Gathering Cashmere Wool

Gathering cashmere from the cashmere goat to be spun in cashmere yarn is a time-sensitive and tedious process. Cashmere is usually collected during spring and summer. It starts around March, and till May.

Cashmere goats grow the double fleece that produces the downy cashmere and coarser guard hairs during the winter to help insulate them against the drop in temperatures. Once spring comes around, they begin to molt, or shed, this fleece

Up to now, the traditional way of hand-combing the fleece to release both the cashmere and guard hairs is still favored by factories who produce pure cashmere wool. Hand-combing a goat can take as long as two weeks to remove cashmere from its undercoat. Any remaining guard hairs must be removed from the collected down so that the yarn that's spun from the cashmere is as soft and supple as possible.

Shearing the goats is another popular way of gathering cashmere. It can faster production speeds, but it can render a coarser yarn due to the higher ratio of guard hair to down in the final product.

Both approachs of gathering cashmere hold value in the luxury textile market as the garments made from this yarn retain the benefits of being lightweight to wear and well-insulated against cold temperatures.