I don't "get" cashmere

[BikeRunSki]

A few years ago I got some money fir Christmas, which I spent on a cashmere jumper. Lovely, soft, nice colour and shape, looked expensive (and was, £100 in sale, it was John Lewis)

I loved it so much that the following year DM gave me a similar cashmere jumper for my birthday/Christmas (birthday a few weeks before Christmas) in a different colour. Also lovely. (Jigsaw)

By the following winter both were worn through at the elbows and had tiny random holes in - not all over, but still some. Despite one of them having reinforced elbows! Both really unwearable, elbows too far gone to darn or patch.

DM now on about getting me another for this birthday/Christmas. No!!! Cashmere is lovely and soft, but I don't "get" spending £100s on jumpers that wear out in no time!

I hate synthetic fibres, I find lambswool bobbles (even the Woolovers cashmere/merino blend) and merino is too clingy.

Where can I get hard wearing, natural fibre jumpers from? Do I really have to spend £250 at Brora? Is their cashmere better quality?

How odd- I've got a John Lewis Cashmere Jumper and a few others and have never had this issue.

How do you wash them and could you have moths where they're being stored? I always vacuum pack mine away over the summer months and have had some over 10 years and they still look new.

Not sure why yours have got holes in the elbows. Are you wearing them daily and putting your elbows on tables etc - resting your head in your hand?

I've never worn a jumper through at the elbows since I was at school when I rested my head on a hand ( and elbow on desk.)

The random holes could be moths; I've discovered those in cashmere and a lovely wool jumper I got from Jigsaw. Now I'm storing it all in proper bags.

I've got a cashmere jumper still going strong after 10 years, it's my absolute favourite. Could the holes be moths?

The random holes are probably caused by moths, they love cashmere. Both of the cashmere jumpers I loved last year seem to have been nibbled in my wardrobe .
I'm not sure what the answers are to your problems. I have found cashmere jumpers in TKMax for around £30 so that might be worth a look, then it won't matter quite so much if they don't last as long?

I love cashmere for it's softness and the fact that it's warm without being too bulky but I wouldn't pay £250 for one . You could buy a couple of cashmere goats for less.

Do you machine wash them? Am also wondering re moths. I have only had mine a year but I have worn them constantly and they're hardly worn at all. I machine washed one gently but a hole appeared so I darned it and have only handwashed since.

That's really odd. I have cashmere almost as old as the DCs and still perfectly OK.

100% cashmere is more delicate than a cashmere blend.

www.cashmere.org/cm/FAQ.php

I have regretfully come to the conclusion that cashmere is supposed to be a luxury fabric. Not only is the cheaper stuff very random in quality, it's seriously dodgy environmentally due to overgrazing of land. Unless I can pick up the odd bit of 2nd hand Brora (which I've managed once so far) I'm trying to give it up.

Plus even the good stuff pills and the moths love it

Cashmere is certainly not hardwearing, but it is very soft and warm. Merino is more hardwearing, I've not noticed it the clingy thing.

I hand wash them, and my wardrobe is a toxic fortress to moths, since my entire winter wardrobe got eaten when i was in maternity clothes one year.

I think my lifestyle is just too rugged for delicate fabrics .

I go through the elbows of my cashmere jumpers all the time, I then felt the jumpers and make cushions out of them so I get a bit more use out of them.

Merino seems to only be used for thin knits these days which is why they are clingy, I've got a merino jumper from about 15 years ago from Boden that is still lovely and soft and drapey.

Ooh...Ooh!

SueTrinder please tell me how you felt them!?

(I have a small collection of cashmere jumpers that I've acquired already a bit felted or damaged over the years, and intend to felt/dye and sew into a big jacket.)

It depends on how often you wear them, I think? I have a lovely (slightly thicker) baby blue cashmere cardigan. I've had it for nearly 10 years, got it when I was maybe 19...

I like cashmere, especially cashmere blankets. Our house gets a bit cold in winter...

I mainly have cashmere jumpers (uniquo on sale, black grey and navy) but I wear them all winter every winter and I wear them out. When they go thin and develop holes, I recycle or donate. If I buy one a year, that's all I buy. Mind you, I have the Uniqlo sale on speel dial.

Bikerunski, how did you stop the moths please? My winter wardrobe gets eaten half through every year!

I have tons of cedar blocks, in every single drawer and in the wardrobe.

All sorts of stuff from this range Whathe

SueTrinder please tell me how you felt them!?

Stick them in the washing machine on a hot wash. I have machine washable cashmere from Boden and it's lightly felted after one wash but you can do more if you want, but it tends to shrink a bit more with each hot wash.

Thank you bikerun and chardonnay! I'll try both

My best wool jumper is Dale of Norway. So comfortable and snuggle but really hard wearing, no bobbling at all. Otherwise I wear things like ultra fine merino from Uniqlo as it does last pretty well and is a decent price so I don't mind replacing them every few years.

How does Uniqlo sizing come up?

I'm a booby 14 (34E) and have always thought they'd be too small. I also have a very long back and can't stand tops that don't meet my waist.

Bike I like the men's Uniqlo knitwear. Am tall with 30F bust and usually wear a 12, in the men's I take a size small.

Thank you Janet.

Thank you SueTrinder :-) Just wondered if there was a trick I didn't know.

I often see in charity shops slightly felted cashmere that some twit has obviously violently machine washed...