hemp paper doesn’t yellow over time. So the paper that’s hundreds of years old in museums hasn’t appeared to age, including the first two drafts of the Declaration of Independence. Other fun hemp paper facts: Mark Twain’s works, the King James Bible, and Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland were all first printed on hemp paper. 

Besides the written word, hemp paper also supported much of the art world, including some of the most famous masterpieces by Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and many other early canvas painters . But it wasn’t just the high-archival quality that drew artists to hemp. Hemp seed oil was once a huge producer of paints.

One of my favorite facts about hemp is that the United States used over 50,000 tons of hemp seeds to make paint products. And that was just in the year 1935—one year! But, unfortunately, the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act stopped this production, and even Sherwin Williams Paint Company was an opponent of this new law. 

If hemp is strong enough to build a car and an airplane, it can definitely make a house! And the best part is that it would be stronger than a traditional house, as concrete mixed with hemp fibers is more durable with 20% more strength .

One site in Britain uses “ hempcrete ” rather than concrete, a mixture of limestone and hemp. It’s stronger and also allows the industry to lower carbon emissions. One building using hempcrete produced just 100 to 150 tons of CO² , where a traditional brick building would generate 3-6x that. According to the site, other construction-related bonuses include:

• Hempcrete is non-toxic, so your home would hold less dangerous toxins
• Hemp regulates moisture and heat, saving you up to 50% on electricity and gas
• Hemp fibers are faster and cheaper to grow, so you have a happier bank account

Hemp seeds are full of nutrients and much easier to grow, so they can help solve world hunger. This is clearly one of the best facts about hemp! Hemp seeds are high in protein (a plant-based protein) and contain other nutrients like Omega-3’s, iron, calcium, and more.

A case study in countries within southern Africa showed that hemp could be a powerful food aid as the climate and soil conditions change because

• hemp grows quickly
• hemp is less expensive to cultivate
• hemp is a reserve crop and can tolerate harsh environmental conditions (like drought)
• hemp has a higher nutritional value than other grains and rice. 

Besides the nutrient-dense hemp seeds, you can also eat the leaves. But I must warn you that they’re very bitter to eat on their own, so you might want to try them in a juice or smoothie first! Either way, hemp leaves give you some serious benefits. You can find over 80 compounds in the leaves alone, including CBD, which offers tons of antioxidants.

Because of the high dose of antioxidants, eating hemp can help slow certain diseases linked to oxidation, like cancer or inflammation. And if you’re vegan or vegetarian, you’ll be happy to know that hemp leaves have Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids so that you can get those essential nutrients from a plant-based source!

Another factor adding to hemp’s strength is its durability as a plant. It’s super versatile and can grow almost anywhere. If you’re like me and can’t keep a plant alive for more than a week, maybe you should get a hemp plant, as it doesn’t need a lot of attention! It can grow in extreme conditions, including flooding , drought-stricken areas , and within degraded soil.

While needing little support (and 50% less water than growing cotton), hemp improves its own soil quality . Plus, hemp requires less water and irrigation, pesticides, and fertilization. And as a deep-root plant, it improves soil health by enhancing microbial diversity. So not only can it grow almost anywhere, but it’s also highly nutritious and restores soil health.

You’ve probably heard about the devastating nuclear disaster in Chernobyl in the 1990s, but what you might not know is that hemp helped clean up the site. Scientists harnessed hemp’s ability to absorb and extract toxins from the soil and neutralize them. And because of this event, the world discovered that hemp could successfully extract lead, cadmium, and nickel. 

This is one of the hemp facts I’m here for: those fatty acids found in hemp seeds do wonders for PMS symptoms, especially cramps, aches, and pains. You can thank a little hormone called prolactin for those standard period pains, and the gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) in hemp seeds reduces the effects .

One study , in particular, proved this superpower and gave women 210 mg of GLA in hopes of easing PMS symptoms. Nearly all showed improvements with significantly less cramping and aches. So if you need me, I’ll be stocking up on hemp seeds. 

Yes, you read that right—Canadian scientists built cheaper and eco-friendly batteries using hemp pulp . I mean, is there anything hemp can’t do?

It’s a little complicated, but basically, scientists found that hemp fibers held just as much energy as graphene, which is the material used to make supercapacitors (energy storage devices). To hold more power, supercapacitors need better electrodes, which are typically expensive. But after heating hemp fiber at a very hot temp (350 degrees), it can become carbon nanosheets and used to make electrodes.

The team behind this discovery used the center of the hemp stalk, which is usually thrown out as waste when making hemp fabric . It’s a great way to use more of the hemp plant and create supercapacitors that can recharge in just seconds!

Hemp seed has oil content between 26% and 38% , which can be used to create hemp biodiesel. A study by the University of Connecticut showed a 97% success rate when converting hemp seed oil into fuel, meeting all the necessary standards. The fuel safely functioned in a standard diesel engine, so it doesn’t require a different engine.

One of the biggest perks of hemp biofuel is that it doesn’t compete with food sources. Many biofuels require crops that can produce high energy , like corn, sugar beets, and wheat, all things humans and livestock eat. As a bonus, the hulk (woody center of the hemp stalk), typically discarded anyway, can be used for ethanol. 

You now know that hemp is stronger than steel, but it’s also the strongest plant fiber in the world—stronger than cotton, linen, bamboo, etc. When it comes to hemp vs cotton , hemp is stronger, softer, lasts twice as long, and won’t mildew .

As a bonus, hemp produces far more plant fibers than its competition. One acre of hemp produces 2-3x more fibers than cotton and 4x more than trees. To be ready for harvest , a tree must grow from 40 to 100 years. But hemp is ready for harvest in just 120 days —and the crop is stronger, lighter, and lasts longer (hemp paper can last hundreds of years before it starts degrading). It’s honestly a no-brainer at this point!

Hemp can replace cars, airplanes, houses, clothing, paper, batteries, fuel… and plastic, too. Almost any kind of plastic can be made from hemp, including:

• Celluloid —used to make everyday plastics and hard plastics, including tennis balls, film, toys, Tupperware, chairs, toothbrushes, utensils, water bottles, etc.
• Cellophane —used to make flexible plastic materials, like cling wrap, bags, packaging, tape, tubing, etc.
• Rayon —used to make plastic-based textiles, such as polyester, spandex, artificial silk, and velvet.

Almost every type of plastic you can think of comes from these three variations, meaning that hemp could replace all plastic. And hemp plastic is actually stronger than petroleum-based plastic and non-toxic. What a world we could live in!

There are too many facts about hemp to keep track of, but I know all of these hemp facts blew me away! From its ancient origins to hemp clothing benefits to making cars and houses out of the plant to hemp paper facts, I can’t decide what’s the most interesting. What do you think? Which fact is your fav?

Lemme know in the comments!