Pashmina scarves, stoles, and shawls are popular among women. The royal shawls are manufactured from rarely available cashmere wool. Hence buying Pashmina shawls is a style statement. Before you shop for pure cashmere wool shawls, know about its origin, how it is made, prices etc.
Hair of the Himalayan mountain goat is used to create Pashmina. The rare Himalayan goats are available only within the altitudes of 12000- 15000 feet in Northern India. You will be amazed to know they survive at the temperature of minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit. The Pashmina wool’s layers on their body protect them from cold climate.
A Brief History of Pashmina
Since the ancient times, the Pashmina shawls are used by the civilizations near Himalayan regions. It provided softness and warmth to Kings and Queens of that time. It is prepared from about 14 -19 microns thick fiber. The fiber is thinner than human hair, which is seventy five microns thick.
The name Pashmina is derived from Persian word pashm that means wool. The Persian traders were the first group to avail benefits of this smooth wool. Later, they took this amazing product to Europe. Since then, it became a popular material among the high society women.
A special type of Kashmir embroidery known as kasida is used to prepare this rare Pashmina. The best thing about this fabric is they could be worn from either side. The wool harvested from Himalayan goat is used to create threads, which are later dyed in various colors. The threads are woven together to make fabrics of different weights. The lightest Pashmina shawl is known as one- ply while the heaviest is known as four ply.
What to Check while Buying the Shawls?
Manufacturers create both pure Pashmina cloths and cloths blended with silk and other fabric. The fabric consisting of 70% Pashmina and 30% of other fabric is light in weight and considered as a fine material. However, more percentage of synthetic fabrics can affect the quality of Pashmina products. If you wish to buy pure Pashmina, be careful of shawls and scarves that have synthetic traces. You could buy Pashmina shawls at affordable prices both offline and online. Here are some ways to check whether you are getting what you pay for.
Benefits of Conducting the Burn Test
Burn test is an effective method to check that the cloth’s fibers are natural. When you will burn wool, it will produce a unique smell. Moreover, they will leave some ash when burned. On the other hand, Synthetic materials will form a bead instead of ash. Besides this, synthetic fabric will also produce a distinct chemical smell. Hence, it will be easy to detect whether the shopkeeper is selling you pure Pashmina or synthetic cloth.
The pure Pashmina cloths are quite expensive and you might have to spend several thousand dollars. Their price varies depending on the micron fineness of fibers. You must evaluate the piece of cloth well before making the payment. Any special technique like embroidery will also increase its cost.