The fiber of kings
cashmereCashmere as been known through out history as “the fiber of kings” and remains today the ultimate fiber of luxury. Cashmere is a highly prized, extremely fine, incredibly soft, light and warm fiber which comes from the under down of these special goats. When it comes to the quality of our Canadian cashmere, it would still make the kings proud!

Does your goat produce cashmere or soft fluffy fuzz? 

Pretty much all goats produces an under down (except for the Angora goats), but only a few will produce cashmere. To be classified as Cashmere, the fiber as to have a maximum diameter of 19.5 microns must be longer than 1.25” have a high level of crimp (style) and have a low luster.  An animal can only be called a Cashmere goat if its fleece meets all these requirements. Producers have access to a tool called histograms (which is a laboratory test done on fiber samples collected by the producer) or can also get their fleece graded by an experienced cashmere producer at a classification workshop of fleece competition. The Cashmere goat is a TYPE of goat and not a breed; most of the Canadian Cashmere goats are of Spanish decent (breed), but because of their cashmere production ability, they are a Cashmere goat (type). 


Cashmere is harvested of the goat only once a year.

The Cashmere goats grow their under down from the summer solstice until the winter solstice. The goat will then start to slowly release its Cashmere and it is the beginning of harvest season. The goats are brushed, just like you would brush your dog to get rid of his winter hair. Some producers in the US chose to sheer their animals, but this process harvest the guard hairs as well as the Cashmere and proves to be more costly when sent for processing.


The following three cashmere brushing videos have been produced by the Canadian Cashmere Producers Association and feature’s Diane Thompson, past president, Cashmere fleece judge and long time Cashmere goat breeder.

Diane was the previour owner of the Cashmere goat herd which now resides here at Spruce Haven Farms.

Brushing a cashmere doe  
 

Brushing a cashmere doeling

Brushing a cashmere buck

The common cheap cashmere sweater vs. quality produced cashmere.

The large chains of department store often will have for sale items claiming they contain, of even to contain 100% Cashmere. Don’t be fooled, cashmere is extremely valuable, some product being sold as 100% cashmere can be blended with wool or other fibers, some may even not contain any cashmere at all. You can find details regarding fraud and mislabeling of these items at the Cashmere and Camel Hair Manufacturers Institute. The dual purpose of these goats allows the Canadian producers to raise Cashmere goats commercially and profitably as well as keeping the quality of their cashmere high. Any animal with inferior fleece can easily be sold into the thriving chevon (young goat meat) market.

Cashmere can be processed as  

  “Cloud”:cleaned and de-haired only                                                     

  “Roving or batt”: Cleaned, de-haired and carded , ready  to spin.                                                             

   ”Skein”: ready to knit or crochet

Contact us if you are looking to buy cashmere products or sell raw cashmere Fibre.

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