Mohair Fabric Guide: A Great Cloth For Men’s Suits, Sweaters & Other Garments. Popularised by many of James Bond’s suits, mohair is a versatile and durable luxury fabric. Compared to many of the fabrics in our series, it is both one of the most expensive and prestigious.

Mohair (pronounced /ˈmoʊhɛər/) is a fabric or yarn made from the hair of the Angora goat (not to be confused with the Angora rabbit, which produces Angora wool). Both durable and resilient, mohair is notable for its high luster and sheen, and is often used in fiber blends to add these qualities to a textile.

Mohair can be used for clothing, such as hats, ties, and garment fabric, as well as for interior decorating. It’s hard not to love the crisp feel and magnificent luster of mohair in upholstered furniture. Unfortunately, it is a very expensive fabric, and hence only used by connoisseurs nowadays.

Angora goats

Mohair is more expensive than standard sheep’s wool because the production process is more involved, and as a result, it is considered a luxury fiber, similar to cashmere or Angora.

Yes you can wash fluffy mohair or alpaca throw blankets in a washing machine. But even a gentle wool cycle can be way too much movement for this type of fluffy blanket. Rinse well in tepid or cool water. Allow to drain naturally or use a very slow spin in a washing machine to spin out excess water.

Kiko goats are a hardy, large meat breed. Since they are disease and parasite resistant they often live over the life expectancy of eight to 12 years.

Mimi Bekhechi, Director of International Programmes for Peta told the Sun Online: “Almost four decades of investigations by PETA affiliates have clearly shown that for all animal-derived materials, including cashmere, workers either take live animals’ hair, skin, or feathers by force or kill them for it – and every …

Goats have little fat on their bodies, and their coats protect them from the bitter climates in these countries. But in the cashmere industry, they’re frequently shorn in midwinter, at a time when they need their coats the most, and as a result, the vulnerable animals can die of cold stress.

Shahtoosh is obtained from an endangered species of goats called Chiru, or the Tibetan Antelope. The animal has been listed in the endangered animal list under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

But in the cashmere industry, they’re shorn in midwinter. At a time when they need their coats the most, and as a result, the vulnerable animals can die of cold stress. Besides that cashmere goats can freeze to death when shorn in winter, they are also most often victim to bad shearing techniques.

It is the subspecies of the goat that make the main difference between the Cashmere and Pashmina. Cashmere shawls are those that are made of the wools of the Himalayan goats but Pashmina is exclusively made from a specific breed of mountain goat called Capra Hircus. On the other hand, Cashmere is easier to spin.

You may add a little soft detergent, such as baby shampoo or Woolite, but please be certain the detergent is completely dissolved first. Then, wash very gently by hand while being very careful with the hand-tied tassels if you are washing a pashmina accessory. After washing, please do not wring dry.

Cashmere on the other may not be as pricey as Pashmina is. When compared to a cashmere sweater, an embroidered Pashmina shawl can sometimes be four times the price of a sweater.

Real pure pashmina shawls – usually with some fine pastel coloured Kashmiri embroidery – are usually to be found only at large very high-end tourist emporia and are unfortunately marked up by at least 300%, bringing the retail price to anything from US$ 300 to $1000 depending on the quality of the embroidery.

Here is a list of some features of a pure Pashmina.

1. Genuine Pashmina is soft.
2. Genuine Pashmina will carry a label.
3. Genuine Pashmina is not transparent.
4. Genuine Pashmina is uneven.
5. Original Pashmina won’t generate static electricity.
6. Original Pashmina will Pill.
7. Original Pashmina gives a burnt smell.

Pashmina refers to a fine variant of spun cashmere, the animal-hair fibre forming the downy undercoat of the Changthangi goat. The word pashm means “wool” in Persian, but in Kashmir, pashm referred to the raw unspun wool of domesticated Changthangi goats.