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Cashmere

Cashmere is soft, light and expensive, and it comes with real questions about grazing, welfare and mislabeling. Here is what the rules and the research say.

At a glance

Origin: Animal fiber: the fine undercoat of the cashmere goat.

How processed: Natural, minimally processed: combed or shorn, dehaired to remove coarse guard hair, then scoured and spun. No chemical conversion.12

What it is and how it’s made

Under US labeling rules, “cashmere” must be the fine, dehaired undercoat of the cashmere goat, averaging no more than 19 microns, with no more than 3% of fibers over 30 microns. Goat fiber that misses the bar has to be labeled wool.13

The undercoat is combed out or shorn. One industry standard says combing should happen only once the goats begin to shed naturally, and that goats which can’t be housed in cold weather should be combed rather than shorn.2

China and Mongolia supply about 90% of the world’s cashmere; Mongolia alone supplies about a third of the raw fiber.45

How it wears

Softness and itchLegal cashmere averages 19 microns or finer, well under the roughly 30-micron size at which fibers start to prickle.16
Pilling and durabilityCashmere knits pill under rubbing. In lab tests on pure-cashmere knitwear, abrasion testers wore samples heavily, and the fibers that came off as pills and fuzz were finer than the yarn average.7
WarmthStudies of clothing and body temperature find construction matters more than fiber. We found no garment trial showing cashmere is warmer than wool of the same weight.8
OdorOdor studies rank wool well, but they didn’t test cashmere, so we don’t extend the claim.9
Label accuracyThe FTC allows no tolerance on a “100% cashmere” claim, because adding another fiber would be intentional.3

Environmental notes

  • Mongolia’s goat herd grew from about 5 million in 1990 to about 26 million in 2021, after livestock was privatized and as cashmere demand rose.510
  • A satellite study of Mongolia’s steppes tied the loss of plant biomass to both a warmer, drier climate and grazing pressure.10
  • Across seven study areas in Mongolia, India and China’s Tibetan Plateau, wild hoofed animals now make up less than 5% of the biomass of livestock; the authors link herd growth to the cashmere trade.11

Counterpoints and caveats

  • How bad the degradation is is disputed: a field survey of 143 sites found very severe degradation on only 1–18% of Mongolian rangeland, with most land slightly or moderately degraded.12
  • Mislabeling is common: in a 2011 Tokyo government test of 53 cashmere jackets and coats sold online, 17 didn’t match their labels, and one sold as 100% cashmere was 9.8% cashmere.13
  • Welfare: a 2019 PETA video investigation in China and Mongolia alleged rough combing that left goats bleeding. PETA opposes all animal fibers.14
  • Cashmere standards are run by industry membership bodies or the standard’s owner, not regulators.215

Buying tips

  • “100% cashmere” or cashmere with wool is all natural. Cashmere socks and some knits add nylon or elastane; read the percentages.
  • Softness and price can’t prove content: label tests keep finding cashmere that isn’t.13
  • If grazing or welfare matters to you, look for a named standard such as the Sustainable Fibre Alliance or the Good Cashmere Standard, and keep in mind who runs it.215
  • Follow the care label, dry knits flat, and remove pills with a sweater comb.

Common garments

  • Crewneck and V-neck sweaters
  • Hoodies and cardigans
  • Beanies and scarves
  • Socks (usually blended with nylon)

Short answers

What makes cashmere “cashmere”?

In the US it must be the dehaired undercoat of the cashmere goat, averaging 19 microns or finer, with no more than 3% of fibers over 30 microns.113

Counterpoint: Labels aren’t routinely tested; a Tokyo test found about a third of cashmere coats and jackets mislabeled.

Is cashmere bad for grasslands?

Mongolia’s goat herd grew about fivefold from 1990 to 2021, and studies tie grazing pressure plus climate change to steppe decline and wildlife loss.5101112

Counterpoint: A national field survey found very severe degradation rare and most land slightly or moderately degraded.

Why does my cashmere sweater pill?

Rubbing pulls fine fibers to the surface; in lab tests the fibers lost to pills and fuzz were finer than the yarn average.7

Counterpoint: The study tested a handful of knits from one producer.

Where to find it

Scored brands have a natural-fiber share score; picks pages list specific products and are not scored.

Related comparison: Wool sweater vs polyester fleece

Sources

Industry-funded, trade-body and advocacy sources are flagged. Product labels read October 31, 2026.

  1. 1US Federal Trade Commission. Use of terms “mohair” and “cashmere” (16 CFR 300.19). Code of Federal Regulations, Wool Products Labeling Rules, current.
  2. 2Sustainable Fibre Alliance. SFA Animal Fibre Standard, version 1.01. Standard, 2025. Membership body of brands, processors and herders that owns the standard.
  3. 3US Federal Trade Commission. Cachet of Cashmere: Complying with the Wool Products Labeling Act. Business guidance, current page.
  4. 4Wildlife Conservation Society. Victims of Fashion: new study by WCS reveals dangers to biological diversity from proliferation of global cashmere garment industry. Press release, 2013. Conservation charity summarizing its own study.
  5. 5Baldan, Sölkner, Gebre, Mészáros et al.. Genetic characterization of cashmere goat (Capra hircus) populations in Mongolia. Frontiers in Genetics, 2024.
  6. 6Mamani-Cato, Frank, Prieto, Castillo, Condori-Rojas, Hick. Effect of fibre diameter, prickle factor and coarse fibre bias on yarn surface hairiness in South American camelids (SAC) fibre. Fibers, 2022.
  7. 7Li, Zhou (Xi’an University of Engineering Science & Technology). Study on pilling test of cashmere knitted fabrics. Sen’i Gakkaishi, 2004. Samples supplied by Erdos, a large cashmere producer.
  8. 8Gavin. Clothing and thermoregulation during exercise. Sports Medicine, 2003.
  9. 9Laing (University of Otago). Natural fibres in next-to-skin textiles: current perspectives on human body odour. SN Applied Sciences, 2019.
  10. 10Liu, Evans, McCabe, de Jeu et al.. Changing climate and overgrazing are decimating Mongolian steppes. PLoS ONE, 2013.
  11. 11Berger, Buuveibaatar, Mishra. Globalization of the cashmere market and the decline of large mammals in Central Asia. Conservation Biology, 2013.
  12. 12Jamsranjav, Reid, Fernández-Giménez et al.. Applying a dryland degradation framework for rangelands: the case of Mongolia. Ecological Applications, 2018.
  13. 13Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Bureau of Citizens and Cultural Affairs. Cashmere jackets and coats bought online: about 30% of products mislabeled, including “100% cashmere”. Consumer product test (in Japanese), 2011.
  14. 14PETA. Cashmere industry exposed: goats cry out in pain in graphic new video. Press release, 2019. Advocacy group opposed to all animal fibers.
  15. 15Aid by Trade Foundation. The Good Cashmere Standard: our standard. Standard owner web page, current page. Run by the foundation that owns and licenses the standard.

Updated October 31, 2026. All fiber guides · Why the label matters