Hops

By

Made in

Circular 215 Fibre 64 Plant-based 167 Textile 89 Vegan 87 Sodium bicarbonate 4 Vinegar 15

Hops

The Hops Project

This project is an exploration of the use of agricultural byproducts from hops farming as a new material source. After harvesting the hops flower for beer production, the rest of the plant is burnt or composted. The long stems of the plant have been observed to be a rich source of fibre, with high cellulose content.

With a holistic approach to our relationship with natural materials, the project aims to experiment and research all the possibilities - which are many - of this so-called byproduct. Homemade experiments with handmade techniques were conducted with the bark, the bast fibres, the natural dye and the inner pith.

Other experiments are being conducted in collaboration with Wageningen University, where a novel degumming method for hop fibres is being tested.

By using agricultural waste as a material source, no new raw material needs to be planted. There is no deforestation or overloading of the Earth. Using the byproducts from farming as a source of new material is a sustainable method. This project has the goal to show that it is possible to use agricultural waste as a sustainable and accessible material source and make it mainstream.

Information submitted by the maker and edited by the Future Materials Bank.

Ingredients

Hop plant, boiling water, sodium bicarbonate, vinegar

Credits

ArtEZ University of the Arts, WUR University & Research, BankLoterij Fonds, Provincie Gelderland.