Fabric Knowledge: How To Identify Cashmere, Alpaca, Mohair

I Cashmere

Cashmere is the bottom fine wool from goats. Goats grow on alpine grasslands, such as Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Liaoning and other places in China. China is a major cashmere producer in the world, accounting for more than 1/2 of the world's total cashmere output, of which the cashmere of Inner Mongolia is the top grade.

Cashmere fiber is characterized by its fineness and softness. Its fabric feels soft, smooth and waxy, and has a soft gloss. Compared with wool fabric of the same thickness, it is much lighter, and most of it is of suede style. Generally speaking, light colored cashmere overcoats are mostly from white cashmere, with good quality; The dark ones are mostly from purple velvet or blue velvet, and the quality is slightly inferior.

2、 Alpaca hair

The alpaca hair comes from an animal called "alpaca" (also called "Albaka"), which mainly grows in the Andes of Peru. The Andes is 4500 meters above sea level, with a great temperature difference between day and night. At night, it is - 20~- 18 ℃, while at day, it is 15~18 ℃. The sun radiation is strong, the atmosphere is thin, and the wind is cold. The alpaca's hair, which lives in such a harsh environment, can certainly resist extreme temperature changes.

　　 Alpaca hair It can not only keep moisture, but also effectively resist solar radiation. The alpaca wool fiber contains medullary cavities visible under the microscope, so its warmth preservation performance is better than wool, cashmere and mohair.

In addition, alpaca wool fiber has more than 17 kinds of natural colors: from white to black, and a series of brown and gray with different shades. It is the fiber with the most abundant natural colors among special animal fibers. The "Albaka" we see in the market refers to alpaca hair; The "Suli" is one of the alpaca hairs and mostly refers to adult alpaca hair, with long fiber and beautiful color; It is often said that "Beibei" refers to alpaca young wool, which is relatively fine and soft.

The alpaca wool fabric has a smooth feel and excellent warmth retention.

3、 Mohair

Mohair refers to Angora goat hair, mainly produced in South Africa, which is characterized by coarse fiber, small curl and good luster. Mohair fabric feels smooth and smooth, and its surface is shiny enough. Mohair and alpaca wool are mostly short and smooth style 。