So much more special is cashmere compared to other wools

By the way, is it cashmere or cashmere?

The word came all the way over from faraway Asia. Named after the northern tip of India, the region of Kashmir. That’s why some people write it as kashmir. At Backbone, we like to stick with the official Dutch spelling: cashmere. Interspersed with the international variant
cashmere
English style!

What exactly is cashmere again?

If you ask about the Rolls Roys among fibers, there is only one answer: cashmere. It is a type of wool that grows in the undercoat of the cashmere goat. This delicate goat hair -because that’s what it is- allows the animal to survive in the most inhospitable places. Like in the Himalayas, where it is so cold in winter that polar bears go out to gather wood. Even if the temperatures there comfortably drop to minus thirty degrees, you won’t hear this goat moaning.

Want to know more? Read the blog “
What is cashmere?
“

This is how we get cashmere

Cashmere goats are blessed with not one, but two thick layers of hair. On the surface, a bunch of stringy cover hair flutters. Hidden underneath is the precious treasure: a super-soft undercoat of the very finest hair. Those hairs, and especially those on the underside of the belly, now that’s cashmere. In the spring, farmers comb or shear the goats. The long, wafer-thin hairs weave them into the softest, most luxurious yarn. Mostly to make garments, such as Backbone’s scarves. These then last a very long time but … there is a price tag.

Why is cashmere more exclusive than other wools?

Only 0.5% of the world’s total wool production is cashmere. This is because a cashmere goat gives only a very small amount of usable cashmere per year. To compare: from an ordinary sheep you can easily get three kilograms of usable wool per year. Moreover, all wool from the sheep is usable. In contrast, only a small portion of the cashmere goat’s coveted undercoat is usable. And it must be harvested with the utmost care. Get the grease, dirt and thick hair out of that as well, what are you left with on balance? A ball of wool, one of those balls you could just knit a pair of socks from.

What makes cashmere better than other wools?
Beautiful wools abound, but in terms of quality, cashmere leaves them all far behind. With cashmere, you are guaranteed three times better insulation than with sheep’s wool. Moreover, the hairs are more delicate: longer, finer and lighter, and therefore so is the final product! Its unique fiber structure makes it a material from which you can truly make anything a designer’s heart dreams of. From robust and coarse to gossamer, as subtle as spun sugar. Of the latter, our

featherlight collection

a fine example.

Even more pleasure from cashmere

Even fibers similar to cashmere do not offer as many options in their processing. Due to the structure of cashmere, this wool does not itch. The snuggle rate is irresistibly high. Not surprisingly, cashmere is known as one of the softest fibers in the world. Whereas wool will soon pill, that chance is much less with good cashmere from the long hairs. You do find cashmere combined with other good fibers, such as merino wool or silk. This makes the material stronger while feeling equally soft.

The price tag on cashmere

How do you acquire a scarf, hat or sweater made of real cashmere without going deep into the pocket? The answer is simple: don’t. A sweater of pure cashmere quality easily hits 800 to 1,000 euros at the cash register. On your bargain hunt, do you get your hands on a sweater or scarf that is price-wise close to another, less exclusive wool? Well, then is that it probably does. Or what also occurs, cashmere of inferior quality because the fibers have been mixed with polyester or nylon. Or even worse, mixed with animal hair you didn’t even know you could use, we’ll call a cat or a rat (
no, we are not kidding
).

“There is no such thing as cheap cashmere.”

Cashmere is a sustainable choice

Genuine cashmere is an exceptionally exclusive material that lasts and holds value for a long time. Even the cheapest real cashmere is still twice as expensive as regular sheep’s wool. Imprint this in your mind:
There is no such thing as cheap cashmere
.

Such an insane scarf as the one from Backbone, for example, our customers often have them for life. So looking at it that way, is it still expensive? Well, expensive
zaam
you will mean!

Find out how sustainable Backbone cashmere is in our blog on “
sustainable cashmere
“