Hemp for hammock?

[darthchinchi]

Have any of you tried this?
I'm thinking about making my own hammocks. Normally I would use polar fleece, but 1 it's a plastic material so bad for the inviroment and 2 my animals are nibblers. They do not eat is, as I can find all the pieces after they destroys their hannocks, but it still got me thinking that maybe hemp. Also looking at an other material, not sure if it's called flax or linen in english

[moletteuk]

What kind of form are you thinking of? Making a cargo net style thing from hemp rope, or can you get it in a webbing style, I'm thinking of the woven webbing stuff for chair seats, is that available (and hemp or other natural fibre)? Or cloth, sacking?

You could always use some recycled cotton like some old denim, like Zenaida did deguworld.proboards.com/thread/21159/zenaidas-enclosure-build?page=3

I've also made toweling hammocks from old towels, but I find that their nails can get caught in the loops fairly easily.

Sisal rope is also readily available, at least in GB it is.

[darthchinchi]

I found a place that sells fabric where you buy 150cm * the length you want (like 2m)
I would just prefer new and eco to old and worn.

[randomname]

Hi darthchinchi. Is the hemp the same stuff as I use for flooring? Like this? www.zooplus.co.uk/customerpicturedisplay/shop/small_pets/hay_and_bedding/hemp_bedding_small_pets/182988

www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/accessories/rodent__nests/34262 (this is the flax I think you were referring to?)

If so, I think it would be easy to punch holes in the corners & use as a hammock. My chins totally ignore it, so it should last. If it gets smelly you can clean it but it takes ages to dry so maybe make 2 so you can rotate them? What would you use as string? Twine is supposed to be safe I think.

I like hemp as it's a eco crop & can be disposed of in a compost heap. Is a better absorbent than every other bedding I've tried too. Shame it's a little pricey.

[darthchinchi]

Hemp is used for a vitality of items. You can actually get cloths made from the fibers just as with cotton where we also see it used for multiple items.
So I'm going to buy the woven stuff that's made for projects such as curtains, cloths, pillowcases an so on and sow some hammocks. I prefer to gang them with the metal things they use at places like hammockyhammocks (don't know the English name. It's a carabin in Danish). And it's possible to make double hammocks and other fun designs.

[bouncy]

Carabiners! It's what I use to hang things too - freely available in most DIY shops in various sizes. They're great because, when an item has outlived it's life, you just transfer them onto the next item for destruction!

[darthchinchi]

Apr 2, 2017 17:41:25 GMT bouncy said:

Carabiners! It's what I use to hang things too - freely available in most DIY shops in various sizes. They're great because, when an item has outlived it's life, you just transfer them onto the next item for destruction!

Yeah well, hard to find in Denmark, and when I find them, it's the wrong ones or I have to pay way more than I want to. But I've been taking apart my old hammocks and will reuse the old ones

[moletteuk]

You can sometimes find lighter weight ones called 'snap hooks' in UK, and Zenaida recently found some shower curtain hooks that would do the same job.

[randomname]

Ahh I know what you mean now darthchinchi, sorry for the misunderstanding. I have some hemp t-shirts so I should've known.
Would love to see your project when it's finished, sounds like a great way to make things more interesting in the cage. Pear hooks are the fat bottomed clip hooks, ratrations.com sells them - www.ratrations.com/clips-and-fastenings-c-90.html if you're in the UK but probably not helpful for Denmark.

[darthchinchi]

I've been looking into places to get fabric. The only places in denmark sells by cm or 0,25 meter. That's some weird measurements so I ended up following a link to etsy a fried gave me, and just looking around on etsy. I found some bamboo/hemp fabric from Thailand. 100% organic. So I ordered and just have to wait 15-20 days for it to arrive lol.
I have been looking into bamboo for other uses before. They have started using it as a medium for pillows and duves (not sure of the spelling) as it should have some natural way of helping with allergies. And as floorboards it's durable and an eco friendly alternative to a lot of hardwoods.

Looking forward to getting it home.

[darthchinchi]

Ended up ordering from the place where I had to tell them how many cm of fabric... It arrived today I just have to pick it up later on when I go get the kids.
I got 3 types of fabric linen/hemp, common nettle and ramie

I'm waaaay to excited over this. The ramie may actually be something we will end up using as curtains as well, depending on how it looks.

[Deleted]

Yay! Can't wait to see. What's rambie?

[darthchinchi]

Ramie is some kind of nettle apparently... Boehmeria jamaicesis. It's in the same family as the common mettle Urticaceae

[darthchinchi]

First one done



Roughly based on a design from hammockyhammocks. Didn't bother with a pattern. Just cut and sewed it together and honestly it shows But it was fun to do and I'm def going to make a pattern for this one.

[deguconvert]

It clearly has a seal of approval from your chin!!

[darthchinchi]

Yes. Actually both started gnawing as soon as I left the room lol.
Next problm is finding some thread that's more safe. Don't know if silk is the way to go. Was looking at Som linen thread but didn't work for machine sowing :/