cashmere product

Cashmere wool products are made from the fine undercoat fibres produced by a cashmere or pashmina goat. Cashmere is gathered during the spring moulting season when the goats naturally shed their winter coat. Cashmere goats produce a double fleece that consists of a fine undercoat of hair mingled with a straighter and much coarser outer coating of hair. For the fine undercoat fleece to be of the right quality for producing cashmere garments, it must be de-haired, a process that separates the coarse hairs from the fine hair. After this stage, the resulting "cashmere" is ready to be dyed and converted into yarn. Cashmere derives its name from the Kashmir goats of Tibetan origin which are found in the mountainous regions around central Asia. Cashmere is hair that is shorn from cashmere goats’ underbellies. These goats are often kept on farms where they are dehorned and castrated and have their ears notched without anesthesia. Goats with “defects” in their coats are typically killed before the age of 2. Industry experts expect farmers to kill 50 to 80 percent of young goats whose coats do not meet standards. Shearing robs goats of their natural insulation, leaving them vulnerable to cold temperatures and illnesses. Many goats are sold to be slaughtered for their flesh after shearing.