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UMRAO Cashmere manufactures cashmere products in Nepal and has been exporting worldwide for the last 12 years. Our main woven product lines are scarves, stoles, shawls, blankets, throws, duvets and quilts. Our knitted products include scarves, sweaters, shawl-wraps, caps, gloves, socks, pet wear, throws and blankets. We have manufacturing capabilities in woven, jacquards, flat bed & hand knitted products.

Outlets

Our product line retails in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Toronto, London, Paris, Madrid and Copenhagen under the “UMRAO CASHMERE” label.

Raw materials

The raw materials we use come from the best cashmere fibre available in Tibet & Mongolia.

Colours

 Based on our experience, sales and trends, our revised custom shade card has been created to offer you a standard of 160 shades, whilst keeping room for custom colors based on your requirement. Our products are available in almost all Pantone shades, utilizing imported dyes.

Sizes 

We weave sizes ranging from 12 to 140 inch widths. Our hand-looms can be customized according to your needs.

Quality

After weaving, we put the piece through a custom 12-stage process: Scouring, milling, dyeing, milling, tassel making/cutting/ knotting/brushing, picking, checking, mending, semi-final ironing, side trimming, final ironing and final checking to be tagged and packed, to bring to you, the best products manufactured and finished by hand.

Exclusive products

In addition to our highest quality cashmere, we also make cashmere products using 100-count, super-fine hand-spun yarn. We also weave with 100% natural un-dyed brown cashmere creating luxurious natural products. Other products include blends of cashmere/bamboo fibre, cashmere/yak wool & cashmere/silk/cotton. UMRAO Cashmere is one of the very few companies in the world to weave cashmere blankets and throws on Jacquard looms to create another luxurious line with intricate and abstract patterns.

Our collection is a tribute to the finest and softest of wools: Cashmere. We weave this luxurious fiber into high quality products-strong and supple, lightweight and lustrous.

For further information on price, quality, product variety and samples, please contact our marketing department.

Cashmere wool, usually simply known as Cashmere, is a fiber obtained from a select family of goats. The word cashmere derives from an old spelling of Kashmir. Cashmere is fine in texture, and strong, light, and soft. Garments made from it provide excellent insulation.

Cashmere wool fiber is obtained from select family of goats. The goat is a mammal that belongs to the subfamily Caprinae of the family Bovidae. Historically, fine-haired Cashmere goats have been called Capra HircusLaniger, as if they were a subspecies of the domestic goat Capra Hircus. However they are now more commonly considered part of the domestic goat subspecies Capra AegagrusHircus.

Characteristics

Cashmere is characterized by its fine, soft fibers. It provides a natural light-weight insulation without bulk. Fibers are highly adaptable and easily spun into yarns and light to heavy-weight fabrics. The original undyed or natural colors of cashmere wool are various shades of grey, brown and white.

Source of the fiber

Cashmere goats produce a double fleece that consists of a fine, soft undercoat or underdown of hair mingled with a straighter and much coarser outer coating of hair called guard hair. For the fine underdown to be sold and processed further, it must be de-haired. De-hairing is a mechanical process that separates the coarse hairs from the fine hair. After de-hairing, the resulting "cashmere" is ready to be dyed and converted into yarn, fabrics and garments.

Gathering

Cashmere is collected during the springmoulting season when the goats naturally shed their winter coat. In the Northern Hemisphere, the goats moult as early as March and as late as May. In some regions, the mixed mass of down and coarse hair is removed by hand with a coarse comb that pulls tufts of fiber from the animal as the comb is raked through the fleece. The collected fiber then has a higher yield of pure cashmere after the fiber has been washed and dehaired.

Types of fiber

Raw — fiber that has not been processed and is essentially straight from the animal Processed — fiber that has been through the processes of de-hairing, washing, carding, and is ready either to spin or to knit/crochet/weave.

History

The fiber is also known as pashm (Persian for wool) or pashmina (Persian/Urdu word derived from Pashm) for its use in the handmade shawls of Kashmir. References to woolen shawls appear in Pakistani/Mughal texts between the 3rd century BC and the 11th century AD. However, the founder of the cashmere wool industry is traditionally thought the 15th century ruler of Kashmir, Zayn-ul-Abidin, who introduced weavers from Turkestan.

In the 18th and early 19thcentury Kashmir (then called Cashmere by the British), had a thriving industry producing shawls from goat down imported from Tibet and Tartary through Ladakh. The down trade was controlled by treaties signed as a result of previous wars. The shawls were introduced into Western Europe when the General in Chief of the French campaign in Egypt (1799–1802) sent one to Paris. The shawl's arrival is said to have created an immediate sensation and plans were put in place to start manufacturing the product in France.

What is the difference between cashmere and pashmina?

There is no difference as both refer to the same product. While in India, Nepal and Pakistan it is referred to as pashmina, a colloquial name for cashmere, in the US and other European countries it is more popularly known as cashmere.

Why is cashmere placed at such a high premium?

Cashmere is aluxurious, natural fibre. It is also a durable anda practical investment as it normally lasts a lifetime and is often passed on from one generation to the next as a part of the bride’s trousseau in countries like India. Cashmere travels well and doesn’t wrinkle. It offers great insulation; is warm in the winter and cool in the spring. Cashmere actually becomes softer with age and rarely pills after being worn and washed.

How should cashmere be cared for?

Cashmere should be kept clean as the dirt in it will attract moths. Garments which have been woven should be dry-cleaned.

How should cashmere garments be stored?

Cashmere should be neatly folded on a shelf, not a hanger. It should be clean and in some sort of sealable garment bag with protection against moths. If wrinkled, it should be steamed rather than pressed.

What's the best way to clean a cashmere garment?

Woven garments should be dry-cleaned. Hand wash knits in cold water, using a fine washable soap. Never wring or twist. Gently press excess water out with towels. Dry on a flat service on a fresh, dry towel until thoroughly air-dried.

Do cashmere garments last longer when they are not cleaned?

No they don’t. A dirty garment attracts moths and once a moth creates a hole, it’s trouble.

How can the pills on a cashmere sweater be removed safely?

To remove pills safely one could use a PILL COMB to comb the pills and fuzz but cashmere products made of high quality fibre pill less so they don’t need to combed.

How does one distinguish superior quality cashmere from inferior quality cashmere?

The length and fineness of the fibres is the most distinguishing characteristic. Products made with long and thin fibers pill less and maintain their shape better than lower quality cashmere and will get better with each wash. Fineness, length and color (natural white cashmere as opposed to natural colored cashmere) are the most important factors in the quality.

How is cashmere fibre graded?

The width of the cashmere fibre ranges from 14 microns to 19 microns. The lower the number, the thinneris the fiber and the softer it feels. So cashmere products with lower microns are more superior.

Do cashmere products have to pass the ring test for authenticity?

Not all cashmere/pashmina products will pass through a ring, especially if it is of a thicker texture. Cashmere products with a very fine count of 60 80 and 100, almostas comparable to the olden day Shahtoosh (also written Shatush) products, will pass through a ring.

There is no difference between cashmere and pashmina, both refer to the same product.

While in India, Nepal, and Pakistan it is referred to as pashmina, a colloquial name for cashmere, the US and other European countries it is more popularly known as cashmere.

In the olden days cashmere was used with a cotton or wool warp and sold as pashmina so the name stuck on.

But in the late 1990's the industry moved to using a silk warp which is the pashmina you see in the market today. And this combination with a silk warp is generally (but by no means a compulsion) woven in a ratio of 70/30 or 50/50 or even an 80/20 cashmere/silk.

Cashmere is available in different qualities and good quality cashmere is expensive. The HAND FEEL of Cashmere should make you go WOW!!

The luxuriant feel and The WOW factor will help you, the end user, judge the quality. If the hand feel of the product is good then the quality is good. If it’s rough and scratchy you can assume that the quality is inferior.

Technically, cashmere quality is determined by three things:

1. Fiber length

2. Micron

3. Purity

The longer the fibre the better the quality and lesser pilling

The lower the micron, the higher the quality

And for obvious reasons, the higher the purity, the better the quality.

So a really good yarn has long fibre, low micron and has 95% or higher in terms of purity

Moreover, the long fiber strengthens the yarn, so pilling does not occur as much, as the longer fibres bind the yarn better.

All cashmere pills, but good cashmere pills relatively less.

Just remember, the HAND FEEL and WOW factor.

If it feels soft - it’s generally good quality.

Happy Shopping!!! Umrao Cashmere