I saw this in Instagram, and it triggered me to write this.
A conversation at Burning Man pushed me to look deeper.
In 2009 I got deep into regenerative agriculture and permaculture. By 2015, I’d started Natural Materials Unlimited, a company focused on making products from bast fibers — hemp, linen, sisal, nettle, ramie, kenaf, jute, organic cotton. The goal has always been simple: minimize synthetics, maximize natural materials, and build products that don’t leave a trail of microplastics behind.
Over the years, my team and I have done a lot:
- Waxed yarns for gardening and polished shoelaces.
- Hemp wick — we’ve made enough to replace around 20 million disposable lighters.
- Natural woven tape (webbing) for leashes, collars, belts, guitar straps.
- Upcycling “misfit” yarns into ropes, then dog leashes.
That’s the work I stand behind. It’s tactile, real, measurable.
The encounter
I’ve only been to Burning Man twice: in 2010, and again in 2025. This year, I found myself talking with a woman who was handing out necklaces she had made. Resin pendants, synthetic yarn cords. Nice work.
We started talking about what we each do, and I mentioned that I run a company in Poland that makes products from natural fibers. Then she asked:
“So what do you think about the fact that natural materials have better frequencies — more in tune with our bodies?”
In my head, alarms went off. I’ve seen those memes online for years. “Linen is 5,000,” “cotton is 70,” “wool and linen cancel each other out.” But I’ve never once seen a machine, a study, or even consistent numbers.
I told her exactly that: “Look, I’ve never seen reputable data on fabric frequencies.”
She looked disappointed. She came back with: “Well, it’s in the Bible. Maybe you should research it more, because it seems like you don’t know enough.”
That stung a bit. Not because I thought she was right — but because she was so confident about something that, in my world, looks like a meme with no evidence.
Why it stuck with me
Weeks later, I’m still thinking about that exchange. Partly because she was rude, but more because it highlights how far pseudoscience travels compared to real, provable facts.
I work with hemp, linen, nettle, ramie, kenaf, sisal, cotton — every day. If fabric frequency was a real, measurable property, you’d better believe I’d own the machine. I’d be testing every yarn, every woven sample, every rope. I’d be comparing organic vs non-organic, washed vs unwashed, waxed vs raw. But the machine doesn’t exist. The peer-reviewed data doesn’t exist.
So when someone insists “linen is 5,000,” my honest response is: “5,000 what?”
The real benefits of natural fibers
The problem with the “frequency” story is that it distracts from what’s actually true — and it’s plenty.
- Breathability: synthetics trap heat and moisture, while bast fibers ventilate.
- Durability: I’ve had a hemp beanie for 10+ years — every wash makes it softer, not weaker.
- No microplastics: when hemp or linen wears down, it returns to the earth.
- Low inputs: hemp and flax can be grown with minimal chemicals, especially in proper crop rotations.
- Production reality: bast fibers are tougher on machines, slower to process, but that’s a trade-off I’ll take for sustainability.
Natural fibers wear in, not out. That’s the conversation we should be having.
What the Bible actually says
For the record, the Bible doesn’t say “linen vibrates at 5,000.” What it says is: don’t wear garments woven of wool and linen together (Leviticus 19:19, Deuteronomy 22:11). Scholars generally agree this was about priestly garments and holiness laws — not about physics or electromagnetic fields.
So when someone throws that line at me, I can’t help but shake my head. We’ve got enough real reasons to wear natural fibers. We don’t need fake ones.
My invitation
If there’s someone out there with the machine, with the data, with reproducible results: show me. Publish it. Record it. Put it out there. I’m teachable. Prove me wrong.
But until then, I’ll keep focusing on what I know: natural fibers are better for our bodies, better for the earth, and they make products that last.
Next time you pick up a linen shirt or a hemp beanie and think it feels scratchy — remember: give it a few washes. These materials only get better.
