Cashmere: A New Spin on Wool

by Cheryl Parker⁽²⁾

Cashmere is made from the soft woolly undercoat of a specific variety of domestic goat. The goat originated in the middle of the Eurasian continent, where their mountainous homes fostered an evolutionary development of superfine and insulating wool due to their diet and habitat. The wool of the Cashmere goat has been used for centuries as the base for making the delicate yet super-warm material. China is at the top of the list in terms of volume of cashmere wool produced and exported, though places like Scotland and Australia see a small-scale yet higher-end production of the fibre.

Cashmere was traditionally harvested when the goat was moulting in the spring time. The warm undercoat would loosen naturally and could easily be gathered, though this yielded only small amounts of product. Since the exportation of cashmere goats to Europe and other parts of the world in the early 18th century, a variety of wool gathering methods have been introduced. Shearing the goats is by far the most efficient way to get as much of the fine hairs removed as possible, but the shorn wool is also mixed with the courser overcoat. This means the wool must be processed to remove the coarse hairs, which never can be completely done. The result is perhaps less soft and pure than the highest grade. This however is what makes its way to the ‘affordable’ cashmere we see in the shops. On the other hand, hand-combing the goat is the only way to extract the purest wool. By using a coarse comb and teasing out the fine hairs, the resulting collection of cashmere is free of other pollutants. After it is washed, the super-fine wool can be spun to make the more radically expensive cashmere products we see on offer at more high-end establishments.

In either case, a cashmere scarf will provide the wearer the many years of enjoyment. Whether it is pure or more mixed, items such as a cashmere cardiganare sure to please any wearer. In any case, choose what best suits your needs.

Article submitted Friday, February 10, 2012 & read 9 times.

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