What is Cashmere?

 

Cashmere, the ancient, mysterious luxury

fiber, is a new, exciting and profitable fiber

business in the United States.  The industry

is young and vibrant and the possibilities

endless.  Cashmere is the new American

challenge and the United States has the

potential to become a major world producer

in the future.

 

Cashmere is the underfur, the downy hair next to the skin of goats.  The down is made into a luxurious fiber which is used to make

garments of the highest quality.  Cashmere is one of the finest natural fibers known to man. 

 

 

A Cashmere goat is not an actual breed of goat but a description of a goat that has been carefully bred to produce cashmere fiber.  All goats except for Angora goats produce two coats of fiber: coarse outer guard hair and a second or down coat which grows and is shed seasonally.  When that down coat is less than 19 microns in diameter, is low in luster and has a nice crimp, it is considered cashmere. Most cashmere-producing goats in the United States are derived from feral Australian and Texas stock, often referred to as a Spanish Meat Goat or a “Spanish Type Goat”.  

 

 

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