Genuine Cashmere: Great Value for Little Money!

The cashmere from the goats the women raise is too expensive for them to keep and use themselves. Their families are very dependent on the income the wool provides. However, nature has provided a way that these women can have their traditional prayer shawls, made from the traditional fine cashmere.

In the late winter, birds begin picking on the goats, pulling out bits of down to pad their nests for the upcoming laying season in spring. Spring is also the season when the goats are shorn and the cashmere sent to the market. Late in the summer or during the fall, the women and children comb the countryside, looking for the bird's abandoned nests.

When they have collected all the nests they can find, the women spend time during the cold season picking the precious cashmere from the nests, washing it, hand dying it, spinning and weaving or knitting it into their own prayer shawl. Like other traditions, the finest prayer shawls can slide through a wedding ring. In this way the women can have their pure-fiber prayer shawls, of the finest and softest cashmere, while still protecting their family's income.

Cashmere is also known as Pashmina, which is usually associated with Persian Kashmir goats. It is the identical soft down from these mountain goats. Pashmina, however, since it is not so well-known of a term as cashmere, has been an opportunity for marketing companies to market blends, or even completely fake synthetics as authentic Pashmina. Caution is in order!

Like most other natural fibers, body odors will disappear in fresh air, without having to wash your piece after each use. Just hang the piece where it can receive some air and in a couple of days your piece should be odor free.

At wash time, if you don't get it dry cleaned, you would add mild soap to some tepid water, being sure the soap is completely dissolved. Put your piece in the soapy water and gently squeeze the water and suds throughout. Do not scrub, twist, agitate or wring your cashmere. Rinse with clear water. Gently wrap your piece in a dry towel and press out the excess water. Lay it flat to dry, shaping it as you go.