How to Buy a Cashmere Blanket
Familiarize yourself with the qualities of cashmere., Buy it from a reputable store., Evaluate it in-person., Hold the blanket up to the light., Check for pilling., Compare the texture with other wool., Check its elasticity., Burn it.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Familiarize yourself with the qualities of cashmere.
Cashmere is a wool, but it's not just any wool.
Cashmere is obtained from a goat of the same name, but only the soft, ultra-fine undercoat is used for textile manufacturing purposes.
Because of the extreme environments these goats live in, their undercoat is especially valued for being a great insulator, its durability, and longevity.
Cashmere is incredibly soft and lightweight.Good, expensive cashmere hairs will be between 3 to 4 centimeters long each.Cashmere fibers are so thin and lightweight that they weigh 10 times less than other kinds of wool. -
Step 2: Buy it from a reputable store.
Large department stores and famous retailers have laboratories where they test all of the wool items they receive for authenticity and quality.Because of this, you can know that even before you perform your own test, someone in quality control has also already tested the fabric to be sure of its authenticity.
Multiple checks, however, are a good thing, on the off-chance an inspector missed something.
While it might seem tempting to buy locally while traveling in a foreign country where cashmere goods are produced to help support local people, there are also large profits to be made off of tricking an unknowledgeable consumer into buying inferior goods.If you're particularly dead-set in purchasing a particular blanket you've found at a small store or from a local merchant, you can check the quality of the cashmere by administering a few physical tests and evaluating the fabric. , Although it's possible that you might find a good deal online, you will want to, if at all possible, go into a store and actually interact with the product in-person.
Several of the best tests to determine the quality of the fibers used can only be done by-hand.
If you found a bargain online and are dead-set on making that purchase, try to find a local retailer carrying the exact same item; many department stores and home goods stores will carry similar if not identical stock in their stores. , When you look at the fabric under the light, does it appear shiny like satin? Good cashmere should not.
You also don't want to see excessive amounts of light coming through the holes in the weave: a good blanket will be tightly knit, and the light-weighted quality will be an inherent property of the material itself., Pilling is a process that happens overtime due to abrasion.
The fibers unravel, resulting in the balled up ends "pilling" on the surface of the fabric.
Although fabrics made of short, man-made fibers like acrylic, nylon, and polyester are the worst culprits, wool can also pill.
Pilling will not only ruin the soft, natural texture of your blanket and its thickness, but, especially on knitted materials, it can also look unsightly.
Longer fibers will pill less and are thus considered higher quality.
Give the surface of the blanket a gentle rub with your hand; watch to see if any fibers start to roll up or shed off of the blanket.
Avoid a product that indicates it will shed or pill a lot in the future. , Mohair, alpaca, angora, and camel are all other fine, luxury wools, but cashmere is still known to be the softest.If you can, find another of these wool products in the store, or perhaps bring something from home made from made of a soft wool, and compare the textures with your fingers.
If the cashmere blanket is not softer, then that should bring into question the quality of the fibers. , A properly made blanket should not fall apart instantly: rather, it should feature a tight enough weave that it will spring back and retain its shape.See what happens when you tug on the blanket: does it start to lose its shape? If it's properly constructed, it should return more or less to its original appearance. , This is not a test that you can administer easily in your average store: trying to do so before you have purchased the item may get you into legal trouble, and doing it after you buy the item could invalidate your ability to return it.
However, in situations where you might be trying to purchase an item as a tourist in a small village, you could ask to administer a burn test to a single fiber taken from the blanket you want to purchase by using a cigarette lighter.
Watch to see how fast it lights on fire: oil-based products (typically used in man-made synthetic fibers) are particularly susceptible to fire.
If the strand produces a strong, plasticity odor while or after having been burnt, this is a strong indicator that at least a percentage of the fibers are synthetic.
After blowing out the fire on the end of the strand, look at the end to see if it has distorted into a ball shape, with a hard plastic feel.
There will be no ash, and you will be unable to make the fiber crumble between your fingers.
This is another indicator of synthetic fibers.
If the fiber has a natural burnt smell after burning it, check it against the smell of a bit of burnt cotton fiber to be sure that they are not identical: wool and cotton produce distinct smells when burnt. -
Step 3: Evaluate it in-person.
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Step 4: Hold the blanket up to the light.
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Step 5: Check for pilling.
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Step 6: Compare the texture with other wool.
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Step 7: Check its elasticity.
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Step 8: Burn it.
Detailed Guide
Cashmere is a wool, but it's not just any wool.
Cashmere is obtained from a goat of the same name, but only the soft, ultra-fine undercoat is used for textile manufacturing purposes.
Because of the extreme environments these goats live in, their undercoat is especially valued for being a great insulator, its durability, and longevity.
Cashmere is incredibly soft and lightweight.Good, expensive cashmere hairs will be between 3 to 4 centimeters long each.Cashmere fibers are so thin and lightweight that they weigh 10 times less than other kinds of wool.
Large department stores and famous retailers have laboratories where they test all of the wool items they receive for authenticity and quality.Because of this, you can know that even before you perform your own test, someone in quality control has also already tested the fabric to be sure of its authenticity.
Multiple checks, however, are a good thing, on the off-chance an inspector missed something.
While it might seem tempting to buy locally while traveling in a foreign country where cashmere goods are produced to help support local people, there are also large profits to be made off of tricking an unknowledgeable consumer into buying inferior goods.If you're particularly dead-set in purchasing a particular blanket you've found at a small store or from a local merchant, you can check the quality of the cashmere by administering a few physical tests and evaluating the fabric. , Although it's possible that you might find a good deal online, you will want to, if at all possible, go into a store and actually interact with the product in-person.
Several of the best tests to determine the quality of the fibers used can only be done by-hand.
If you found a bargain online and are dead-set on making that purchase, try to find a local retailer carrying the exact same item; many department stores and home goods stores will carry similar if not identical stock in their stores. , When you look at the fabric under the light, does it appear shiny like satin? Good cashmere should not.
You also don't want to see excessive amounts of light coming through the holes in the weave: a good blanket will be tightly knit, and the light-weighted quality will be an inherent property of the material itself., Pilling is a process that happens overtime due to abrasion.
The fibers unravel, resulting in the balled up ends "pilling" on the surface of the fabric.
Although fabrics made of short, man-made fibers like acrylic, nylon, and polyester are the worst culprits, wool can also pill.
Pilling will not only ruin the soft, natural texture of your blanket and its thickness, but, especially on knitted materials, it can also look unsightly.
Longer fibers will pill less and are thus considered higher quality.
Give the surface of the blanket a gentle rub with your hand; watch to see if any fibers start to roll up or shed off of the blanket.
Avoid a product that indicates it will shed or pill a lot in the future. , Mohair, alpaca, angora, and camel are all other fine, luxury wools, but cashmere is still known to be the softest.If you can, find another of these wool products in the store, or perhaps bring something from home made from made of a soft wool, and compare the textures with your fingers.
If the cashmere blanket is not softer, then that should bring into question the quality of the fibers. , A properly made blanket should not fall apart instantly: rather, it should feature a tight enough weave that it will spring back and retain its shape.See what happens when you tug on the blanket: does it start to lose its shape? If it's properly constructed, it should return more or less to its original appearance. , This is not a test that you can administer easily in your average store: trying to do so before you have purchased the item may get you into legal trouble, and doing it after you buy the item could invalidate your ability to return it.
However, in situations where you might be trying to purchase an item as a tourist in a small village, you could ask to administer a burn test to a single fiber taken from the blanket you want to purchase by using a cigarette lighter.
Watch to see how fast it lights on fire: oil-based products (typically used in man-made synthetic fibers) are particularly susceptible to fire.
If the strand produces a strong, plasticity odor while or after having been burnt, this is a strong indicator that at least a percentage of the fibers are synthetic.
After blowing out the fire on the end of the strand, look at the end to see if it has distorted into a ball shape, with a hard plastic feel.
There will be no ash, and you will be unable to make the fiber crumble between your fingers.
This is another indicator of synthetic fibers.
If the fiber has a natural burnt smell after burning it, check it against the smell of a bit of burnt cotton fiber to be sure that they are not identical: wool and cotton produce distinct smells when burnt.
About the Author
Peter Jimenez
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow lifestyle tutorials.
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