How to distinguish high-quality cashmere: the quality varies greatly even within the same material.

How to identify high-quality cashmere knitwear?

Cashmere, known as the "jewel of fibers," is an essential item during the cold winter months. Cashmere knitwear can range from under 10,000 yen at Uniqlo or Muji to over 100,000 yen.

Since it's a significant purchase, we'll show you how to identify high-quality cashmere to avoid buying something of poor quality.

① How to identify high quality by touch

You can tell if cashmere is high quality by rubbing the surface and seeing if it pills. Generally, the finer and longer the fibers, the higher the quality of cashmere. Also, if the fabric feels sparse when you hold it, it's unfortunately not very good cashmere. Cashmere fibers are finer than other fibers, so fabrics with a low thread count tend to lose their shape easily.

② How to identify high quality from tags and origin

First, even if a product claims to be cashmere, some companies sell items that are not 100% cashmere, so check if the cashmere blend ratio is 100%. It doesn't have to be 100%, but the higher the percentage, the higher the quality. Cashmere is produced in China, Central Asia, Iran, Turkey, and Tibet, but cashmere of particularly high quality is produced in Inner Mongolia, China. If the origin of the cashmere is stated, take a look.

④ How to identify high quality from cashmere grades

Finally, for those who absolutely want to buy high-quality cashmere, there's a foolproof method: ask about the cashmere grade. Cashmere is divided into grades from 1 to 9. Of course, the closer the grade is to 1, the finer and longer the fibers will be, resulting in a more pleasant feel. If you absolutely want to buy high-quality cashmere, asking which grade of cashmere is used might be one way to go.