Sometimes we may hear about the word “sheep cashmere”, you may puzzled what is sheep cashmere? is “sheep cashmere” the real cashmere? In fact, sheep cannot produce cashmere and cashmere can only come from goat. “Sheep cashmere” is just a marketing stunt which is used to promote the value of wool. The so-called “”sheep cashmere” is fine wool not real cashmere.

Let’s learn about what is real cashmere. Cashmere is harvested from the goats during their annual molting season through the shedding or the shearing of their down. In the frigid high desert climates where most of the goats are raised, the dense inner coat guards against harsh winter weather, but once seasons change, goats begin to lose the protective layer of down. Each goat can be collected about 250grams raw cashmere and after some coarse hair and impurities only about 100 grams left, that is why cashmere is so precious. The diameter of cashmere fiber is about 15.0um and 34-40 mm in length.

While the sheep wool is thicker than cashmere, around 18microns to 22 microns. The inner structure is totally different from cashmere. The price of wool is only 1/10 to 1/15 that of cashmere fiber. so when you heard about sheep cashmere when you buy yarn or sweater, you need to attention that is not real cashmere.