Cashmere Jumper: Premium Quality

“Cashmere knit is like a book. It is something to save and go back to time after time. It is the feeling of an embrace.”  — Brunello Cucinelli

What is a Cashmere Jumper?

“It is a jumper made from Cashmere wool”

Cashmere Wool, a rare and expensive fiber, is a perfect raw material for knitting a jumper. Actually, people have been doing this for a long time: using cashmere wool to produce cashmere jumpers.

We find these jumpers in many designs, colors, and for all genders. It’s extremely soft, durable, and looks great. They go well when worn in colder climates. We can wear it to workplaces, parties or casual occasions.

Let’s clarify our statement earlier about cashmere wool being rare and expensive, which also justifies the higher price of a cashmere jumper.

Why is cashmere wool rare?

Cashmere wool comes from the cashmere goats. Here, Cashmere goats are types of goats, unlike being species of goats. These goats have soft undercoats and guard hair outside the body for protection from cold weather. We use the soft undercoats of these goats to get cashmere wool.

Cashmere goats only produce around 170 grams of soft insulating undercoat in a year. After refinement, it shrinks to 110 grams. Interestingly, an average cashmere jumper needs wool produced by 3 goats in the year.

Another important area to look at is the environmental impact of these goats. While grazing, the hoof of these goats would take out the root of the grass. So it destroys the grassland. This has caused the desertification of a large area of grassland in Mongolia.

Ultimately, the scarcity of grassland for goats and low annual production are reasons for the rarity of cashmere wool.

Why is cashmere wool expensive?

If you understand economics, the answer for “why cashmere wool and ultimately cashmere jumpers are expensive?” might have been obvious till now. If not, the reasons are a difficult production process, higher demand, and lesser supply.

The premium quality of the Cashmere Jumper

A cashmere jumper is a great inclusion in the closet. It would be even better to have one with 100% cashmere wool and not other fibers like nylon and cotton.

Cashmere jumpers arrived in mainstream fashion a few decades earlier. Only small numbers of elite personnel had access to it before, because of the accessibility and price of these jumpers.

We have seen popular figures like Priyanka Chopra, Emma Roberts, and many others wearing a cashmere jumper. As they only wear premium quality clothes, it too places cashmere jumpers in the same elite category.

How do you care for cashmere jumper?

We should take care of these delicate cashmere jumpers a bit differently. Let’s look into simple steps we can take for doing so:

a) Washing a cashmere jumper

Washing machines, sadly, isn’t a great place to wash cashmere jumpers. We should hand wash it.

To wash, get a shampoo, wash it by hand and dry it by patting it with a towel. Then, let it air dry by placing it flat on the floor.

Otherwise, we can use low alkaline detergent, which is just perfect for washing cashmere jumpers.

b) Storing cashmere jumper

Firstly, hanging these jumpers is a bad idea. Considering the delicate nature of the fiber, the jumper can stretch due to weight while hanging.

The preferred way to store it is by folding up the jumper. After folding, we can directly store it in a closet.

Alternatively, we can use air-sealed bags to store jumpers, if there is a danger of insects.

c) Packing up cashmere jumper for traveling

The delicate care goes further into packing these jumpers. we should first, fold them over with two arms in the back. Then we should pack a cashmere jumper at the top of the suitcase to avoid friction with other clothes.

d) Preventing the jumper from pilling

Our favorite clothes may have gone through a hell of fire often; we are talking about pilling in cloth. However, you think it shouldn’t arrive; it arrives occasionally, and it isn’t pleasant for sure. 

To take care of this aspect, you shouldn’t over-wear the jumper or abuse it while wearing it. Also, we can use a cashmere comb to smoothen the jumper. It prevents fibers from jumbling up to cause pilling. 

Things to look for when buying a Cashmere Jumper

1. Make sure it comes from a combed goat

We harvest goat wool using two techniques: combing and shearing. Through combing, someone extracts thus only the innermost layer of the goat’s undercoat. We prefer this method to get high-quality cashmere wool.

Caption: Extracting cashmere wool using combing technique.

If we use the shearing method, both layers of hair gets mixed up. Thus the wool we get would be of inferior quality.

So always make sure the jumper you are buying comes from combed goat wool.

2. The jumper prepared with thinner fiber

United States government in its wool product labeling act has mentioned: the wool’s diameter must be thinner than 19 microns to call it cashmere wool. But the best quality ones are 14-16 microns in diameter. The thinner the fiber, the softer it will be. So while buying, be conscious about the size of fiber used in jumpers.

Also, we must consider the length of those fibers. When rubbed in the skin, jumpers with shorter fiber would form pills. The ones with longer fiber would be safe from this. So preference is to be given for jumpers with longer fiber.

3. Jumper with more ply

Because cashmere is a delicate fiber, we spun them together into one or more yarns. We again spun multiple yarns to form ply.

If two strands of yarn are mixed, they form cashmere of two-ply. The number of yarns used here makes up the number of plies.

With more ply(likely 2 or above), the jumper will be stronger and durable. So we recommend buying a cashmere jumper with more plies.

4. Tightly woven jumper

We should buy cashmere jumpers that are tightly woven. If Someone has loosely woven the jumper, the fibers would fall apart soon and would deform.

To check this, place a flashlight into the jumper, and see if any light passes through it or not. If loosely woven, the light would pass through the jumper. Alternatively if tightly woven, the light won’t pass through.

Where to buy a Cashmere Jumper?

We at Skpashmina sell the cashmere jumper of the finest quality. Please go through this link to order one: Cashmere Jumper, Skpashmina 

Conclusion

Cashmere jumpers would not go out of style; at least not yet. It is an iconic fashion piece and would remain so.

Lastly, if this masterpiece has caught your attention, why not grab one from our store?