Nettle

Overview

Bast fiber from nettle species. Species, growing region and extraction method should be named.

Feel and behavior

Linen-like character, varying with preparation.

Where you find it

Craft yarn, specialty cloth and blends.

Source and geography

Textile nettle is chiefly the stinging nettle Urtica dioica (Urticaceae), a perennial with low fertilizer and pesticide needs that grows across most European climate zones. Fiber cultivation relies on selected clones, such as those descended from German breeding collections, rather than wild stands, because selected clones can contain about three times more fiber. Related plants in the same family, including a Himalayan species whose fiber is called allo in western Nepal, supply separate craft traditions. Production is small-scale and experimental.

Worth knowing

• A 2025 chromosome-level genome of stinging nettle found two gene copies putatively encoding urthionin, a neurotoxic peptide that may contribute to the plant's sting.
• Himalayan giant nettle fibers measured in a 2024 study had a cellulose content near 90 percent and a moisture regain of about 9.5 percent.

Types, grades and fabrics

Types and grades

Textile nettle comes from several plants. European nettle fiber is Urtica dioica, grown from selected high-fiber clones rather than gathered from wild stands. Himalayan giant nettle, Girardinia diversifolia, known in Nepal as allo or puwa, grows in open forests and moist riverside sites at roughly 1,200 to 3,000 m and yields long, lustrous fibers; a 2024 study measured a fineness of about 1.9 tex, a moisture regain of about 9.5 percent and a cellulose content near 90 percent. Ramie, Boehmeria nivea, belongs to the same family and is sometimes marketed as nettle, but it is a separate crop and fiber. Commercially, nettle appears as hand-processed allo yarn and as industrially decorticated, refined fiber for blending.

Fabrics and products

In Nepal, allo yarn is woven into bags, shawls, jackets and coarse cloth, and it is often blended with wool or cotton for a softer hand. European nettle is spun into linen-like yarns and usually blended with cotton, wool or other fibers in small collections of shirts, knitwear and accessories, since supply is limited. Fine, well-degummed nettle fiber suits lightweight woven fabrics similar to ramie or linen, while coarser grades go into nonwovens and composite trials, including automotive applications named in reviews.

Buying and care

How to judge quality

Most garments sold as nettle are blends, so read the fiber percentages; 100 percent nettle is rare and expensive. Pure nettle fabric looks and feels like linen or ramie, crisp with slubs and a slight luster. A very smooth, uniform, inexpensive nettle item may be mostly cotton or ramie. Himalayan allo cloth is coarser and more variable, and irregular yarn thickness is normal for hand spinning. Ask which species is used and where the fiber was processed. In the EU, nettle has no Annex I name and should appear as other fibres with a percentage, so a label listing only named fibers alongside a nettle claim deserves a question.

Care in detail

Treat nettle fabric like linen of similar weight; the label governs. Machine wash cool to warm (about 30 to 40 C) on a gentle cycle with mild detergent, or hand wash blends containing wool in cool water with a wool-safe detergent. Avoid chlorine bleach, which weakens bast fibers. Reshape and line dry or dry flat, since tumble drying increases shrinkage and creasing. Iron while slightly damp on a medium to hot setting for pure nettle, and lower the heat for blends with wool or synthetics. Store clean and dry, folded loosely or rolled, and shift fold lines occasionally, because sharp creases in stiff bast fibers can weaken over time. Hand-spun allo pieces are best hand washed.

Care at a glance

Follow the complete product’s care label. Blends, dyes, finishes and construction can change suitable washing, drying and storage.

Environmental and social footprint

Reviews describe Urtica dioica as a low-input perennial: once established, a stand can be harvested for several years, needs little fertilizer or pesticide, and can support local flora and fauna, and a 2024 review in Plants places nettle within circular bioeconomy strategies. It has also been proposed for restoring marginal and degraded land. The main footprint uncertainties lie in processing: water retting uses water and releases organic load, while chemical degumming uses alkali. No full life cycle assessment of commercial nettle fabric was found in this pass, so environmental claims should cite product-specific data. Himalayan allo is largely wild harvested and processed by hand in Nepal, with ash cooking and beating, which provides rural income but demands heavy labor.

Tradeoffs

Origin, processing inputs, labor, product construction and useful lifetime all need specific evidence. The name alone does not establish responsible production.

A useful question to ask: What exact material, product form and documented producer stand behind this name?

Science

Data sheet

Cellulose-rich plant material

Seed, stem, leaf or other plant structure. Extraction and preparation vary.

Structure and chemistry

Nettle fiber comes from primary bast (phloem) fibers in the stem cortex. In a cultivated German fiber clone, mean fiber diameters were about 19, 32 and 47 microns in the top, middle and bottom of the stem, with average lengths of about 58, 50 and 43 mm, so elementary fibers are long for a bast fiber. Wall thickness ranges from about 1 to over 20 microns. A literature compilation gives roughly 54 percent cellulose, 10 percent hemicellulose, 4 percent pectin, 9 percent lignin, 4 percent wax and fat and 18 percent water-soluble matter, varying with retting and harvest date.

From source to yarn

Historical lines resembled hemp processing: stems were dried, defoliated and retted (water retting, or chemical retting with ammonia solution in the First World War period), then broken, scutched to remove woody shives, cooked and hackled. Wartime German research added an unretted flock bast route and the so-called Elster procedure. A current industrial line described for textile-grade nettle harvests cultivated clones mechanically, field-rets and dries the stems, and decorticates them in a hammermill before the fiber is refined for spinning. In western Nepal, allo bark is still stripped by hand, cooked with ash and beaten.

Performance in use

Nettle behaves like other cellulosic bast fibers: strong and relatively stiff when dry, with good moisture absorption and a cool, linen-like hand when finely processed. Fine, long elementary fibers allow smoother yarns than hemp, but quality depends heavily on clone, stem position, retting and the degree of degumming. It takes direct, reactive and vat dyes. Like flax, it creases, and residual lignin can yellow in light. Leaves and stinging hairs are removed early in processing.

How it is identified

Burn tests are indicative only: nettle burns like linen, with a paper-like smell and gray ash. Microscopy shows long bast cells with visible lumens and cross-markings similar to flax and ramie, so nettle is easily confused with those fibers. Archaeological studies have combined fiber microscopy with provenance analysis to infer where the plants grew. Products sold as nettle are often blends or actually ramie (Boehmeria nivea, also Urticaceae), so fiber-content testing is advisable.

History

Timeline

1. c. 2,800 years agoThe Lusehoj Bronze Age textile from Voldtofte, Denmark, was identified in 2012 as nettle cloth, probably imported from the region of present-day Austria. [2]
2. 1914 to 1918Germany expanded nettle fiber production during the First World War after flax and cotton stocks ran out, using nettle fabric for army uniforms. [1]
3. 1920sGustav Bredemann began selecting wild nettles for vigor and fiber content, founding the clone collections behind later fiber nettles. [1]
4. 1939 to 1945Research on nettle fibers for the German textile industry increased again during the Second World War. [1]
5. 1993Surviving Bredemann clones were re-evaluated, restarting breeding and processing trials. [1]
6. 2025A chromosome-level genome of stinging nettle was published, including candidate genes for the neurotoxic peptide urthionin. [4]

Nettle belongs to a long tradition of gathering and processing stem fibers. Contemporary small-scale textile work revisits those skills and adapts them to modern yarn preparation.

The deeper record

Nettle textiles are ancient in Europe: the roughly 2,800-year-old Lusehoj Bronze Age textile from Voldtofte, Denmark, has been identified as nettle, probably imported from the region of present-day Carinthia and Styria in Austria. During the First World War Germany expanded nettle fiber production when flax and cotton stocks ran out, using fabric for army uniforms and paying schoolchildren to collect stems. Gustav Bredemann began systematic clone selection in the 1920s, research revived in the Second World War, and interest waned after 1945 until renewed breeding and processing trials from the 1990s.

Labeling and law

Nettle is not among the Annex I fibre names of Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011. Under that regulation, fibres not yet listed may be designated as other fibres with their percentage, and a label such as 100% other fibres (nettle) has been described as an acceptable approach. In the US, textile products covered by the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act and 16 CFR Part 303 must disclose fiber content, and natural fibers are named by common name. Ramie must not be labeled as nettle simply because both are in the nettle family.

This describes what rules and standards cover. It is not legal advice; jurisdiction, product form and current rule text control.

Frequently asked

Does nettle fabric sting?

No. The stinging hairs are on the living leaves and stems and are removed during harvesting and processing, while the textile fiber comes from the inner bast. A 2025 genome study identified genes likely encoding urthionin, a neurotoxic peptide thought to contribute to the sting, but finished fiber does not carry stinging hairs.

Is nettle fabric the same as ramie?

No. Both belong to the nettle family, Urticaceae, but ramie is Boehmeria nivea, a separate crop grown at scale in Asia. The fibers look similar under the microscope, so a nettle claim is best checked by asking for the species and, for expensive pieces, fiber testing.

What is allo?

Allo is the Nepali name for fiber from Himalayan giant nettle, Girardinia diversifolia, a wild perennial of mid-hill forests. Its long, lustrous fibers are stripped, cooked with ash, beaten and hand spun, then woven into bags, shawls and jackets, often blended with wool or cotton.

Sources

• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: CAMEO materials reference
• Materials (2022): Nettle, a long-known fiber plant with new perspectives
• Scientific Reports (2012): Nettle as a distinct Bronze Age textile plant
• EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 on textile fibre names
• eCFR: 16 CFR Part 303, Rules and Regulations Under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act
• Plants (2024): An overview on nettle studies, compounds, processing and the relation with circular bioeconomy
• Plants (2025): A high-quality phased genome assembly of stinging nettle
• Industrial Crops and Products (2024): Structure and properties of fibres extracted from Himalayan nettle (Girardinia diversifolia)

Cite this page

Chaos. (2026). Nettle. In Fibers of Earth: An independent textile atlas. https://www.hendrickresearch.com/fibers/materials/nettle/