How Can You Tell if a Cashmere is High Quality?

It is that cold time of year again. The nights are getting dark earlier, the temperature is dropping, and the chilly winter winds are blowing. When the air gets cold, we need to wear warm clothing to trap the heat and stay comfortable. Cashmere is a high quality wool product and is one of the best materials to wear on cold days, and in fact it is even warmer than traditional wool! Some materials, while helping to keep out the cold, might conversely make you too hot and even sweaty, which can be uncomfortable as you’re struggling to find a comfortable temperature. Cashmere actually helps your body to maintain its natural temperature, instead of just overwhelming it with heat. Cashmere and other luxury threads are what we’re passionate about at Melody Thomas Studio, offering clothes that are equally comfortable and fashionable. When you’re shopping for cashmere, what factors determine whether or not it is high quality?

Fineness & Length of Fibers

The fineness and length of the yarn fibers is incredibly important to the quality of the cashmere. High quality cashmere products are typically made from long and thin fibers of yarn, which helps to keep the integrity of the garment. When cheaper cashmere is made with shorter or thicker yarn fibers it can pill, or bobble, and create fuzzy balls of fiber that are difficult to remove from the article of clothing. Contrarily, when the cashmere is top quality, the fine fibers won’t ball up as much and will be easier to remove individually, allowing the material to last longer.

Not too Rough, Not too Soft

Cashmere is a product that actually gets better with time. While you don’t want it to be too rough and uncomfortable, you actually don’t want it to be too soft when you first purchase it either. Regularly worn, hand-washed cashmere products will soften with age and wear, and they won’t bobble much after being worn and washed regularly. Poor quality cashmere clothing will be super soft when you first purchase it, which may seem nice, but in reality this means that it will wear out more quickly. Just like when you buy fruits, you want to get them a bit before they are ripe so they have time to become better. If you buy ripe fruits from the store, they might go bad before you even have the chance to eat and enjoy them.

Tightly Knit & Durable

Let’s talk about durability. Just like with any clothing material, you want it to be durable. A natural part of wearing clothing is that it is vulnerable to being tugged. Cheaply made cashmere garments will be loosely knit, and these limp, weaker fabrics will not spring back into place the way that a high quality cashmere will. High quality cashmeres also tend to be 2-ply, using twice the amount of yarn, and will have a higher “NM” (normal metric), such as 36NM, indicating a finer yarn. The finer the yarn, the higher the quality, and this fineness will help make the garment both tighter and more durable to being pulled. For example, if you look at the description of this cashmere poncho, you will see the details including “soft 2-ply”.

Contact Melody Thomas Studio

Hopefully now you’ll know what to look out for the next time you’re looking for quality cashmere clothing. Do you have questions for us about cashmere or any of our projects? No problem! We would be happy to help answer your questions to find you the perfect luxury threads. Send us a message or give us a call at (617) 767-6837, and we will respond at our earlier convenience. You deserve to be warm, comfortable, and fashionable this winter, and we have the quality cashmere products to help!