What is the difference between wool and cashmere? Explained clearly in one go

Cashmere is a thin layer of fine down that grows on the outer skin layer of goats, hidden at the base of the goat's coarse hair. It is a rare specialty animal fiber. The fiber that comes from sheep is called wool, known in the industry as sheep wool; even if it is very fine, professionally it is still called wool, not cashmere, though it can also be called fine wool. Let's take a look below at the difference between wool and cashmere!

How to tell real wool from fake

When a wool product burns, it smokes and bubbles while burning, accompanied by the smell of burning hair, with a lot of ash in the form of lustrous black brittle clumps. When an acrylic product burns, it melts while burning slowly, the flame is white, bright and strong, with a little black smoke, a fishy smell, and the ash is white round balls that are brittle and easily crushed. When a nylon product burns, it melts while burning slowly, with a little white smoke when burning, a small blue flame, a celery-like smell, and the ash is a light brown hard lump that is not easy to crush by twisting.

What characteristics does cashmere have?

1. Light and soft: Cashmere fiber is much finer than wool, and the outer scales are finer, denser and smoother, so it is light in weight, soft and has good toughness. When worn against the skin, it is light, soft, gentle and smooth, extremely comfortable, unmatched by any fiber. Cashmere is currently the animal fiber found to be the closest to human skin, and it does not irritate the skin when worn.

2. Warm: Cashmere is made of fine, curved fibers that contain a lot of air and form an air layer, which can defend against the invasion of outside cold air. Because it is very fine, it is arranged very tightly during spinning and weaving, so even in ice and snow, the warmth of cashmere will make you unwilling to part with it.

The difference between wool and cashmere

1. Wool's scales are arranged more tightly and thickly than cashmere's, and its felting property is greater than cashmere's. Cashmere fiber has small and smooth outer scales, and there is an air layer in the middle of the fiber, so it is light in weight and feels smooth and waxy.

2. Wool's crimp is smaller than cashmere's. Cashmere fiber has a larger number of crimps, crimp rate and crimp recovery rate, and is suitable for processing into knitwear with a plump hand feel, softness and good elasticity. It is comfortable and natural to wear, and has good recovery properties, especially shown in aspects such as not shrinking after washing and good shape retention.

3. Cashmere's cortical content is higher than wool's, and cashmere fiber's rigidity is better than wool's, that is, cashmere is softer than wool.

4. Cashmere's fineness irregularity rate is smaller than wool's, and the appearance quality of its products is better than wool's.

5. Cashmere fiber has uniform fineness, its density is smaller than wool's, its cross-section is mostly a regular circle, and its products are lighter and thinner than wool products.

6. Cashmere's moisture absorption is better than wool's, it can fully absorb dye, is not easy to fade, has a high moisture regain, and its resistance value is relatively large.

7. Wool's acid resistance and alkali resistance are better than cashmere's, and it also suffers less damage than cashmere when encountering oxidants and reducing agents.

8. Generally, wool products' pilling resistance is better than cashmere products', but their felting shrinkage is greater.

The difference between cashmere sweaters, wool sweaters and woolen yarn sweaters

1. Cashmere sweater: A cashmere sweater is a product woven from yarn spun from goat cashmere. Because goat cashmere fiber is shorter than fine wool and even finer than fine wool, it is generally spun into fine wool yarn of 80 to 120 count, so its fabric is especially soft, with very good warmth and elasticity, and feels especially comfortable to wear. After adding a small amount of nylon, cashmere sweaters become more wear-resistant.

2. Wool sweater: A wool sweater is a product woven from knitting wool yarn. Knitting wool yarn includes varieties such as pure wool and pure acrylic, made by combining two single yarns. The raw material is fine wool, and the spun yarn is fine and soft, of relatively good quality, hard to distinguish from cashmere sweaters, and may even be mistaken for cashmere sweaters.

3. Woolen yarn sweater: A woolen yarn sweater is a wool knitted product woven from fine woolen yarn and coarse woolen yarn. The wool used for fine woolen yarn is finer, while the wool fiber of coarse woolen yarn is slightly coarser. Whether fine woolen yarn or coarse woolen yarn, its raw material is wool products from ordinary sheep breeds. In addition, there are also sweater garments woven from pure acrylic or wool-acrylic blended yarn, which also have a wool-like feel, and are bright and beautiful.