From the fine, soft undercoat or underlayer of hair. The straighter and coarser outer coat is called guard hair. From the high plateaus of Asia. Today, little is supplied by the Kashmir Province India, from which its name is derived. The cashmere products of this area first attracted the attention of Europeans in the early 1800s.
Goats molt during a several-week period in spring.
In China and Mongolia, the down is removed by hand with a coarse comb. The animals are sheared in Iran, Afghanistan, New Zealand and Australia. The specialty animal hair fibers are collected during molting seasons when the animals naturally shed their hairs. From late spring to early summer, camels shed their hair. Approximately 8 to 10 kilograms.