What is cashmere? Characteristics and materials of cashmere

Cashmere, a popular choice in cold weather, is renowned as a luxury material.
This article provides an easy-to-understand explanation of cashmere's origins, characteristics, differences from other materials, and the secret to its warmth.
We also offer tips on how to choose and care for cashmere, helping you better understand and make the most of your cashmere products.

What animal does cashmere come from? How is it different from other wools?

Although often mistaken for sheep's wool, cashmere is actually the hair of the "cashmere goat."

The main regions for raw cashmere production are Asian countries like China, Mongolia, Iran, Afghanistan, and Russia. In these areas, cashmere goats are raised in harsh climates where winter temperatures can drop below -30 degrees Celsius and summer temperatures can exceed 30 degrees Celsius.

In the past, Europeans attempted to breed cashmere goats in large numbers, bringing them back from their native lands. However, in Europe's milder climate, they found that the fine, soft downy hair barely grew.

The light, soft down of cashmere is a special gift bestowed upon cashmere goats by nature to protect them from the harsh climate.

Why is cashmere so warm?

Cashmere's appeal lies in its warmth, soft fluffiness, and lightness.
But why is cashmere light, soft, and warm?
To maintain warmth, it's crucial to "prevent cold outside air from robbing us of our heat" and "keep our body temperature from escaping." This is where the clothes we wear play a role.

Clothing not only protects our bodies from the outside air but also needs to provide various functions such as ease of movement, lightness, and appropriate heat exchange. Clothes that rate high in all these aspects are considered "comfortable to wear."

The critical element in retaining warmth in clothing is actually "air."
When air moves (like wind), it strips heat from our skin, making us feel cold. However, still air has a high insulating effect. This is referred to as "low thermal conductivity."

For example, think of double-pane windows. Double-pane windows achieve their insulating effect by trapping air between two panes of glass. With a single pane of glass of the same thickness, heat or cold from outside would transfer easily, and the effect would not be as good as double-pane windows.

The best insulator in double-pane windows is air. Similarly, for clothing to feel "warm," the key is how efficiently it can store air with low thermal conductivity.

Most clothing is made by weaving or knitting yarn.
The raw materials for these yarns vary widely, including plant fibers like cotton and linen, animal hair (wool), insect cocoons (silk), as well as synthetic and chemical fibers.
Each of these materials has distinct characteristics and is used according to its purpose. These yarns are made by bundling and twisting raw cotton or wool fibers.

For yarns of the same thickness, the finer the fibers of the raw cotton or wool, the more air they can hold, right?

Wool (cashmere) products are made from yarn derived from animal hair.

Humans have spun yarn and made clothing from the hair of various animals, including sheep, angora, camel, alpaca, and mohair. Among these, cashmere hair is generally considered the finest among animal hairs available on the market.

Type	Fiber Fineness (Microns)
Vicuña	Approx. 10-14
Cashmere	Approx. 14-18
Silk	Approx. 19-50
Mohair	Approx. 30-50
General Wool	Approx. 18-50
Human Hair	Approx. 50-70

Fine fibers mean they are light, soft, and delicate.

Among wools, animals with finer hair than cashmere include vicuña and chiru. Vicuña live wild in the high Andes and are not commercially available except through special channels. Therefore, in practical terms, cashmere is considered the finest hair.

The thickness of cashmere fibers ranges from approximately 13.5 microns (1 micron is 1/1000 millimeter) to 16.5 microns. Given that mohair is around 34-40 microns and most sheep's wool is roughly 20 microns, the fineness of cashmere is striking.

These fine, soft fibers trap a lot of air, enveloping us in warmth.

Why cashmere products are expensive

Cashmere goat hair can be broadly divided into two types.
One is "guard hair," the long, coarse, stiff hair covering the surface. The other is the "underdown," the fine, soft hair growing beneath the guard hair.
This underdown is extremely fine, elastic, and used in sweaters and fabrics.

Harvesting the underdown can only be done by carefully combing it out with a rake-like comb. This makes the harvesting process incredibly labor-intensive and time-consuming.
Furthermore, the harvested hair must be cleaned of sand, dirt, and guard hairs.

Afterward, only the fine underdown is selected, and ultimately, only about 100 grams can be obtained from a single goat. It's estimated that 2 to 3 goats' worth of underdown are needed to make one sweater.
This makes cashmere incredibly precious, and since harvesting is done meticulously by hand rather than with clippers, it involves a great deal of effort.

Why "100% Cashmere" products vary in price

Even within cashmere, there's a wide range in hair grades.
Grades are categorized by standards such as color, length, and thickness, and naturally, there's a significant difference in price. High-grade cashmere can be about 10 times the price of sheep's wool.

The highest grade cashmere is primarily purchased by Europe, America, and Japan. Famous brands, in particular, procure this high-grade raw cashmere, and UTO's cashmere is among them.

UTO products:
Cashmere - Women >>
Cashmere - Men >>
Cashmere - Accessories >>

At the beginning of the 2008 autumn season, incorrect cashmere blend labeling became a major topic in newspapers and on television.
Cashmere is a very expensive raw material compared to regular wool, so even a slight difference in the blend ratio significantly impacts the cost. Therefore, cases of manipulating blend ratios to gain profit are common.

Some instances are akin to fraud, where "the sample was genuine, but the delivered product was fake," making quality checks absolutely essential.

The production of cashmere products involves many individuals and companies. Since raw cashmere is not produced in Japan, spinning companies test the blend ratio themselves or through public inspection agencies every time they import it.
Of course, the exporting side also thoroughly inspects to prevent contamination. If there is an opportunity to mix different materials, it would only be in the "cotton" (raw fiber) state, so inspection at the raw material stage is particularly important.

Even with rigorous inspection, sometimes a rope used to bundle the raw material breaks, and its fibers get mixed in, leading to a test result of 99.9%. However, unless intentional, contamination exceeding 1% is highly unlikely.

To account for unforeseen circumstances, the law permits labeling a product as "100% Cashmere" even if it contains 97% cashmere and up to 3% wool.
However, with a reliable supply chain, it's highly improbable that 3% of foreign material would be mixed in.

The Keken (Wool Products Inspection Association) is an organization that ensures imported raw materials and products comply with their stated labeling and prevents false labeling.
While requesting this inspection incurs costs, UTO believes it is important to conduct thorough inspections and certifications to maintain quality.