Natural Animal Fibers: Cashmere Wool, Fit for Royalty

On her first day in Europe Michele Obama wore a cashmere sweater that promptly sold out on the manufacturer's website. Cashmere is the undercoat from the cashmere goat, separated from the overcoat, washed, spun and used to make exquisitely soft garments and accessories.

The cashmere goat almost certainly originated in the Kashmir region on the border between India and Pakistan. Cashmere goats are healthy, relatively easy to care for and, like all goats, are browsers so inexpensive to feed. Traditionally, cashmere goats provided fiber as well as milk and meat. This is still the norm in poorer regions where cashmere is produced. Many breeders from industrial countries see their goats almost as pets and do not eat their culls and old animals.

The cashmere goat has a double coat. The outer coat is made of longer, thicker hairs while the undercoat is made of very fine, downy fleece. The goats are sheered or combed out annually and the two types of hair in the fleece are manually or mechanically separated. An excellent goat will produce 30% fine down while an average cashmere goat's fleece is 20% useable. The vast majority of cashmere goats are white although undercoat of gray or brown is also produced. According to Eden Cashmere, based in China, a typical cashmere goat will produce about 50 grams of the finest fiber annually. A typical man's sweater uses 250-450 grams of fiber - the annual production of 5 to 9 goats.

Some industrial breeders do not recognize the uniqueness of the traditional cashmere goat and cross breed more common goats trying to obtain animals that will produce a suitable fiber in other environments. However, the The Cashmere & Camel Hair Manufacturers Institute guidelines specify that their fiber come from the subspecies Capra hircus laniger. Primary cashmere producing countries include China, Afghanistan, India, Iran, Turkey and more recent producers Australia, New Zealand and the USA. The finest cashmere, according to the UN FAO comes from Mongolia.

Cashmere, like other animal fibers, is rated according to fiber diameter, with smaller diameter producing the best products. The maximum average fiber diameter for classification as cashmere is 19 microns. Mongolian cashmere has an average diameter of 13 microns, making it the softest, finest cashmere. Cashmere does contain lanolin so is not safe for those allergic to it.

Commercial raw cashmere sells for about $90 USD per kilogram, and up, on the world market. Knitters and other crafters can find cashmere yarn and fleece, raw or dyed, on Ebay, Etsy and from small shops online. Cashmere clothing is more easily found than of any other of the finest natural fleeces. Most sold in the US will be imported, often from China. Cashmere blends are also available, usually much less expensive. Woven cashmere will need to be dry-cleaned while some knit cashmere can tolerate hand-washing.

Cashmere is said to be the "Fiber of Kings," being so fine that The Covenant of the Ark was lined with pure, downy cashmere. While wearing cashmere may make you feel like royalty, you can wear it knowing that the goats producing it may be supporting poor families and sustainable agriculture.

Resources:
The Cashmere & Camel Hair Manufacturers Institute http://www.cashmere.org/cm/index.php
Eden Cashmere FAQ: http://www.edencashmere.com/cashmere_faq.htm
http://www.naturalfibres2009.org/en/fibres/cashmere.html