How Your Cashmere Is Made
One of the rarest natural fibers in the world, cashmere's not a wool but a hair, which accounts for its unmistakable feel. With fast-fashion chains such as Uniqlo and Joe Fresh selling discount product in bulk, it's hard to tell the good stuff from the junk
Where It’s From
Most
cashmere comes from goats in the Gobi Desert, which stretches from Northern China into Mongolia. Beneath the animals’ coarse hair lies an undercoat of superfine fibers concentrated on the underbelly. In May and June, when the goats molt, local workers comb the belly hair, sort it by hand, and send it to a dehairing facility (usually in China) to be cleaned and refined. Then it’s baled and delivered to Europe, where it’s spun into fine yarn and sold to designers for roughly $114 a pound. With adequate supplies of top-notch raw materials becoming scarce in Asia, Afghanistan has become an unlikely exporter: The country is rich in unadulterated product. As China increasingly blends different qualities of cashmere to achieve volume, Afghan goat farmers are filling the demand for completely pure knits.
Buying Tips
1. Check the Weight
A garment made of two plies, meaning it was knitted from double strands of yarn, or more, will often be longer-lasting. The heavier the sweater, the warmer (and more expensive) it will be.
2. Beware of Pilling
Premium cashmere is made from the long hairs of goats—and it’s combed, never sheared. Shearing yields shorter fibers that are prone to pilling. Before you buy, rub the surface of a garment with the palm of your hand and see if fibers begin to roll up and/or shed. This is an indication that there’s excess short-fiber content.
3. Look for a Tight Knit
Durable cashmere is tightly woven. If the construction feels loose, the garment will lose its shape quickly. Gauge quality by holding a piece up to the light—if you can see through, it probably won’t be wearable for longer than a season.
4. Consider the Color
Heavily dyed fiber loses some of its softness. Chinese white from Inner Mongolia is regarded as the finest-quality cashmere because it’s not subjected to coloring or bleach. Outer Mongolia is developing a niche in natural cashmere in camel and brown hues.
5. Read the Label
A garment labeled 70 percent cashmere/30 percent wool frequently contains no more than 5 percent cashmere. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission mandates only pure cashmere sweaters can be labeled “100 Percent Cashmere.” If that’s not indicated on the garment, move along.
How to Wash It
Step-by-step guidance from knitwear designer Margaret O’Leary
Launder cashmere at home, always inside out. Washing adds moisture back to the fabric; dry cleaning stiffens it.
Use the delicate cycle. Two teaspoons of The Laundress Wool & Cashmere Shampoo is enough.
Put your garment in the dryer for five minutes on the coolest setting. Then spread it on a flat towel to air dry.4.
Never hang anything made of cashmere. Hangers will stretch the fibers.
What is Cashmere?
This special yarn comes from rare fibres found in the undercoat of cashmere goats. These particular goats live mainly in Mongolia and China, a region characterised by wide temperature fluctuations between seasons.
Cashmere goats adapted to this harsh climate by developing a double fleece: an outer guard layer that protects the undercoat from water, and an undercoat made of ultra-fine hairs with strong insulating properties. This keeps the goats warm in the winter but not too hot in the summer.
The next stage is for the fibres to be dyed and spun into yarns, which are widely used in the garment industry, either knitted into jumpers and similar products, or woven into fabrics for premium suits or accessories.
The most respected companies for yarn processing and for knitting are located in Italy and Scotland. However in recent years the world has witnessed the emergence of lower cost and often much lower quality producers from China.
Cashmere, when authentic and of high quality, is extremely expensive due to the difficult production process and its scarcity. On average a cashmere goat generates only 150 grams of fibres per year and it takes 300 grams to make a jumper. In total only 6000 tonnes of cashmere are produced per year, a very small fraction compared to 1.3 million tonnes for normal wool.
Why is Cashmere better than wool?
Warmth – Its insulation capacity is three times higher than wool (up to eight times for the very best cashmere), making it perfect for maintaining your body temperature. The result is a yarn that keeps you warm but not hot.
Softness – The diameter of cashmere fibres is very small, creating a very fine texture, the softest of all yarns.
No itchiness – For the same reason, the density of fibres are much higher than wool, and therefore the texture is not scratchy. This gives a great feeling when wearing cashmere directly on the skin or when touching a jumper.
Lightness – Given its insulating qualities, cashmere jumpers can be lighter than those made of wool and still keep perfect body temperature.
Woolen cashmere series are the best sustainable and renewable fibre with virtues to protect the user from the surrounding rudiments. Be it knit or woven, woolen fibres make long lasting apparels. Fibres from these garments will not peel and will retain its form for many years, even for generations. Not every goat is cashmere, and this is what makes pashmina cashmere wool a unique and valuable fibre. More than 3000 tons of cashmere is made every year with the majority of them from Mongolia, followed by Australia, New Zealand, Iran, and Afghanistan.
In todays environment, customers are becoming major advocates of the back-story principle. They want to be informed about the story behind the stuff they purchase. If the companies are transparent about their manufacturing processes and principles, they are satisfied that they are buying an ethical product. They want to wear cashmere fabrics in a way that fits their style, budget, and conscience.
Swiss consumers buy more of cashmere fabrics, but also increasingly question how it is being produced. Imports of cashmere into Switzerland have increased drastically, during the recent past.
Worsted cashmere series are made from non-allergenic natural goat fibres. They are animal-friendly, sustainable, and do not wrinkle. They posses durability with little or no pilling, and becomes softer with the age. The finest quality of cashmere fabrics are based on the purity of the yarn and tightness of the knit. Longer strands give the garment a flatter and tighter feel. The quality of the fabric gets enhanced with the strands getting fuller and softer with every wash.
Price of Wales, Prince Charles has launched a campaign for promoting consumer awareness of wool stating it, a natural and sustainable fibre. As per the campaign, the company which makes products with more than 50% of its content in wool will be using their logo and promotional material.
The luxurious fibres from the pashmina goats have inspired many designers, and are preferred by consumers who are luxury lovers. With all the exposure of ecological living, sustainable cashmere fabrics are sought by consumers who want to own luxurious clothing line and also remain eco-chic.
Do I Need A Clothes Brush?
Your favourite cashmere overcoat or wool blazer: investment pieces, no doubt of value and almost certainly not items of clothing you want to wash frequently. A run of colour or loss of shape are all perils of the washing machine and dry cleaner. So how to maintain a dirt, dust and hair free wardrobe? A lint roller? No – it won’t effectively remove anything more than superficial fluff. The optimal solution is to invest in a good quality
brush cashmere series, to remove deep rooted dust, dirt and debris. We detailed this in Ape’s Ten Commandments of Style – it’s a simple step which ensures longevity.
A 100% wool suit, for instance, takes much more care to maintain than a poor-quality, synthetic version. But it’s worth it. You should really brush the former after each time of wearing – it only take a couple of minutes. We all know that washing a finely tailored wool suit is a no go but as alluded to earlier, avoid dry-cleaning too. The chemical process is proven to weaken fabric. You lose the bounce and the finish – they become shiny, flat and lifeless. Instead, try a gentle steam in the bathroom for a freshen up or air by a window then brush it plump up the fibres and restore the fabric’s lustre. Use dry cleaning as a last resort, and a good one at that.
What Makes A Good Clothes Brush
Often made with boar or horse hair, natural bristle clothes brushes are the best you can buy. Cheaper alternatives are often made of synthetic nylon and have less ‘give’, resulting in a harsher scrubbing or scratching of delicate fabrics. A natural bristle offers better longevity too, potentially lasting a lifetime whereas a synthetic bristle will wear out quicker.
For exceptionally soft, finely woven or velvet clothing you might wish to use a velvet-faced lint brush. Even more gentle than a natural bristle, a velvet-faced lint brush will pick up fluff, hair and other clinging particles. Try and avoid using tape, as it can leave marks. If you have time, by all means pick away at fluff and hair with your fingers but it will take a while. Specifically with regards to velvet – never brush against the lie of the fabric or it will mark. And ideally, use a dedicated velvet clothes brush such as this
clothes brush.