What Is Mohair?

Mohair yarn is the perfect material for creating beautiful pieces. It is warm and lightweight. Also, the material is well-dyed, which allows you to get products of bright colors and shades. Mohair is a popular type of fabric used for sewing things for the cold season. To understand this material, it is necessary to consider its characteristics, composition, and scope of application. Perhaps the fabric mohair is familiar to almost every person, even if he does not know how to sew and does not delve into the subtleties of clothing production. This matter is quite common, and many people in the closet will find things made of it, even though they can not be called inexpensive. From mohair produce a variety of warm clothes: sweaters and sweaters, turtlenecks, cardigans, demi-season coats, etc. It is a beautiful and delicate material, perfectly warming in cold weather and creating a feeling of comfort and home coziness.

Mohair is considered one of the most expensive fabrics, and a high level of thermal insulation characterizes it; it is used to manufacture clothing and other products (bedspreads, toys, upholstery, curtains). It enjoys popularity worldwide, and it belongs to the category of expensive rare fabrics. Yarn is used in the production of branded things. Mohair is often confused with Angora, although these are different things. Mohair fabric, which is now known to everyone, is made from fine hairs of the wool of angora goats. Angora sweaters are incredibly warm and cozy. This is a very expensive yarn; it is soft, thin, and at the same time durable. Mohair has always been loved for its warmth and softness. The material's popularity skyrocketed when people began to sew clothes from it. Today, mohair is not only a yarn for knitting but also a fabric. From the article, you will learn what mohair is, its features and varieties, what can be knitted from yarn, and how to care for such things.

Mohair is a trade name that refers only to yarn made from Angora goat wool. It should not be confused with yarn made of Angora rabbit wool; it is much worse in quality. Modern mohair is a wool textile produced from raw animal material extracted from the Angora goat. It has a number of advantages: attractive appearance, elasticity, and durability. Sometimes, the material is mistakenly called Angora, confusing it with yarn produced from the wool of angora rabbits. Since its hair is quite slippery, and to make yarn from it - a task extremely difficult and impractical, the composition is added synthetics, such as acrylic. Often, there are also natural blended versions with sheep's wool. But still, the main ingredient is goat hair; with this, mohair fabrics differ from all similar ones.

Due to the characteristics of the material (wool is too slippery), it is impossible to find a product made of 100% mohair; such yarn, in its pure form, breaks up into individual hairs. Usually, wool is mixed with other synthetic or natural fibers. Mohair fabric and yarn you can easily recognize, among others. It has a soft, long pile. Mohair is made from the finest goat hair, and to improve production, acrylic yarns are added to natural yarns. In the composition of quality, angora yarn should be specified as at least 80% angora and 20% acrylic. The material is perhaps warmer than other woolen ones despite all the thinness and delicacy. For many years now, things created from it are considered one of the most fashionable among the variety of winter models.

Mohair is a yarn made from the wool of Angora goats, which began to be bred in Turkey in the town of Angora, now Ankara. In Turkish, mohair means "the best goat hair." Turks started to produce this amazing yarn in the XV century and, for a long time, forbade the export of their valuable goats outside their native country.

The fleece of Angora goats is white, with a beautiful luster, so it is easy to dye such wool, and the choice of shades is enormous. The wool of these amazing goats is very long; the average hair reaches 18-25 cm. In the XIX century, it was even used for wigs.

Until 1820, cunning Turks sold abroad only castrated goats and young goats. Until they overlooked and accidentally gave away a pregnant goat, so these unique creatures appeared on the territory of South Africa. Angora goats were raised almost exclusively in Ankara until 1849 when a goat was given to a farmer from the United States for his assistance in growing cotton in Turkey.

Today, the mohair industry is centered around South Africa, which is the largest producer of Angora goats and exporter of mohair, along with Argentina, Turkey, and the U.S. state of Texas. Australia and New Zealand also produce and export mohair, albeit to a lesser extent.

Mohair production begins with shearing animals that have reached 6-8 months of age and have a hair length of at least 11 cm. After that, it is cleaned from fat (goat secretion), dirt, plant residues, dandruff, and various inclusions. The prepared raw material is sent to spinning mills, where it is sorted, processed, bleached, and then used in the production of knitting yarn or fabrics. The wool of Angora goats is white with a silky luster. It is very elastic, flexible, and strong: the breaking length index is 12-14 km, much higher than crossbred wool. It is categorized as semi-coarse. It is a homogeneous mass consisting of transitional fibers and almost no undercoat. The structure of the hairs differs from the wool of other goats and sheep: there are no scales on the surface, and they are only slightly marked.

Because of this, the fiber does not adhere well when spinning, which leads to the piling of the material. Getting a quality yarn that is 100% goat's wool is incredibly difficult. For this reason, manufacturers are forced to combine mohair with other fibers: cotton, sheep's wool, acrylic, and polyester. Today, the fabric can be called mohair, even though it has only 15-20% goat fibers in its composition. And some manufacturers have even less. Next, the collected wool is subjected to the spinning process, which allows you to turn it into yarn. Specialists control the threads' size and quality to achieve the desired result - the softness and luster of mohair.

After spinning, the yarns finish, including removing large impurities and mishandled fibers. The yarns are then sorted according to various parameters such as length, color, and quality to get the final product. Mohair is widely used in the textile industry to produce soft and warm products such as sweaters, plaids, and scarves. Due to its unique properties, mohair is one of the most popular materials among lovers of comfortable and stylish clothing. Thus, mohair is a special type of wool created from the wool of the Angora goat. It is produced by collecting, spinning, finishing, and sorting its fibers. Mohair is a valuable material from which fashionable and cozy clothes for the cold season are created. This precious material is used to produce soft and delicate products such as shawls, plaids, sweaters, and other closet items that have a high level of comfort and elegant appearance.

The mohair yarn content of Angora goat wool does not exceed 83%. Due to the specific structure of this wool and its high price, Angora goat wool fibers are not used pure. It is blended with different types of wool, acrylic, or polyamide. The result is a strong and elastic thread. The natural color of Angora wool is homogeneous from white to brown and gray, with a characteristic luster.

Yarn made of Angora goat's wool has good thermal insulation and keeps warm, even in the most severe frosts. Mohair is considered a high-quality fiber. It is strong and does not wrinkle. Products made of mohair absorb moisture well; they are warm in winter and not hot in summer. Due to the lack of grease and smoothness of wool, mohair does not cause allergic reactions, and allergic people and small children with sensitive skin can knit it. Mohair is similar to silk in its lightness.

Mohair yarn is one of the fluffiest yarns. It is fluffier than alpaca and cashmere. Only Angora rabbit can compete with it in fluffiness. It is in its fluffiness and lies the secret of the economy: why hide such a delicate down in a dense fabric? Mohair is usually knitted very loosely and loosely. Products are almost transparent.

As for the prickliness of mohair, and many people talk about it, it should be understood that the feeling of prickliness is born from the irritation of skin receptors by the thin tips of the shaft hair in the yarn. The finer this shaft hair is, the less irritation there is. Choose a quality super kid mohair; you will feel almost no prickliness. The prickliness of mohair depends on a person's sensitivity threshold, so it is worth knitting a sample, washing it, and seeing how your skin reacts to a piece knitted with this yarn.

Mohair is one of the best materials in terms of properties, composition, and characteristics for creating clothes. The main thing is that you need to choose high-quality and natural wool. It seems that all winds will blow a thin, airy cloth, but because of the unique properties of yarn in mohair products, it is comfortable in any weather.

Wool always requires special care, especially if it is mohair. To keep your garment warm and looking good for a long time, follow the care and storage recommendations:

- Machine wash only in the "wool" or "hand wash" mode. Hand washing is also possible. The optimal water temperature is the same as room temperature.

- Buy specialized powders and gentle gels marked "for wool."

- Use a laundry bag.

- For infrequent care, dry cleaning is suitable, but stains can be removed by yourself with a damp sponge or brush.

- After washing, the item should be lightly wrung out and spread on a horizontal surface, placing a cloth to absorb moisture.

- Avoid exposure to heaters and sunlight during drying.

- Mohair garments can be stored both on hangers and folded.

- From time to time, ventilate your mohair closet and use a moth repellent.