Quality

Pashmina / Cashmere is a fine type of cashmere wool. Pashmina word comes from Persian: Pasmina, meaning "made from wool" and literally translates to "Soft Gold" in Kashmiri. Pashmina and Cashmere are derived from the "Capra Hircus" mountain goat. Pashmina fibres are finer and thinner (12-15 microns). As the fibre diameter is very low, the exorbitant price of a Pashmina Shawl is due to the quantum of expert craftsmanship that goes into creating each shawl and the rarity of the Pashmina Wool - The wool is used in the authentic Kashmiri Pashmina comes from the Changthangi breed of the capra hircus goat and this breed constitutes less than 0.1% of global Cashmere production. Pashmina has to be hand-processed and hand wooven into products such as shawls, scarves, wraps, throws, stoles etc. However the quality of a finished shawl is not solely dependent on the fibre diameter of the wool but also on the craftsmen's skills.

2. Wool:

Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other animals, including mohair from goats, giviut from muskoxen, angora from rabbits, and other types of wool from camelids. Wool straight off a sheep, known as �greasy wool� or �wool in grease�, contains a high level of valuable lanolin, as well as the sheep�s dead skin and sweat residue, and generally also contains pesticides and vegetable matter from the animal�s environment. Before the wool can be used for commercial purposes, it must be scoured, a process of cleaning the greasy wool. Scouring may be as simple as a bath in warm water or as complicated as an industrial process using detergent and alkali in specialized equipment. In North west England, specially potash pits were constructed to produce potash used in the manufacture of a soft soap for scouring locally produce white wool. The raw wool is processed into �top�. �Worsted top� requires strong straight and parallel fibres. After that the tops converted into yarns with different counts/thickness/microns according to required.

The quality of wool is determined by its fiber diameter, crimp, yield, color, and staple strength. Fiber diameter is the single most important wool characteristic determining quality and price.

Merino wool is typically 3-5 inches in length and is very fine (between 12 and 24 microns. The finest and most valuable wool comes from Merino hoggets. Wool taken from sheep produced for meat is typically more coarse, and has fibres1.5 to 6 in (38 to 152mm) in length. Damage or breaks in the wool can occur if the sheep is stressed while it is growing its fleece, resulting in a thin spot where the fleece is likely to break.

Wool is also separated into grades based on the measurement of the wool's diameter in microns and also its style. These grades may vary depending on the breed or purpose of the wool. For example:

• < 15.5 microns : Ultrafine Merino

• 15.6 â�� 18.5 microns : Superfine Merino

• 18.6 â�� 20 microns : Fine Merino

• 20.1 â�� 23 microns : Medium Merino

• > 23 microns : Strong Merino

3. Silk:

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silk worm Bombyx mori reared in captivity (sericulture). The shimmering appearance of silk is due to the triangular prism like structure of the silk fibre, which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles, thus producing different colors.

Silk is produced by several insects, but generally only the silk of moth caterpillars has been used for textile manufacturing. There has been some research into other types of silk, which differ at the molecular level. Silk is mainly produced by the larvae of insects undergoing complete metamorphosis, but some insects such as webspinners and raspy crickets produces silk throughout their lives. Silk production also occurs in Hymenoptera (Bees, wasps and ants), silverfish, mayflies, thrips, leafhoppers, beetles, lacewings, fleas, flies and midges. Other types of arthropod produce silk, most notably various arachnids such as spiders.

4. Linen

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is laborious to manufacture, but the fiber is very absorbent and products made of linen are valued for their exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather.

The word linen is of West Germanic origin and cognate to the Latin name for the flax plant, linum, and the earlier Greek Linon. This word history has given rise to a number of other terms in English, Most notably line, from the use of a lenin (Flax) thread to determine a straight line.

Textiles in a linen weave texture, even when made of cotton, hemp and other non-flax fibres, are also loosely referred to as � Linen�. Such fabrics generally also have their own specific names, for example fine cotton yarn in a linen-style weave is called Madapolam.

The quality of Linen yarn is defined by its count (Lea). <40 lea is normally used to make fabrics for home furnishing, upholstery, curtains etc. 40 lea to 60 lea regularly used to make fabrics for garments. >60 lea mostly used to make scarves in different weaves & textiles. Linen absorbs the colors properly. Linen is good water absorbent and catches the colors properly in term of dying and printing.

5. Lenzing Modal

Lenzing Modal, a modal fiber from Lenzing, is naturally soft on the skin and exceptionally ecological. The fiber is produced, using Edelweiss technology. Edelweiss stands for a �symbiotic� production process � pulp, the raw material, is produced at the same site as the Modal fiber itself. Thus production can be done while going easy on energy and other sources.

Lenzing is a pioneer when it comes to wood refineries. The process needed for this was developed by Lenzing and are not commercially available. Numerous Lenzing environmental innovations are integrated in the production of Lenzing Modal. The key part of Edelweiss is the Edelweiss fiber technology which is based on oxygen-based chemistry. Thus Lenzing Modal is produced in an environmentally responsible way from the pulp through to the fiber.

Up to 95% of the Lenzing Modal production materials are recovered at Lenzing as a result innovative environmental processes. This gentle treatment is what makes it possible for the Lenzing Modal production site to be located in the middle of tourist area.

Lenzing Modal is the trade name of the Modal fiber from the house of Lenzing. Lenzing Modal is protected by a global certification system and is registered as a brand worldwide.

And now Modal is used as major usable fibre in textile industry to make the fabric for Fashion Garments / Fashion accessories and other made ups.

6. Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus Gossypium in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. Under natural conditions, the cotton bolls will tends to increase the dispersal of the seeds.

The plant is a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, Africa and India. The greatest diversity of wild cotton species is found in Mexico, followed by Australia and Africa. Cotton was independently domesticated in the Old and New Worlds.

The fiber is most often spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft, breathable textile. The use of cotton for fabrics is known to date to prehistoric times, fragments of cotton fabric dated from 5000 BC IN THE Indus Valley Civilization. It is the most widely used natural fiber cloth in clothing today.

There are four commercially grown species of cotton, all domesticated in antiquity:

• Gossypium hirsutum â�� upland cotton, native to Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean and southern Florida (90% of world production).

• Gossypium barbadense â�� known as extra-long staple cotton, native to tropical South America (8% of world production).

• Gossypium arboretum â�� tree cotton, native to India and Pakistan (less than 2%).

• Gossypium herbaceum â�� Levant cotton, native to southern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula (less than 2%).

The five leading exporters of cotton in 20 are (1) The United States, (2) India, (3) Brazil, (4) Australia and (5) Uzbekistan. The largest non producing importers are Korea, Taiwan, Russia and Japan.

In India the states of Maharashtra (26.63%), Gujarat (17.96%) and Andhra Pradesh (13.75%) and also Madhya Pradesh are the leading cotton producing states, These states have a predominantly tropical wet and dry climate.