cashmere

More about Kashmir

Knowing more about cashmere will help you better appreciate your cashmere clothing and accessories and provide better advice on your next purchase. While cashmere is a well-known luxury textile, there are many factors that affect its price and quality.

What is cashmere?

The material cashmere is obtained from cashmere goats.
Cashmere wool is known throughout the world as one of the finest natural materials. Compared to other types of wool, it is much softer and gentler. 

Cashmere wool

Collecting cashmere wool

Goats have a double fleece that produces a downy coat in winter and coarser guard hairs that provide good insulation when temperatures drop. They shed their fur in spring.
A better yield of cashmere wool is obtained by maintaining the traditional method of hand-combing the fleece. It can take up to two weeks to remove the down from the goat's undercoat.
It is possible to shear the goat, but this usually results in a coarser yarn.

Finishing of cashmere wool

Cashmere wool must be cleaned before it is dyed, spun or woven to remove dirt and debris, as well as animal fat. After cleaning, the wool is usually dyed in large batches to the desired color.

The cashmere is now ready to be woven into thin, fluffy sheets, which are then made into a series of yarns. These look like yarn, but can still be easily pulled apart at this stage.

Spinning cashmere wool

The cashmere wool is then spun into yarn of varying thicknesses using spinning machines. The yarn can now be wound onto spools and prepared for weaving.