Did British soldiers bring cashmere scarves back from East India Trade Company as soon as the 18th century and the fashion developped so strongly over all Europe afterwards? Or French soldiers coming 1801 back from Egypt with Napoleon? Who knows??? It became anyway immediateley a fashion turmoil all over Europe.
The soft and souple material comes anyway from a very unsophisticated goat, living up on the mountains of Kashmir, (now more often in Mongolia...) moreover from her underwear, or underhair, not the top ones! With temperatures diving down to 40 ° in winter and very hot in summer, it has to be a very rustic animal! This underhair grows during the winter and is cut down in the spring. Best valued are the long hairs of the goat, only those are chosen and sorted according to quality and colour.
Softness, warmth and breathability make cashmere uncomparable.
You can wash it by hand and let it dry flat,without twisting it or just gently doing so. You can also machinewash, - with a small portion of wool product or even a little bit of hair shampoo - in a wool program if you put it into a bag to protect the fibers. Wool ironing.
Wear your cashmere pull-overs or scarves or shawls and rewear them. Cashmere is like pearls : it enjoys and embellishes being worn
