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Pashmina wool is rare and high quality, harvested from the Himalayan ibex found in Kashmir and Nepal. It is blended with silk and compared to cashmere, but is softer and holds color well. It is expensive, but efforts to breed the ibex in Mongolia have led to slightly lower prices. Synthetic fabrics are available, but do not match the durability and quality of true pashmina.
Pashmina wool is special for its rarity and quality, especially in the Western world. It also has a softness equal to or greater than cashmere. It holds color beautifully, and the highest quality wool is very light. In fact, a test of the quality of this type of wool is passing it through a wedding ring. If it doesn’t slide easily, it’s too thick and therefore of lesser quality.
This material is harvested from one source, the Himalayan ibex. The goat can be found in Kashmir and Nepal mainly. Since pashmina wool set the fashion world on fire in the 1990s, there have also been successful efforts to breed the ibex in Mongolia. With very similar weather patterns, the Mongolian import is now an excellent source of pashmina.
Earlier pashmina wool harvesting tended to mean combing the mountains surrounding Nepal or Kashmir to find the wool from goats, often caught in thorn bushes. Wool collections, which are the goats’ undercoat for winter, were minimal. The average goat sheds about 3-8 ounces (.085-.22 kg) of hair per year.
Due to the minimal amount of harvesting, pashmina wool is almost always blended with silk to produce the light, almost shiny fabric. Higher grade yarns tend to be a blend of 80% pashmina, 20% silk. However, more commonly 70/30 mixes are used and marketed.
Pashmina has to be compared to cashmere. Unlike cashmere, it is a blended fabric. Many believe that pashmina wool is much softer. Cashmere can be harvested through a process of combing the goat, resulting in slightly thicker wool. However, cashmere is very soft, although it does not have the shine that silk threads lend to pashmina.
Since this wool is still rare and popular, it is quite expensive. Lower grades can cost between 35 and 50 United States dollars (USD) for a scarf. High ratings can be considerably higher prices. It wouldn’t be unusual to pay up to $100 for a simple scarf. Pashmina, a beautiful wrap made from this wool, is priced at least $100, and can cost as much as $300.
The decision to breed the goats in Mongolia has led to slightly less expensive pashmina offerings. If one is allergic to wool, there are also some synthetic fabrics, which come close to the texture and lightness of pashmina wool. However, most of those who love pashmina wool go crazy for these synthetics as they do not provide the durability and quality of true pashmina.
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