Came here for this.
I’m partial to flax linen, even though it’s not quite as good sustainability-wise as hemp.
It’s almost as absorbent and has similar anti microbial properties. But the main thing is it’s softer.
Hemp does appear to soften up over time but it can’t match linen’s particular soft smooth suppleness in the short nor the long run.
That said, the last decade or so “linen” is being made with factory processes using fibre ends instead of full strands. So it’s getting harder and harder to find real linen material that doesn’t break down in a couple years.
They’re even weaving jersey (stretch) material from it which is ridiculous, and eschews many of the benefits of the material. -_-
Pretty sure those aren’t mutually exclusive.