So, I’ve always been curious about cashmere. Like, why is it so damn expensive? I mean, it feels amazing, super soft and all that, but is it really worth the price tag? I decided to dig in and figure it out.

First off, I started looking into where this stuff even comes from. Turns out, it’s not from sheep like regular wool. Nope, it’s from goats! And not just any goats, but these special cashmere goats that live in some pretty harsh places, mostly around Mongolia and China. These goats grow this super fine undercoat to keep warm in the freezing winters.
Then I started watching videos of how they get the cashmere. It’s not like shearing a sheep, where you just buzz it all off. They have to carefully comb these goats to collect the soft underdown. It’s a pretty painstaking process, and it’s usually done by hand. Can you imagine combing a stubborn goat? It’s not easy work, I’m sure.
After that, I found out that each goat doesn’t even produce that much cashmere. I read somewhere that it takes the hair from like three or four goats just to make one sweater! No wonder it’s pricey. It’s not like they’re pumping out tons of this stuff.
And it’s not over yet. Once they have the raw cashmere, it has to be sorted and cleaned. They have to separate the fine down from the coarser hairs, which is another labor-intensive step. From the looks of it, people are sitting there, sorting through the fibers. Talk about tedious!
Here’s a quick rundown of what I learned:

- It’s from goats, not sheep: Special cashmere goats, to be exact.
- It’s hard to get: They comb it out by hand, not shear it off.
- Low yield: It takes multiple goats to make just one sweater.
- Lots of processing: Sorting and cleaning the fibers is a pain.
So, yeah, after all this digging, I kind of get why cashmere is so expensive. It’s a whole lot of work from start to finish, and it’s not exactly a quick process. It’s a luxury item because of the effort and time involved.
I guess I understand the value a bit more now. It’s not just about the softness, but also the story behind it and all the people involved in getting it from a goat on a mountainside to a sweater in a store. It does feel more special knowing all of this.
Will I go out and buy a cashmere sweater tomorrow? Probably not. But next time I see one, I’ll definitely appreciate it a lot more. Maybe one day when I’m feeling fancy, I’ll treat myself. We’ll see.