Mongolian cashmere: characteristics and features of choice

With the onset of cold weather, clothes from delicate and warm cashmere become relevant. Mongolian cashmere is a wonderful material with unique properties, which is created only in the harsh climate of the mountains of Mongolia.

Many people think that cashmere is a type of wool, but in fact it is not. Cashmere is much thinner and warmer (eight times) than wool, because it is produced not from the hair (wool) cover of goats and sheep, but from the fluff of these animals, or, as it is called by a different name, undercoat. Cashmere yarn is created only from the undercoat of goats that live in the highlands of Mongolia. Actually, the name of cashmere came from the foothill Himalayan region - Kashmir. Breeding these goat breeds in other climatic conditions does not give the undercoat of such high quality.

The properties of the Mongolian unique yarn, first of all, are its lightness and softness: a three hundred gram fabric can easily be sold through a female ring. Such properties are explained by the finest downy fiber: each hair undercoat is three to four times thinner than a human hair. And due to the fact that the fluff is also hollow inside, cashmere products have high thermal insulation and can be worn both in cold and in heat.

Despite weightlessness and subtlety, high-quality cashmere is a very durable material and wear-resistant. The spools on the fabric are formed after a long operation, partly in the places of friction, but even after a proper washing, they are straightened. Possesses this material and other qualities.

• It is safe for allergy sufferers. The fluff of Tibetan goats is absolutely hypoallergenic; microscopic mites do not start in it. Cashmere knitwear is suitable for creating clothes and bedspreads even for newborns.
• It treats the skin with care, does not prick it and does not cause itching.
• Able to treat diseases of the joints and spine with its dry, deep-penetrating heat. In addition, a cashmere thing, dressed on a naked body, has a massage effect on the skin.

A negative property of cashmere is its high cost in comparison with the same coat. This is due to the complex production process and the small yield of undercoat from one Tibetan goat per year: only about 160 g. All stages of cashmere production are manual, technology has not been modernized for several centuries. Plucking down of goats is also rare: once a year, in the spring, when there is no danger that the animal will freeze.

The undercoat is sorted by color and quality. The color of natural fiber can be white (the most valuable), gray, beige and black. First, the thinnest fiber is selected, from which a delicate yarn called pashmina is produced. Coarser fibers become the basis for creating “soft gold” from Mongolia - cashmere. A high-quality cashmere fabric is always made manually from the processing and spinning to its dyeing. Things from it fit perfectly on the figure, they are warm and comfortable.

The main and obvious criterion for choosing quality cashmere is its price. The estimated price at which you can judge its quality is at least 3 thousand rubles per 1 m2. Even in the homeland of production, in Mongolia, this cost will not decrease significantly. TAlso, when choosing cashmere products, experts advise relying on some criteria.

• Having picked up cashmere material, one should not feel its weight.
• Running a hand on the canvas, the villi should remain in their places, and not scatter in different directions. Weak particles indicate poor quality cashmere fiber.
• The product tag should contain information on double weaving. Since cashmere yarn is very thin, products made from double twisted yarns will last longer.

• Lack of pellets. For cashmere items, the appearance of spools is not characteristic. They appear only with improper use or very long wear.
• A cashmere fabric that claims to be of high quality should be so dense that when viewed from it, glimpses will not be visible. The translucent sheet will not warm properly.
• A cashmere product, after stretching it with his hands, should take its original shape. If traces of the stretch remain - a poor-quality thing.
• Pay attention to the quality of the seams, their accuracy and lack of curvature, because a thing from an expensive delicate canvas should serve more than one season.

Ensuring a long wear and maintaining a good appearance for cashmere products will help to properly care for them. First of all, this applies to washing: it must be very gentle.

You must adhere to the rules for washing things from this precious material.

• It is recommended that spots that appear on the cashmere fabric be removed as soon as possible under cold water with a non-aggressive liquid baby soap.
• The cashmere item is not machine washable, even if the washing machine has delicate and gentle modes.
• Things with strong and obsolete stains should be dry cleaned. However, all risks should be taken into account, since the thing may lose the brightness of the color.
• Hand washing of cashmere products can only be in cold water up to 30 ° C and with liquid detergent. As a liquid, you can consider baby shampoo.

• Places with dirt do not rub and in no case compress, but gently and gently rinse.
• After washing, the item should be rinsed delicately several times in cold water until the detergent is washed.
• Without turning the squeeze, it is better to get the water from the washed thing wet with a hygroscopic towel.

• The cashmere item for drying should be carefully spread out on a horizontal surface, away from heating appliances or sunlight.

Stroke cashmere at a low temperature (no more than 120 ° C) on the reverse side, using wet gauze.

Currently, things from one hundred percent cashmere, including due to price, are a rare occurrence. But modern technology allows you to make various mixes of cashmere and other natural and synthetic materials. Pure yarn from a subset of Tibetan goats is added to costume, coat and thin knitwear, and then they sew hats, shawls, a poncho, business men's and women's suits, coats, parkas and cardigans.

After analyzing the reviews of people who purchased things from pure cashmere, and in the composition with other materials, we can say that in general they are satisfied. Things, when used properly, are worn for a long time, do not deform, and such an unpleasant phenomenon as spools can appear in the third or fourth year of socks. Unfortunately, so far only its high cost remains a negative point.

On the production of Mongolian cashmere, see the next video.