Caring For Your Precious Cashmere
Cashmere is undoubtedly one of the most sought after dressing material, being the softest and most gorgeous material in the world. In the past, cashmere was considered to be meant only for the royalty because of its high cost. The cashmere fabric is exceptionally soft as well as quite lightweight as compared to other natural fibers. Though it can be used for making all kinds of clothing, but most of its use is seen in sweaters.
Cashmere fabric is extracted from goats and comes mainly from Mongolia and China. However, it is also produces in India, Iran, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand. The goat’s down is gathered by either shearing or combing the goat. All goats have coarse hair on their body which protects them against the ruthless weather. Below this lies the layer of soft down from which cashmere is made.
The most important reason behind cashmere being so expensive is that the goats giving the raw material for development are quite rare. A goat required a maximum of four years to produce down that would be required for one cashmere sweater. The demand for the cashmere products is always high, irrespective of whether there is economic hardship or not.
Cashmere is an extremely careful material and requires a lot of care to keep it perfect through time. There are certain special techniques that can be used to take care of your cashmere.
Washing
Avoid dry cleaning your fine cashmere clothing as it dries the fibers. Instead, have it hand washed with cold water. The best possible way to wash it is to twist it inside our and then wash using water at room temperature. You can use a wool cleansing product or a specialized cashmere shampoo for washing it. Avoid rubbing, simply swirl in water and soak for abut half hour. Never spin dry the cashmere clothing in washing machine.
Drying
To dry the cashmere garments, lay them down on a flat towel. Roll up within the towel and then unroll it. After this, spread it on a drying rack and allow it to air dry.
Storage
Never store your cashmere sweaters in plastic as it can lead to moth infestation and leaching of chemicals into it. Spray the cashmere with a moth repellent and store in a cotton bag. This would allow the fabric to breathe and keeps the moth away.
