Cashmere Production & Processing
RAW FIBER PRODUCTION
The countries that produce commercial quantities of raw (from the goat) cashmere are China, with 60-65% of the world’s output, Mongolia, at app. 20-25%, and Iran and Afghanistan at a combined 15%. There are small commercial quantities of cashmere produced in the former Soviet Central Asian nations, Turkey, India, Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan, but these quantities are small in comparison to the 3 primary producers listed above. The annual world output is estimated at app. 11-12,000 tons of raw cashmere.
Cashmere comes from a goat. The particular combination of dietary and geographic conditions of the Central and East Asian steppe, mountain plateaus and deserts have allowed the goats that dwell there to evolve into the most productive cashmere fiber growers in the world.
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.
Average Micron (unit of measure for the diameter of cashmere fiber):
- 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.
FINISHED PRODUCT -
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.
We hope that the above information will prove useful to you. If you should have any questions regarding our product or if you have a general question on cashmere, please do not hesitate to contact us. We stand ready to provide a factual and accurate source of information on cashmere, its production process, and the finished products made from it.
Thank you,
Alashan Cashmere Company
