My Wool or Cashmere is Itchy, Help!
Natural fibers, such as wool and cashmere, are already hard to come by due to fast fashion trends. When you do find them and spend a lot of money on one piece of clothing, you are disappointed that it leaves your skin itchy and irritated. You start to look for base layers so you can layer the sweater.
It turns out, most of 100% wool products on the market are cut with low grade wool fibers.
The fibers are too short, too brittle, and too coarse, which is why you are always itchy.
They are cheap though, and the fashion brands can technically label them as 100% wool.
Our cashmere made clothing can be worn without any base layer. It doesn't feel itchy we select our source material with strict requirements for fiber structure, fiber diameter or fineness, and smoother fiber surface.
Our Promise: No Itch
We source yak and cashmere fibers average between 14–18 microns — placing them in the same ultra-fine category as premium cashmere (Sustainable Fibre Alliance). Unlike coarse wools, yak is hypoallergenic and itch-free thanks to its smooth cuticle structure. Its comfort is further enhanced by the absence of lanolin, which often causes irritation in traditional sheep wool wearers.
See comparisons at Farm Fiber Knits and Wolf vs Goat for insight into micron count and prickle factor analysis.
My Wool or Cashmere Pills, Help!
Natural animal fibers have similar properties as human hair. Our hair tangles if we don't brush them. Animal fibers act in a similar way.
If your hair tangles, what would you do? You would brush your hair, wash your hair regularly, and avoid stressing out your hair with too many products and extensions.
When your wool or cashmere pills, the fibers form a tiny knot, known as pilling. It pills because it is too stressed out. You can relax the fiber by brushing it, leave it at home for a few days, or clean it.
If you bough high quality wool or cashmere, the above should resolve your pilling issue.
However, we have received comments and questions from our social media followers about persistent pilling. In that case, there are two reasons
- The sweater was made with polyester blends. Polyester is not a natural or animal fiber, so it forms a hard knot that needs to be shaved off.
- The sweater was made with low quality wool or cashmere. The fibers are too short and too coarse.
Our Promise: Minimal Pilling
Persistent pilling happens when the clothes are made with poor materials. We source the best goat and yak cashmere that do not pill as long as they are properly taken care of.
Conclusion
Wool and cashmere are already hard enough to find among all the fast fashion polyesters. Why settle for something itchy? Why do you need to buy a razor to deal with pilling?
Wool fiber over 19 microns in diameter are generally itchy for human skin. At Wear Bovine, we source yak cashmere thinner than 18.5 microns in diameter. We take pride in the raw material we are able to source, and we are confident that you won't go back to pilling and skin irritation once you experience our 18 micron difference.
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