Fibre · Capra hircus, combed in spring
Cashmere
The undercoat of a goat, graded by two numbers that never reach a label, and destroyed by heat and friction rather than by wear.
Where the quality is decided
A cashmere goat grows a coarse outer coat and a fine undercoat. Only the undercoat is cashmere, and separating the two is done by combing in spring and then by machine dehairing. What survives that process is sorted by diameter and length, and those two sorting decisions determine almost everything: how soft the finished knit is, how long it stays that way, and what the mill paid per kilo.
Diameter is measured in microns and decides softness. Staple length decides durability, because a long fibre has enough length to be locked into the twist of the yarn, while a short one migrates to the surface with every movement. Those migrated ends are pilling. They are visible within weeks on a short staple knit and within years on a long staple one.
Ply, and what it is not
Ply counts the strands twisted together to form the yarn. Two ply is the practical minimum for a garment expected to last, because the twist between strands locks fibre ends in place. Single ply can be lovely and is structurally weaker at every point of friction. Ply is not thickness: a fine two ply knit can be lighter than a chunky single.
The finishing trick
Brushing, milling and chemical softeners can make almost any cashmere feel extraordinary on a hanger. The treatment survives two or three washes. This is why the hand feel in a shop is evidence about the finishing and the hand feel after a month is evidence about the fibre, and why the stretch and rub tests matter more than the first touch.
Grade by fibre
No label carries these numbers. They are what the mill bought and what you are paying for.
How to check it
- Stretch the cuff across your palm and let go. Good fibre returns to shape, short fibre stays stretched.
- Rub the knit against itself for ten seconds inside the hem. A grey bloom of fibre ends means a season of pilling compressed into a moment.
- Hold it to the light. An even knit with no thin patches means consistent yarn and an unhurried machine.
- Weigh it. A two ply crew neck in a medium should be 280 g at the lightest and 340 to 400 for winter.
Care
- Wear twice, then rest for a day so the fibres recover their loft.
- Wash at 30 degrees in wool detergent, two minutes of gentle movement, no wringing, dried flat.
- Fold, never hang. A hanger puts the whole weight on two points of the shoulder.
- Depill with a comb, not a razor. A blade cuts the surface and creates the next generation of loose ends.
- Store clean and sealed for the summer. Moth larvae feed on the soil rather than the clean fibre.