Cashmere

Cashmere, in its de-haired form, is considered to be the most luxurious fibre currently available in commercial quantities, second only to Vicuna and Guanaco. The Cashmere is a goat, which produces a coat with two distinct layers; a fine body or under hair and a long, strong coarse outer hair, known as guard-hair. The fibre is collected by combing the animal. It is the short fine body hair which is so highly prized, being finer than the finest wool/animal hair at around 14-18 Microns, with a very soft handle. This also means difficult care issues when used in garments and must be separated from the coarse outer hair. It is removed from the coarse outer hair commercially in a very fine carding process known as de-hairing. This process is slow and consequently expensive, as is the fibre. So, the
yield of usable fibre from each goat is very small. The fibre properties are very similar to wool and as a result it is found in blends with wool. Due to its very fine nature, it is possible to use the fibre in fine fabrics; however, the only drawback is shortness of fibre length, which does limit its use. It is a highly skilled job to produce fine articles in 100% cashmere. The main producing areas are China, Mongolia, Afghanistan and Iran.