You’ve got two of them.  Maybe more.  They are your favorites.  Of course I’m talking about your cashmere sweaters.  Have you ever worn or owned anything that is so soft and so warm.  You know you always stand out in a crowd one you have one of them on.  They scream soft buttery luxury and they were worth every penny you spent on them.

And you spent a lot of pennies didn’t you.

Did you ever wonder what the real reason for the high cost of cashmere is?

Well the major reason is scarcity.  Like all other fabrics and yarns, cashmere comes in a variety of quality.  The best comes from hand combed Kashmir goat hair found in the goats raised in Mongolia and the border areas of Pakistan and China.

These rugged and beautiful animals have to survive some of nature’s coldest weather.  As a result, nature has provided them with a super fine and soft “underhair” that acts as insulation, covered by a layer of longer coarse hair known as “guard hair”.  It’s the underhair that eventually is spun into yarn or woven into a cashmere fabric.

Harvesting this hair is no simple task.  For starters, they are hand combed and only when the goats are molting and that only occurs once a year.  Combing the goat is an art form in itself.  The idea is just to pull away the fine underhair and not the longer coarser top layer.  This little job can last as long as three days per goat!

And you know how much “wool” they get from a goat?  They get a whopping 150 grams or less than 5.5 ounces.  Compare that to a sheep who, depending on breed, can produce 100 – 300 pounds of wool a year.  On an annual basis worldwide about 6.5 tons of cashmere is harvested.  That’s a drop in the fabric bucket when you think of the thousands of tons of wool that is brought to market each year.

Once this hair is harvested, it has to be separated, cleaned and dyed.  It is then spun into yarn or woven into fabric.  This used to be done mostly by the Scots and Italians because of their famous skill.  Recently however, China started getting into the act and now does most of the production.

So when you look at those cashmere sweaters hanging in the closet just think of that handsome goat somewhere in Mongolia who stood there patiently getting combed so you could look great.  Why is it so expensive?  Gosh just the airfare would be too much!

Cashmere the fine warmath of the cold world.

By  Ghulam Mohyuddin Wani  email mohy@aol.com

Foundation for Advancement of S cience and Technology,KASHMIR.

Email   fastwan@in.com

Cashmere is an under coat of goats inhabiting cold serets of the world in Mongolia,china,India,Pakistan,Iran,Uzbakistan,Azerbaijan,Kazakistan,     Afganistan .Many states in the world tried to breed the finr Cashmere goats in their thirst for this valuable and costly fibre.During their rule on kashmir many fine pashmina goats  were imported to United Kingdom.The attempts to breed these goats there still continue in zoological parks and in some fabric oriented firms,However,the best nutrive ,breeding or even technological application failed to raise fine cashmere breeds.The creed of this fibre was so intensive that the infamous documebt of Kashmir sale to the Mahraja who ruled Kahmir until 1947,contained a treaty to supply best cashmere goats and bucks to the throne of the Queen in England along with few fine pashmina {CASHMERE} shawals .

What is cashmere or the Pashmnia.

 This is a fine wool ,grown on the Goats .This wool has finer diameter than the best finr wool breeds of Sheep in the world.Normally a finest wool of the Sheep in the world has a diameter ranging between 18-20 microns.The fineness of the cashmere is around 12-15 microns.The weaving quality often denoted as spinability also excels in this fibre.A gram of processed cashmere can be woven into a fine thread extending upto many miles.The more mile the thread per gram can give speaks of its finess and the price.It is often said and tested in Kashmir that the shawl (a blanket of 5ft x12 ft)MADE OF THIS WOOL CAN PASS through a small golen engagement ring of a man or women.The other character is its warmth .The old saying is that shawl made of pure cashmere can boil a freshly laid hens egg.These characters are specific to the cashmere only.The original fine quality cashmere locally called as Pashmnia in Kashmir is now grown on the goats of many countries as stated.The name cashmere has a little historical background.

Cashmere.

The word is originally derived from Cash mere i e flow of money.In good olden times the silk route was passing through Kashmir and the merchndice used to stay in KASHMIR .It is said most of the grains and dry fruits used to bargained in thee markets of Kashmir.The capital of Kashmir was a cntral place flankened by the hot climatic conditions of  Punjab and the rest of the tropics of present India and Pakistan on one side and cold deserts and temperate climatic zone of the present day Russia,china,afganistan,and erstwhile USSR .Even upto 1947 this route of trade did exist and was named as silk route.With the water transport becoming cheaper and common as ships this original ship route diminished in its essence .New markets replaced it but the traditional

Trade of cashmere still persists.

Cashmere philosophy.

The cashmere is a wool as said and explained above.In the state of Kashmir it is found as undercoat in goats of a particular area of the cold deserts now called as Ladakh.ladakh has peculiar Mongolian features shich resemble Chinese and Japanese feature more than to Kashmiris.Kashmiri features are ayarayian with long roman nose and broad and tall bodies.The cashmere trade has been the monopoly of all these races in an excellent humanistic manner and distribution of the work.The tribial Mongolian  or Chinese /Japanese origin people used to rear these cashmie or pashmnia goats in the high and windy dry cold deserts of the area now UNDER china,Pakistan and India.. Thsi hilly dry and cold region used to rear and breed these goats.The people from valleys of the kashmir used to process  and weave it into fine pashmnia shawls .Later with the expansion of the trade embroidery on it (handy crafts) were learned from the artisans of the Persia and the erstwhile USSR.The reliogion Islam also came to Kashmir through these crafts and trade rather than by sword as is wrongly told.All the inbabitants at the conversion phase were PANDITS but the King was a Budist,who became a muslim on the preachings of a saint from the Hamdan commonly called as SHAH –E—HAMDAN.The mosque is stiil known on his name as SHAH-E-HAMDAN mosque,Such has benn his euphoria that all the Hindus of kashmir valley became Muslims  and it is said a boat full of the scred thread which pundits use to wear round their neck and body were burnt on this occasion.Some of the religious preasts of the temples still continued with their huge lands and properties. Thus a new class of people on economic lines was transformed of this revolution.The artisans,handicrafts and pashmina weavers and trades.The growere remained confined to the dry and cold desert region.The poor took to weaving and crafting works and looms,the rich traded and supported to provide them with raw materials.This practice still continues in the fore walls of the erstwhile walled city.The people around are the peer worshipers and convertes who chant Quranic verse with musical tones unique to Kahsmir only in whole of the world.These people having a common genetic lineage has best religious tolerance and roits were never known to this region till date.The masters from outsides in all times borrowed many myths and tried to divide the society into shere and bukari (LOIN AND GOAT) ,Shia and sunni,rural and urban ,Jammu and kashmir,ladakhand kargil and many more bifurcation outside the perview of this article,which is aimed to narrate the historical background of the cashmere trade and production.

   The finest treads of cashmere or the pashmnia are specific to us and us alone.If some poet sung the famous song which means if heaven is on earth it kashmir it is kashmir.The original song is written in Persian and sounds as ‘FARDOOS BER RUAE ZAMEAN IST HAME ISTOO HAME ISTOO HAMEISTOO.I wish to inscribe and prove it in this paper If fine cashmere(PASHMINA)existed any where in the world it here it is here in cashmere and no where.

I have spent nearly 34 yers of my life researching on goats and my primery focus has been pashmina goats.We had an international collaborative project on DNA fingerprinting of Goats .To my knowledge it was the first attempt in the world to analyse and the origin of these fine wool bearing goats and tell the world beware we have the fineness and we wish to preserve it,

This down fibre less than 13 microns is rare ,but we in cashmere are the only place in this global village who own a few thousand goats who have this fine fibre ranging from 11-13 microns in diameter.In our next paper we shall discuss many details of our published and unpublished research materials for the views.Given below is areview of many authors in the wivikipedia web for general information.Any one wishing to read our original work is referred to encyclopedis of dairy scieves published by elesvier in 2002 and Academic press

World of cashmere(Pashmina production)

MONGOLIA

Mongolia produces 20% OF Worlds cashmere .It sustains  a third of the country’s population of 2.6 million. There is a news making rounds in the newyork times which reads as and shows some best cashmere goats too’

‘A pungent odor like turpentine coming from sharilj, a wild plant that has taken over the mongo;ian pastures  since the plant is inedible for sheep and goats. Figure 1 from the website is of

Sukhtseren Sharav  a flock owner  of 150 goats and 100 sheep,  the sharilj spreads, he must shepherd them ever higher into the mountains to find fresh grazing land.

The lack of foraging terrain is not Mr. Sharav’s only worry. The price for cashmere, the wool made from the fleece of his goats, has plunged 50 percent from last year. The price of flour, his most essential food staple, has more doubled.

These are hard times for Mongolia’s cashmere industry, which provides jobs and income for a third of the country’s population of 2.6 million and supplies about 20 percent of the world’s market.

To compensate for low prices, herders have been increasing supply by breeding more goats — a classic vicious circle. Mongolia’s goat population is now approaching 20 million, the highest ever recorded.

ENVIRONMENT AND GOATS.

Environmentalists and social scientists say this is destroying biodiversity and pastureland, and undermining herding livelihoods. But goats are hardier than other livestock, breed faster and can survive on sparser resources: so, the more the land is degraded, the more herders are driven to switch from cows, camels or other less destructive herds — another vicious circle

WORLD CASHMERE PRODUCTION

Country              world 1200 tons cashmere

1.China                       60-65%

Mongolia                        20-25 %

  Iran and Afghanistan    15%.

There are small amounts produced in Central Asian nations Krizikistan,kazakistan,azabaijan , Turkey, Kashmir, India Australia, New Zealand and Kashmir( Pakistan},Kashmir{India}

Raw (greasy) cashmere is a mixture of fine underdown (which after processing becomes commercial grade cashmere) and coarse outer guard hair, along with dirt, sand, animal grease, vegetable matter and other impurities. The greasy cashmere is either shorn or combed from the goats. The greasy fiber is bought in the countryside by small, traveling traders. From there it is shipped to dehairing (processing) mills. Once the raw fiber arrives at a processing mill it is sorted with a number of goals in mind.

The first step is to sort out low-grade cashmere and any synthetic contamination that is found. The fiber is then baled and stored. The second sorting is conducted to break down the fiber into colors – White, Lt. Grey, Cream and Brown. During this second sorting, the fiber is again sorted for lower grade material or synthetic contamination that got through the first sorting.

After sorting, the greasy fiber is scoured (washed) to remove the dirt, grease and other impurities. After scouring, the washed cashmere is ready for dehairing. The dehairing machines remove the coarse guard hair from the soft underdown, as the co-mingled mass of fiber passes through a series of dehairing heads on the machine. The design of the machine allows for the underdown to remain in and pass through the machine while the coarse hair is removed. Once the scoured cashmere is passed through a dehairing machine, the residual coarse hair content is brought down to standard 0.5% for weaving grade fiber, and 0.2% or lower for knitting grade fiber. Actually, the residual coarse hair content can be as high as 3% and still be called commercial cashmere. However, at 3% the end uses of the fiber are limited. The ultimate goal of any dehairer is to economically remove most of the coarse hair and impurities while not damaging the length of the underdown.

The value of dehaired cashmere is influenced by several key factors: fineness (measured in microns), length (measured in mm), and color. China produces the finest cashmere in the world. The Chinese also cull out colored goats very aggressively, leaving only natural white goats to harvest from. Consequently Chinese cashmere commands the highest price in the market place, as it is the finest to be bought and it can be dyed to any pastel shade. Mongolian cashmere, while not heavily concentrated on pure white animals, is the next most desirable as it is only slightly coarser than Chinese and has superior length. Iranian and Afghan cashmere are normally the lowest priced material on the market as they are coarser, darker and shorter in length than the other two types.
CASHMERE DIAMETER
Average Micron (unit of measure for the diameter of cashmere fiber):

                (India/Pakistan)- 11-13

Chinese – 14.5-15.5 Mongolian – 16.5-17.5 Iranian/Afghan – 17-18.5

Once the fiber is dehaired, it is ready to be shipped to spinners, weavers and knitters around the world. The 4 traditional, primary markets for cashmere production have been the USA, Europe (UK and Italy), Japan and China itself. The finished products are consumed mostly in the first three markets mentioned, with China consuming smaller amounts of its own finished goods production. The production of finished products, both in knits and wovens, has dramatically shifted to China in the last decade.

The dehaired fiber can then be converted into yarn on the woolen yarn system. If the cashmere is to be converted into worsted yarn it must first pass through one additional processing step, known as “combing”. Combing cashmere is carried out to remove the short fibers, while retaining the longest fibers and allowing them to be put into parallel form. The longer parallel fiber is then known as a “top”. The removed short fiber is called a “noil”. The cashmere top can then be spun into worsted yarn. The yarns are then knitted into garments or woven into cloth.(for datails on our methods of combing and processing please refer punbilcation of wani 2002,wani et al 2003,wani et al 2007,2008)

FINISHED PRODUCT – (firms says it and not me)

Yarns and Ply – Most yarns made for weaving are “single ply”, which means that there is one “end”, or a SINGLE yarn used to weave the cloth. That cloth can be used in overcoats, jackets, scarves, throws, etc…

Ply is a term to describe a yarn that has more than one end to make up the overall yarn. For example, a 2 Ply yarn is made up of 2 individual ends of yarn, a 3 Ply is made up of 3 ends of yarn, etc… There is only one technical reason to ply yarn. When a single end of yarn is made, there are natural thin and thick points to the yarn, particularly in “woolen system” yarns. The woolen yarn making system is used to make most of the yarn that goes into cashmere sweaters.

A spinner achieves his goal of evening out the yarn by 2 plying it. He takes 2 individual ends of yarn, and wraps, or plies, them together to make one end of 2 plied yarn. If the yarn is more than a 2 ply, the only thing achieved is making the yarn, and therefore the resulting garment or article, heavier. There is no other improvement that 3, 4, 5 or more plies will give to a yarn. It only adds weight to the end product. Multiple plies are necessary to make a heavier gauge (gg) sweater.

Most cashmere sweaters in the market are 12gg. They are made on 12gg machines and have a relatively fine stitch. To make a garment more bulky, manufacturers will move to heavier gauge machines, such a 7gg or 5gg knitting machine. The stitches are larger and more pronounced. A larger ply yarn is needed to knit on heavier gauge machines. Therefore, a 4 ply, or even a 6 ply yarn will be needed for the construction of such garments.
(This   is  from  free  web reference)

Cashmere should feel smooth, soft and luxurious. If a cashmere sweater, for instance, does not feel all that, then it is not a good buy.

A loosely knit cashmere, one that limps, is the sign of cheap cashmere. Another factor is the texture. If you run your hands across the fiber, you should instantly sense the difference between a soft fiber and a coarse fiber.

The dyeing process generally harms the feeling of the cashmere, so less dyeing is better for the cashmere. Still, once a knitted garment is washed, the garment has a tendency to become softer and fuller as the strands get’opened.’

Third factor is the fiber length. Longer fibers usually mean stronger yarn, and stronger yarn means less pilling. Pillings are abrasions of short fibers into small balls on the fabric surface. Pilling usually occur in new cashmere sweaters. It shouldn’t insist in good garments after the first cleaning.

Eventually, the last factor is the plying. Plying is linked to weight and has nothing to do with quality.
However, a two-ply yarn trumps a single ply because the ply twist avoids the torque inherent in a single yarn. Manufacturers and sweater makers use additional plies, but these usually don’t add additional quality.

The best discount cashmere sweaters clothing needs to be handled with care. It is powerful but needs the right taking care of to stay in the best condition. Hand-wash cashmere clothing with a detergent especially for delicate materials and don’t spin or tumble dry. Do not use fabric softeners either.

Jumpers and cardigans for men and ladies are favored among all age groups. They are warm and comfortable and are usually made in block colours so they’re easy to team with just about anything.

Quality discount cashmere sweaters clothing can be dressed down with jeans for a casual feel or worn with suit trousers for the more formal appearance.

Again, this is a very good fabric for your child. Cashmere has the added advantage of essentially being quite cool to wear in the summertime. A light-weight cashmere cardigan to throw on in a summers evening is ideal.

There are also plenty of cashmere accessories available. Scarves, gloves and hats made of Cashmere are good for UK winters. They’re intrinsically warm but light-weight. They also have a quality to their look that you simply do not get with sheep’s wool. Sheep’s wool is much cheaper than Cashmere but it just doesn’t have the same class.

So in your search for discount cashmere sweaters online, check the reputation of the company, look for purchaser testimonials on their website, and even feel free to give them a quick call before completing your order with any questions you could have. High quality cashmere at a price you can afford is available on the net today.

1. Cashmere Knitwear: we can do gauge from 1gg-18gg. women’s cashmere sweater, women’s cashmere cardigan, women’s cashmere round neck, women’s cashmere turtleneck, women’s cashmere twinset, women’s cashmere v-neck, women’s cashmere skirts, pants&suits; men’s cashmere sweaters, men’s cashmere cardigan, men’s cashmere mock neck, men’s cashmere polo neck, men’s cashmere round neck, men’s cashmere turtle neck, men’s cashmere v neck, baby cashmere layette, baby cashmere pullover, intarsia baby cashmere cardigan, etc.

You can add any intarsia, jacquard, printing, embroidery, beads, swarovski crystals on the knitwear.

2. Cashmere Accessories: cashmere knitting shawl, cashmere knitting scarf, pashmina shawl, cashmere blankets, knitting cashmere caps, knitting cashmere gloves, cashmere socks, cashmere hats, etc..

3. Yarns: Pure cashmere yarn, cashmere/wool yarn, cashmere/silk yarn, cashmere/cotton yarn, cashmere/soybean yarn, cashmere/bamboo yarn, cashmere blended yarn, mercerized merino wool yarn, merino wool blended yarn, hand knitting cashmere yarn, hand knitting cashmere blended yarn, cashmere fabric, cashmere tops, etc..

4. Raw material: white cashmere, light grey cashmere, brown cashmere, sheep wool, camel hair, yak hair, carpet raw wool, etc.

With a rich fifteen years experience on manufacturing and exporting, we have been persevering in our fine quality products, reasonable prices and best services to our clients. For now, we are trying to arrive at this level that whatever kinds of cashmere products, you can find in Beijing Richman Cashmere.

Want to know our cashmere series products more? We warmly welcome your inquires and questions.

Cashmere should feel smooth, soft and sumptuous. If a cashmere sweater, for instance, doesn’t feel all that, then it is not a good buy. A good cashmere sweater or a pashmina should feel wide and substantial, even if it is’s not a heavy garment. There basically 5 main factors that distinguish a quality you need to look at when purchasing discount cashmere.

First is the density. A loosely knit cashmere, one that limps, is the sign of inexpensive cashmere. If you pull the sides of your cashmere sweater apart, it should simply snap back to its original form. Fine cashmere is softer, so it is costlier than the rougher cashmere. If you run your hands across the fiber, you must immediately sense the difference between a soft fiber and a coarse fiber.

The dyeing process usually harms the feel of the cashmere, so less dyeing is better for the cashmere. Lighter shades also feel softer to touch as dark colours use stronger dyes which make the item not as soft.

Third factor is the fiber length. Pillings are erosions of short fibers into little balls on the fabric surface. Pilling usually occur in new cashmere sweaters. It shouldn’t insist in good garments after the first cleaning. Other manufacturers use shorter fibers because it’s not as expensive.

Ultimately, the last factor is the plying. Plying relates to weight and has nada to do with quality.
However, a two-ply yarn is better than a single ply as the ply twist avoids the torque inherent in a single yarn. Manufacturers and sweater makers use additional plies, but these typically don’t add extra quality.

The best discount cashmere clothing needs to be handled with care. It is robust but requires the right looking after to stay in the best condition. Hand-wash cashmere clothing with a detergent especially for fragile materials and don’t spin or tumble dry. Don’t use fabric softeners either.

Jumpers and cardigans for men and girls are favored among all age groups. They are warm and cosy and are sometimes made in block colors so they are simple to team with just about anything.

They are comfortable over shirts or t-shirts but there’s nothing quite like the feeling of Cashmere against your skin!

Again, this is a particularly good fabric for your child. It is improbable to annoy the skin and is great when you do not want to feel voluminous with plenty of clothes to keep toasty. Cashmere has the additional advantage of basically being quite cool to wear in the summertime.

The Top Retailes of Discount Cashmere Available Here

There are also masses of cashmere accessories available. Scarves, gloves and hats made from Cashmere are ideal for UK winters. They are intrinsically warm but light-weight. They also have a quality to their look that you simply do not get with sheep’s wool.

So in your search for discount cashmere online, check the reputation of the company, look for customer testimonials on their web site, and even be at liberty to give them a fast call before finalizing your order with any questions you may have. Good quality cashmere at a price you are able to afford is available on the internet today.