Pashmina Wool Fibers

Steps to identify the purity of Pashmina Shawls and Hijabs

1. Check its appearance. Though sometimes a slight sheen is possible, yet in most cases, the authentic piece will bear a matte appearance.
2. Look for the diameter.
3. Check the weave.
4. Go for the burn test.
5. Check the ply and the dimensions.
6. Perform the rubbing test.
7. Do the pilling test.
8. Check if it has anything glued on it.

Pashmina Shawls/Hijabs – Washing Steps

getting clean involves a 12-Step Method. Don’t skip steps!!

1. Clean your bathtub thoroughly. Plug the drain.
2. Lay the pashmina fabric flat, folded as necessary, depending on the size of your tub.
3. Using a hand-held shower, soak the shawl with lukewarm or cool water.
4. Squirt the shawl with a moderate amount of neutral detergent. Baby shampoo is okay.
5. Pat and squash the shawl to make sure the soap penetrates the entire piece.
6. Let it soak for 15 minutes.
7. Unplug the bathtub and let the water drain away.
8. Using the hand-held shower, rinse the pashmina thoroughly.
9. Remove the pashmina from the bathtub, and fold it small enough to fit into a large Ziplock plastic bag.
10. Seal the bag and shake for a couple of minutes.
11. Remove the pashmina from the bag and lay it on a fresh, dry towel. Allow blotting for 15 minutes.
12. Push aside the shower curtain and hang unwrinkled from the shower rod. Allow drying thoroughly.

Pashmina Shawls – Ironing Steps

Actually, a pashmina shawl does not generally require ironing. Just hang it up, unpunched, and let the wrinkles fall out. For a crisper, more elegant look, you might want to have it professionally pressed; or do it yourself:

1. Prepare the area around your ironing board or table. The shawl is a long piece of fabric, and you don’t want to have it mopping your floor. We usually cover the floor area with a clean bedsheet.
2. Pre-warm your steam iron to moderate heat.
3. Lay out your pashmina on the ironing board and cover it with a thin cloth: you want to avoid direct contact between the pashmina cloth and the iron. Again, a clean bedsheet will do the trick.
4. Iron the shawl from one fringed end to the other. Move the iron up and down, not left and right. Use the steamer liberally.

SUMMARY

Growing quality pashmina and cashmere is not easy. But with a little training and knowledge of what type of fibre is required by the processors, it is possible to maximize returns to the point where maintaining a herd of pashmina and cashmere bearing goats is a profitable enterprise. Knowing what the processors want is the first step.

Step two is learning how to recognize fleece that falls within those parameters. Then and only then can we begin to undertake a selective breeding program that will result in the upgrading of the current gene pool into one that consistently produces goats that grow cashmere under known conditions. Knowledge is the key.

Acknowledgements:

Technical and technological facts in this write up have been selected from various sources and their rights are retained with the respective authors if not explicitly stated here. I do acknowledge the research contents done by Directorate of Sheep Husbandry Kashmir division Government of Jammu and Kashmir and other research institutions and organisations.