Is cashmere worth it?

Despite their dismal-ness in other areas, I've always found M&S cashmere good, and you can wash it - though obviously with care.

Having said that, if you've got any hint of clothes/carpet moths in the house, do store it in a plastic bag!
Just the other day I mended a small moth hole in a cashmere jumper of dh's - luckily it was small and the mend barely shows.
We are plagued with the little buggers, though dh's relentless extermination campaign does seem to be gradually working.

More to the point...are you worth it?

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That said, the Ethical Trading Initiative FAQ page specifically says it about promoting respect for workers’ rights around the globe, not environmental sustainability and animal rights. So not sure about M&S.

I've just done a bit of research and Brora is one of the 5 British companies with ethically sourced cashmere. M&S is a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative, so its suppliers are independently audited to meet its standards. Sorry, I should have checked instead of relying on my memory. It's donkeys years since I read up on this.

I had my hopes pinned on Brora, who state on their website that their cashmere is ethically sourced. My present on 'big' birthdays from my mother has always been one of their jumpers, since they started up 20 years ago, and they are very good and still going strong.

stillhere I was trying to find a website without any awful photos, but my point is that we don't always know the source of the materials used in our clothes. China and Mongolia are the main source of cashmere wool and anyone who doesn't believe that cashmere commercially produced on a large scale is cruelty free is either niave, in denial or just doesn't want to know. From what I can recall M&S and Brora cashmere garments are not cruelty free.

I am not an animal welfare activist, but I do think about animal cruelty when buying stuff. I'm not a saint either, I do buy leather shoes. Selina Scott now runs a business selling ethically produced cashmere and I would buy some of the things she sells.

I have 'good' and 'cheap' cashmere sweaters and the interesting thing (well, it is to me, anyway...) is that the 'cheap' have worn as well as the 'good'.

Cashmere is worth the outlay and even more so if one can find it at a reasonable price as it is immensely warm and oh so light. On a bitterly cold day, cashmere worn with a down jacket is unbeatable for warmth.

I, too, am an 'itcher' and can't wear some woolen products but find I am fine with cashmere - perhaps because it is just so soft?

I use Woolite and hand wash but not too often. I have not machine-washed cashmere as I think it would knock all the stuffing out of them although I read that others have with success. Perhaps I'll be brave enough to try - or not!

At the Lands End outlet store recently, I homed in on a gorgeous pale grey cashmere polo-neck sweater. Maybe I would treat myself, until I saw the price - reduced to £109!! With my sensible head on I had to turn away - and remembered that we eat a lot of red pasta sauce which has been the ruin of so many clothes - messy Granny

Wallace - thought I'd fixed that. Also 'Eccentricity'... tsk. tsk.

@Ana - Nellie Wallae (^"The Essence of Exentricity"^) sometimes wore a little fur tippet on stage - which she would refer to as 'Me little bit of vermin'.

Why would anyone want to wear any fur?

Just out of interest, why would anyone want to wear vermin fur?

Like Chrisliz I bought a stripey cashmere jumper from M&S some years ago; it has been hand washed lots of times and still looks as good as new. I have subsequently bought cashmere from other stores which has gone very shabby when washed.

Yes, I have been hearing about the joys of possum knits lately, friends seem to have more and more children moving there.

I keep cashmere and cashmere/wool mix jumpers in ziplock bags to frustrate the moths. An amazing cardigan that comes from NZ is a mixture of merino and possum fur (possums are vermin in NZ) is as warm and windproof as a polyester fleece and apparently impervious to moths.

It reminds me of an article I read about twentyfive years ago. The author was exhorting us not to wear wool, claiming that little lambs were sheared when icy winds would chill them and were freezing to death.

She was ignorant on several counts -
1) shearing is done in midsummer, when the sheep are delighted to be free of their coats,
2) ewes with lambs at foot are sheared later than other sheep
3) the current year's lambs (about four months old by then, and not exactly tiny babies) are not shorn at all as they have short wool at that stage
4) "lambswool", the high quality wool from the first shearing, is cut the next summer when the lambs are full-grown into hulking great teenagers
5) lambs freeze in unexpected spring snowstorms, not summer showers.

I think some of that article is downright lies, it certainly doesn't apply to the majority of animals raised for their coats. Take Down for example - there was documentary about it only last year, where the farmers provided shelter and warmth for the ducks and harvested their feathers when they returned each year. As geese and ducks pluck their own down to feather their nests, those are removed and they are provided with warmth and shelter in its place. I saw one about the prized goats in a south American village, their soft coat is removed and they are given a garment to wear instead. I'm not saying all animals are treated as kindly - for example angora rabbits in China being plucked or shaven rather than combed - but that article only shows the extremes, which to me is the equivalent of saying that all children are neglected and beaten.

I love cashmere, but I do think that you get what you pay for. I have some amazing pure cashmere jumpers and tunics, but I have others that bobble badly and I use a little comb thing to de-bobble them before they are put away. I find that my moths prefer my merino wool jumpers to my cashmere, no idea why. My answer to the problem is to hang all of my woollens in one wardrobe and spray it all with fly spray once a year. I do have moth balls for a drawerfull of my favourite jumpers, I hang any up that I want to wear overnight, preferably outside, and then they are fine. I often buy them a bigger size than I want, then wash them and try them on still damp, at that time it is possible to pull them into shape if they have shrunk. After that they are washed on a cool wool cycle.

I have found that even some companies such as Pure vary quite widely as to the quality of their cashmere. However - once you have got into the habit of wearing it, nothing can ever feel as good again.

janeainsworth no reenee is right about the cruelty aspect (although you're right about cashmere coming from goats, not lambs). It's why I said I would not buy cashmere as I am vegetarian.

This link gives more information. It does not contain any distressing images.

Never mind temperamental cashmere jumpers - M&S ones are too expensive for me!

I bought my first ever cashmere jumper from M & S last winter. I love it, so light and warm. I have washed it several times on the wool setting and it is still perfect. I also have a couple of Woolover's cashmere/wool mix jumpers. They wash well too and are very cosy.

Even if M & S cashmere is not good quality I think I'd have it all the same. Don't fancy temperamental expensive jumpers which shrink when they encounter water (especially as I am the world's champion shrinker).

Reenee I googled 'how is cashmere made' and it said that the hairs are removed with combs when the goats are moulting in the spring.
Are you thinking of something else?

NO no no it is so cruel what is done to the lambs please research and you will never buy.

Always wash with special wool and silk liquid detergent. Lots of cashmere is now machine washable but I hand wash. I've never had cashmere go bobbley.
I've bought all my cashmere jumpers and cardigans from charity shops, well worth £10 or £12 as they're deliciously soft and last forever.