Cashmere a wonderfully soft and warm wool
Cashmere is a wonderful wool that comes from the capra hircus goat that lives in the Himalayan mountains, among other places.
The goats live in the mountains at an altitude of several thousand meters and where the temperature can drop to -40 degrees cold in the winter. As the weather gets colder, the cashmere goats' undercoat begins to grow. When the winter period ends and the temperature rises, the cashmere goats shed their wool, which is then collected by farmers or collectors.
Cashmere wool is prized and has been used for centuries for wonderful garments, known for its warmth, lightness and, not least, softness. That is why cashmere wool is one of the most luxurious wools in the world.
Cashmere is also called the "king of wool fibres", we would go so far as to say that it is the royal wool fiber of the Himalayan mountains, which royalty have often used throughout the ages. But we believe that we have a counterpart to cashmere wool, namely Alpaca, and especially the soft quality called "superfine alpaca" or baby alpaca, which we and others call "South American cashmere" or the alpaca of the Andes, which has also been mined for use for the Incas in Peru.
When you hold a piece of clothing made of cashmere or alpaca in your hands, you are never in doubt that you have a luxury product in your hand, in older times it was reserved for the royal or influential, today, thank God, there are far more people who can afford it the luxury.
There are five stages in wool production, regardless of whether it is cashmere, alpaca or other wool.
- Collection
- Sorting
- Depilation
- Spinning
- Weaving or knitting
- Collection – When the goats shed during the spring, the cashmere fibers are collected either by combing or shearing the animal. The finest cashmere quality is obtained by combing the animals.
- Sorting – After the cashmere fibers have been collected, the hairs are sorted by hand so that the coarse hairs are sorted out. After sorting, the fibers are cleaned of dirt and impurities.
- Depilation – After sorting, the fibers are depilated. That is that vegetable material and the outer hair are removed. After dehairing, the cashmere fibers are ready to be spun into yarn, which can then be woven or knitted.