天塞纺织——许你一世绒华
“ may you live forever”
01
what makes cashmere so good?
soft
cashmere is a very soft animal fiber that money can buy. micron fineness is a measure of the diameter of the cashmere fiber (1 mm = 1000 microns). the lower the micron fineness, the softer the cashmere. high-quality cashmere micron fineness will not exceed 16, and then finer than 15 microns. in comparison, the fineness of human hair is 75 microns and the fineness of ultra-fine wool is 18 microns. cashmere feels great for the skin. even very sensitive skin, even babies, are very comfortable to wear close to the skin.
light
although cashmere is 8 times warmer than wool, it is even more amazing that cashmere is 33% lighter than wool, and cashmere does not require much weight while warming.
to keep warm
the warmth of cashmere is eight times that of wool. to better understand this, imagine the original purpose of cashmere growth: to keep the goats that are not enough in the winter can maintain body temperature in the environment of minus 34 degrees.
durable
every day, i hear people say that cashmere loves the ball and is easy to deform, not reliable. in fact, the real cashmere is very durable, and if it is properly maintained, it will be no problem for more than a lifetime. however, poor quality cashmere products contain too much short fluff and are therefore prone to pilling. in order to reduce the pilling, it is important to use the right-quality high-quality cashmere of the right sorting, in order to be both soft and anti-pilling.
color
undyed cashmere ranges in color from white to chocolate and several levels of taupe. white is of higher value due to its superior softness and greater dyeing range.
cashmere is almost affected by dyes and human hair is the same. look at the hair of people who often dye hair. more dyes can cause a slightly rougher feel on the cashmere. so people who really know the value of cashmere will not choose dark colors like black, dark gray, and blue.
02
what makes cashmere so precious?
high-quality cashmere, like rare gems and aged red wine, cannot be produced in large quantities from the local climatic environment – it can only be perfected with natural selection.
03
where does cashmere come from?
today, cashmere goats mainly exist in inner mongolia, xinjiang, tibet and outer mongolia in china, and relatively few in afghanistan, iran, turkey, new zealand and australia. very slender, soft and durable cashmere is produced in inner mongolia, xinjiang and tibet of china. the dry and cold climate of these areas, as well as the expertise of local herders, are essential for producing the world's finest cashmere.
the cashmere produced by cashmere goats in the alashan region of inner mongolia, china, is slender and soft, with a fineness of 13-15 microns. the gloss is excellent, and the quality has always been among the best in cashmere. it is the world's leading raw material for cashmere products.
04
good cashmere from china
china is the world's leading producer of cashmere, with an annual output of 13,000 tons of goat raw cashmere and a net cashmere of about 8,000 tons. it accounts for more than 60% of the world's total production, and china is also a large cashmere producer and processing country. cashmere, which has a fine quality of less than 15 microns, currently accounts for less than 10% of total production.
inner mongolia is china's large cashmere production area. the quality and yield of cashmere are the first in china. the world famous cashmere goat breed, inner mongolia white cashmere goat, is divided into alashan type and arbas type according to regional characteristics. two wolf-mountain type.
inner mongolia alashan league is located in the hinterland of asia. its climate is characterized by drought and little rain, wind and sand, winter and summer heat, and large temperature difference between day and night.
due to the unique climatic and geographical conditions, the cashmere of the alashan production area has fine fluff and fineness of 13-15 microns. the gloss is good and the quality has always been among the best in its class. cashmere brands such as loro piana and brunello cuccinelli have been insisting on the use of good cashmere produced in china's alashan for many years.
the local herdsmen of alashan are engaged in the breeding of goats, which has a history of more than 300 years. on june 2, 2006, the ministry of agriculture announced that alashan cashmere goats were included in the genetic protection list. he has won the italian "chegna" cashmere award and the second gold medal of china's agricultural fair.
although china produces good quality cashmere, extremely high quality cashmere products are difficult to trace in the domestic market. a large number of cashmere sweaters and other cashmere products in the market are marked as pure cashmere, alashan cashmere, but the quality is not good, in fact most the quality is inferior, not to mention the e-commerce website is full of fake products with rabbit hair, sheep wool and even chemical fiber as raw materials.
05
sorting process
after cashmere is harvested, it is sorted first. most of the workers are women. they start by picking out non-fibrous impurities (soil, rice, stones, ropes and plastic bags). next, sort the fineness and length. unlike wool, which is measured by computer, cashmere is completely selected by visual inspection. the coarse hair is removed, leaving the medium thick and slender hair. short fluffs are very soft but they are too short to be woven into garments that can cause serious pilling.
the fineness of china inner mongolia cashmere is generally less than 16 microns, and the outer mongolian cashmere is generally less than 17.5 microns. after that, the raw cashmere is sorted by color, with white, purple, coffee or cyan. white cashmere is of higher value because they are usually soft and can be dyed in a wider range of colors.
in the subsequent stages of washing, drying and separation, the coarse wool and cashmere are completed by precise mechanical equipment. upon completion, the pure cashmere will be packaged and shipped to domestic, european and japanese producers.
06
spinning process
the cashmere raw materials arrive at the factory, and the large hard packs will be inspected one by one to ensure the quality is correct. because cashmere is priced by weight, hard packs sometimes incorporate stone, sand or poor fluff to manipulate value.
when cashmere enters the production workshop, the cutting-edge advanced equipment introduced by italy, japan and germany is carefully and meticulously operated. through selection, combing or carding and dyeing, the goal is to ensure the quality. cashmere producers are fully committed to a very balanced level of color, weight and twist, which is essential for subsequent production.
the transformation from cashmere to yarn is a complex process that requires not only ingenious mechanical equipment, but also expertise and experience to ensure adequate mixing of the fluff, greater softness and durability, and lesser pilling.
the manufactured cashmere yarn is associated with a delicate balance. each breed of cashmere goat has slightly different characteristics. the structural structure of the fluff is the result of the interaction of the local climate with the food and the color of the goat. tough, soft cashmere is produced in inner mongolia and mongolia. inner mongolia's white cashmere goats produce fine, soft cashmere, but are slightly shorter than the cashmere of the mongolian goat. outer mongolian cashmere is darker in color, with thicker fibers but longer and stronger. therefore, it is not easy to play.