What Is Cashmere?

How is cashmere made?

Cashmere is made by gathering the downy undercoat that cashmere goats grow beneath their coarse outer guard hair, then cleaning and dehairing it before spinning. The Cashmere and Camel Hair Manufacturers Institute (CCMI), an industry body, places its origin on the high plateaus of Asia. It names China, Mongolia, Afghanistan and Iran as the significant supplier countries.

The goats moult over several weeks each spring. The fibre then goes through these stages:

1. Collection: herders comb the down out by hand with a coarse comb, or shear the goats.
2. Sorting and scouring: coarse hair is picked out by hand, then the fibre is washed to remove dirt, grease and plant matter.
3. Dehairing: the remaining coarse guard hair, plant matter and dandruff are taken out.
4. Spinning, then weaving or knitting.

A goat gives up to one pound (0.45 kg) of fibre a year, and on average 0.1 to 0.2 kg of underdown.

What are the properties of cashmere?

Cashmere is soft, warm for its weight and easy to dye. CCMI describes it as extremely warm, giving light insulation without bulk, and very soft, with good loft (springy bulk) and a surface that brushes up into a nap well.

• Warmth and humidity: the fibre has a high moisture content, so its insulation changes with the humidity of the air.
• Colour: it grows naturally in grey, brown and white, and takes dye as readily as wool.
• Range: it makes fine or thick yarns and light to heavy fabrics, from coats to jumpers.
• Durability and pilling: CCMI calls cashmere long lasting, and says garments made from long, fine fibre pill less and keep their shape better than cheaper cashmere.

How is cashmere graded?

Cashmere is graded mainly by fibre diameter, measured in microns (thousandths of a millimetre), and by fibre length, with colour as the third main quality factor named by CCMI. On fineness, CCMI puts cashmere at about 14 to 19 microns. The lower the number, the finer the fibre and the softer it feels.

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission’s rules under the Wool Products Labeling Act (16 CFR 300.19) allow the name only for the dehaired undercoat of the cashmere goat that meets the limits below. The rule sets nothing for fibre length or colour, CCMI’s other two quality factors.

The 19-micron figure is an average, not a cap on every fibre: some coarser fibre is allowed within the other two limits. The EU Textile Regulation sets no fineness test: it identifies cashmere by the animal, as hair of the Kashmir goat.

How does cashmere appear on a clothing label?

On a label, “cashmere” is a legally defined fibre name. The US limits it to fibre that meets the FTC definition. The EU lists it among the official names for animal hair, with or without “wool” or “hair” after it.

Under US rules

• “Cashmere” may replace the word “wool” in the fibre-content line, as long as the percentage of each fibre is given.
• Without cashmere in the fibre-content disclosure, the word, or any word or image suggesting it, may not appear elsewhere on the label or on a secondary label such as a swing tag.

Under EU rules

• Only names on the regulation’s official fibre list may describe fibre content. Cashmere is on it, alongside mohair (from the angora goat), camel, alpaca and vicuña, and may be written “cashmere”, “cashmere wool” or “cashmere hair”.
• “100%”, “pure” or “all” is allowed only for a product made entirely of one fibre, with up to 2 per cent of technically unavoidable stray fibre (5 per cent for carded products).
• Blends must give each fibre’s name and percentage by weight, largest first, within a 3 per cent manufacturing tolerance. Minor fibres that cannot easily be stated at manufacture may be grouped as “other fibres”: up to 5 per cent for one fibre, or 15 per cent together.
• “Pashmina” is not on the list, so a pashmina shawl sold in the EU must still name its actual fibres.

What the percentage tells you

CCMI warns against blends with under 20 per cent cashmere and notes that small amounts do not significantly change how a garment performs. Silk adds sheen and drape but feels less soft than pure cashmere. Because silk costs less, a silk blend should be cheaper than 100 per cent cashmere. Cotton makes a lower-priced, cooler blend.

How do you tell good cashmere from poor cashmere?

Good cashmere passes simple hand tests: it feels clearly softer than fine wool, resists pilling when rubbed, snaps back after stretching and is densely knitted. CCMI suggests these checks:

1. Compare it by touch. Hold it next to a fine wool jumper: cashmere should feel noticeably better.
2. Rub the surface. Rub your palm on the surface. If fibres start rolling into little balls, treat it as a warning.
3. Stretch it sideways. Pull the body from side to side. It should snap back; if not, the fibre may be poor or the knit too loose.
4. Look at the knit. Loose, limp fabric is the hallmark of a cheaply made jumper.
5. Read the ply. Two-ply yarn is better than single-ply, because twisting two yarns together offsets the torque in a single yarn.
6. Read the sewn-in label, not just the swing tag. CCMI warns that some retailers put sleeve hang tags reading “Cashmere” or “Cashmere blend” on garments with 10 per cent or less cashmere. Check the label for the cashmere percentage.

Myth: more plies mean better cashmere. Designers add plies for weight or colour options, but CCMI says extra plies add no quality: a four-ply jumper is heavier, not better.

Red flags: a so-called bargain, which CCMI tells shoppers to watch out for; under 20 per cent cashmere; a limp, open knit. In woven cloth, CCMI says nylon blends or wool-and-nylon tri-blends may indicate inferior recycled fibre. Nylon is also used with new cashmere in hosiery.

How do you care for cashmere?

Hand wash cashmere knitwear in cold water and have woven cashmere dry-cleaned: that is CCMI’s basic rule. Where the garment’s own care label differs, follow the label.

• Washing: use a detergent suitable for wool, cashmere and silk, and never wring or twist the garment.
• Drying: press the excess water out gently with towels, then lay the garment flat on a fresh, dry towel until it is completely air-dried.
• Machine washing: CCMI’s fact sheet says knits may also be machine washed, depending on the special cycles available on some models.
• Creases: steam them out rather than pressing them with an iron.
• Pills: a pill comb lifts off pills and fuzz.
• Storage: fold knits and loosely woven pieces on a shelf rather than hanging them. Store them clean, in a sealable garment bag with moth protection, because a dirty garment attracts moths.

CCMI also says that garments made from long, fine fibre get better with each wash.

Is cashmere sustainable?

Not automatically: the fibre is natural and regrows every year, but in Mongolia, a major supplier, herds have outgrown the pasture. A 2022 brief from the Asian Development Bank gives the figures:

• In 2020, 67 million animals grazed about 110 million hectares of Mongolian meadow and pasture, the national herd having doubled in less than 10 years.
• Mongolia’s Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry based its 2018 action plan for sustainable livestock on the understanding that pasture carrying capacity was exceeded by 25 million sheep units. A sheep unit converts different animals into sheep equivalents.
• The brief links the uncontrolled growth of goat numbers to degraded grassland and a higher risk of desertification.
• The brief reports that cashmere trade accounts for around 90 per cent of transactions on the Mongolian Agricultural Commodity Exchange.

No fibre label shows any of this: US and EU rules cover fibre names and percentages, not how the goats were grazed or kept. A claim that cashmere belongs in sustainable fashion rests on the seller’s evidence, not on the word “cashmere”.