Cashmere: composition, description, pros and cons

Any woman knows well that cashmere clothes are a real luxury that not everyone can afford. It is not for nothing that this fabric is called “soft gold”. Before buying such a thing, it would be good to find out what are the features of this unique material and the intricacies of caring for it, as well as learn how to distinguish a cheap fake from the original.

This definition has been heard by many, but few people know its meaning. Cashmere is a super thin twill weave material. The canvas is made from yarn made from the down of mountain goats that live in Pakistan, as well as northern India, parts of Mongolia and Nepal.

The term itself comes from the name of a region in the west of Hindustan, in the high-mountainous region of the Himalayas near the Pakistani border.

Cashmere thread is two times thinner than human hair, the fluff for its production is combed out from goats during the spring molt, and this is done exclusively by hand. About 200 g of raw raw material is obtained from one animal, which, after the end of the purification, gives only 100-110 g.

Yarn is also made by hand, usually it takes about a month.

Therefore, as before, Mongolia, India and Pakistan remain the main suppliers of wool to our country and many other countries. But the best fabrics are brought to us from Italy and Scotland - it is there that the optimal production conditions are created for high-quality fiber cleaning, dyeing and subsequent spinning.

Of course, cashmere is a very expensive material, however, things from it often offered on store shelves differ greatly in their cost. The price tag of the finished product is influenced by the type of fabric, its density and shade of the original fiber, as well as the country of origin.

Today the market is overflowing with Indian, Turkish, as well as Italian and French cashmere, which is subdivided into several main categories.

• Pashmina. This canvas consists of down with the finest hairs (less than 15 microns), it is taken to make almost weightless shawls, the cost of which on the market starts from 15 thousand rubles.
• Half-pashmina. Fibers up to 19 microns in size are used as raw materials for its manufacture. This material is used for sewing sweaters, dresses, skirts, and even outerwear.

According to the type of threads, three subspecies of yarn are conditionally distinguished.

• Mongolian. In this case, the fluff of several varieties of Chinese and Mongolian goats is taken. Such raw materials are subjected to the most careful processing and manual combing. Clothes made from Mongolian cashmere are very soft, they do not deform during wear and do not become lumpy.
• Cashmere material for the coat. Such a fabric is obtained by combining cashmere and other types of wool. As a rule, there is only 30% down in such a fabric, but this amount is quite enough to make the canvas soft, warm and wearable. Most often, cashmere is supplemented with alpaca wool.
• Double-sided coat fabric. It is used to create exclusive coats from leading designers, most often they are made in limited quantities. This material is represented by two wool canvases, which are held together by fibers. As a rule, one side is one-color, and the other is made in the form of pictures.

The quality of cashmere is directly related to the way the yarn is carded - the more “swirling” a thing looks, the sooner it will wear out, so cashmere fibers are usually spun so as to smooth out their “furry” as much as possible. To do this, the threads are strongly twisted, and even form an ornate structure, combining the twisting of 2-3 separate threads.

Before spinning, combing is carried out, its task is to separate individual wool balls and create even fibers. Modern industry has automated this process - the raw material is passed through a carding machine, where it moves in a large drum, passing through sharp needles and bristles.

If, at the end of such processing, the raw material goes directly to the roving frame, and then to the spinning unit, then the carded material is connected. And if along the way it is processed on a combing machine, then the output is combed cashmere. Such a canvas is even smoother, thinner and softer. Combed material is priced much more expensive than carded, but that's an honest difference.

You can learn more about Mongolian cashmere by watching the following video.

The value of cashmere is explained not only by its rarity and difficulties in obtaining, but also by its truly unique properties. Such a fabric has many advantages over all other types of wool materials.

• The fabric is very light and almost weightless - for example, a cashmere sweater can be passed through a ring without any effort.
• A natural product is hypoallergenic, its fibers do not create conditions for the settlement of dust mites, as is the case with many synthetic materials.
• In terms of strength and wear resistance, cashmere can be easily compared with silk and wool.
• The fibers have a rather low thermal conductivity, so the products always remain warm, they will be comfortable in any conditions, but at the same time the skin will breathe.

• Pumps on the surface of the product appear only after prolonged wear, and then only at the points of contact between the two canvases, for example, in the area where the sleeves adhere to the side parts of the product.
• Cashmere fibers are much thinner and softer than silk threads, in this regard, the fabric is rightfully considered the softest of all existing materials for sewing clothes and linen. Products do not prick or pinch.
• It is noted that the yarn of these goats is able to have a healing effect on the body, it helps to heal the spine and joints, relieves pain, fatigue and tension.
• Cashmere contains a natural wax that nourishes the skin.

Of the minuses of cashmere products, only the complexity of caring for them and the extremely high cost can be indicated.

Many buyers sometimes cannot understand what is the reason for such a high cost of the product. It's simple - from one goat, as we have already mentioned, you can get no more than 200 g of fluff per year, and after processing, its amount is almost halved. In order to make a sweater, you need the wool of 3 animals, and the cost of cashmere, like platinum with gold, directly depends on its mass.

In addition, fluff is collected exclusively by hand, since the tradition of such combing and sorting dates back to ancient times.

There is another danger associated with buying cashmere items - a large number of counterfeits. Many brands and brands targeting the mass market use the lowest quality down with short and dense fibers for sewing. In addition, unscrupulous manufacturers often add synthetic fluff similar in external parameters to the raw materials. According to experts, some brands use threads that are too loosely twisted, which give the necessary feeling of softness, but at the same time they quickly lose their shape.

Cashmere is considered a versatile material; it is used for sewing clothes for children and adults, underwear for newborns, bedding and blankets.

Cashmere skirts, sweaters and cardigans are very popular, as well as gloves, shawls and berets; outerwear made of this cloth is highly valued.

In the countries of the East, even carpets are made from such cloth, and the prices for them are incredibly high.

Cashmere is considered to be a very strong and durable fabric. If you properly take care of such things, they will serve faithfully to their owners for many years without deteriorating their original gloss. However, such fabric requires very careful and careful handling.

Products made of lightweight cashmere should be stored in a closet in a horizontal position, but coats should be hung on small hangers, otherwise unpleasant breaks will appear on the surface.

Cashmere is washed only by hand at a temperature not exceeding 30 degrees, and for this you should use gentle cleaning agents.

The products should be lightly wrung out by hand, in no case twisting the canvas, usually it is simply soaked with a towel and laid out on a horizontal surface away from heat sources. But cashmere is not worth introducing at all to the iron - it is best to do with a simple steamer.

If you notice that over time there are pellets in some places, remove them by hand or with a comb.

Cashmere is often compared to wool, but these materials come from completely different animals. So, wool is the hair of a sheep, which is shaved off, while delicate cashmere is only an undercoat, the so-called fluff, which can only be obtained by combing, and strictly from certain breeds of goats.

When cashmere animals are “relocated” to any country, the fluff loses its unique qualities. An exceptionally harsh climate, in which in the warm season the temperature rises to 40 degrees, and in the cold it drops to -50, and makes it possible for goats to have the desired quality of fluff. As for consumer characteristics, cashmere is 8 times warmer - its fibers are hollow inside, so they create additional thermal protection.

The main "competitor" of cashmere when sewing coats is considered to be drape - a heavy fabric of intricate weaving from a woolen thread. Drap has heat-insulating properties due to its two-layer structure; this material is often used for sewing winter and autumn-spring outerwear. Cashmere is softer than drape, it requires troublesome maintenance, but such outerwear looks much more solid. On the other hand, the drape is more practical, and its wear resistance is higher, therefore, when buying a coat, it is better to give preference to mixed compositions.

The increased price of cashmere products has led to the fact that a large number of counterfeits have appeared on the market. Often, inexperienced users can be deceived and get completely different quality than they expected.

The first indicator that this is a fake may be a low price tag. For example, if you are offered a shawl for 2-4 thousand rubles, most likely, it was knitted of wool with a minimum share of cashmere, and if the product you are offering is even cheaper, then you can be sure that it was made of plain viscose or acrylic.

However, unscrupulous sellers can designate prices for their products that are similar to those made from natural cashmere, so it is quite easy to be deceived. To prevent this from happening, you should be aware of the main differences between the material and its synthetic counterfeits.

• Cashmere cannot have saturated colors, this material is difficult to dye, so any dye, when applied to the canvas, acquires smoky faded shades. Of course, sellers often assure that the yarn was obtained from white fluff, but even in this case, a bright tone cannot be obtained under any circumstances.

• To decorate the appearance of the fabric, some manufacturers add up to 10% silk to it, this can be seen with the naked eye if you take a closer look at the fabric. In this case, it consists of fibers of different thickness, and the difference between a thin down and a thicker silk thread will be clearly visible.
• Before purchasing a cashmere product, squeeze the fabric in your hands for 5-10 seconds. If you have the original in front of you, soon you will feel a slight warmth in your palms, since the fluff tends to hold, and even intensify it.

• Keep in mind that natural cashmere cannot shine, if you notice that its fibers flicker in the sun, then you have synthetics in front of you.

Owners of cashmere items give the most positive reviews about this material: the items are pleasant to the body, they are soft, delicate, light. The skin breathes freely, but at the same time the material retains the heat of the human body. Such things are simply irreplaceable in winter. Products are worn for a very long time, they do not wear out, do not wear out and do not roll, they can be worn for years, but only with proper care.

There are practically no negative reviews, since such a fabric is really expensive, it looks amazing, emphasizing the taste of its owner. Nevertheless, due to the fact that there are many fakes in the markets and in stores, not all buyers are happy with their purchase. The thing wears out quickly, stretches, pellets appear on it, and all this even with proper care. There is nothing to be done here, however, it is worth remembering that such problems are not typical for real cashmere, and you just need to be careful when buying.