Why Do I Find Alpaca Itchy?

[OakTreesAreTheBest]

Any wool experts here? Everything I read says that alpaca is non-itchy but I find it very scratchy. Even expensive brands which I assume use the 'best' wool (off the top of my head I've tried Peruvian Connection and Toast - both £££).

For reference, I can wear some normal (I assume sheep's) wool, merino, and sometimes cashmere. So I'm not sensitive to all wool. But I've tried some gorgeous alpaca jumpers and it's very frustrating!

I'm allergic to alpaca specifically

I'm a spinner so I have tried loads of different wool breeds and fibre breeds generally and alpaca in particular causes me issues.

So maybe it's itchy/scratch to you because you are allergic/sensitive to it?

I'm irritated by alpaca, but in a watering eyes, sneezing and sudden running nose way. It took a long time to work this out, because I thought alpaca reactions didn't happen to anyone, but when I stopped knitting a with it and destashed my yarns containing it, I've not had the same reaction in the years since.

I can't crochet with Alpaca wool as it makes my hands burn, no idea why.

I'm fine stroking actual alpacas though.

It's possible to be an allergy. The other possibility is that alpaca has these tiny sticking out fibres and many people find that they itch. It's not just about how fine the fibre is. I find that I can't wear pure alpaca especially around my neck.

Where are you and what’s the weather like? I find any type of wool incredibly itchy if it’s not cold enough yet. Once the temp drops it goes from being itchy to cosy!

I can't wear any wool.or cashmere amd thought surely an alpaca sweater would be OK as I had never heard of anyone being allergic to it. But I ripped off that sweater within minutes of putting it on. I felt there were several thousand ants running amok all over me.

I have this with alpaca and mohair and never considered an allergy but it makes perfect sense. I’m very allergic to pet hair and my mum can’t wear any wool at all, or use lanolin which is a pain for her terrible eczema. I just assumed alpaca and mohair made everyone itch, silly of me really!

I can wear wool and cashmere, but alpaca and mohair make me itch so badly. Our bodies all have their own peculiarities I guess.

I can't wear any wool, cashmere, angora or alpaca. Being sensitive to those materials is A Thing. If you can wear the others, you're doing better than me 😂 (sidenote, would love it if shops could stop putting 5% of wool in something, as surely that makes no difference to the garment at such a small percentage, but means I can't wear it!).

Angora and alpaca make me itch also and as PP says shops seem to put 5% of either of these in lots of garments which makes an otherwise good woollen itchy

Add mohair to that list

Me too, I bought an alpaca sweater on the ‘non- itchy’ promise and wore it for 2 seconds.

Me too. Put a very fine merino jumper on yesterday for 2 seconds "Nope, not yet!!"

Avoid travelling to rural South America and you should be ok 😀

Most pure wool is a bit itchy for me but in a blend it's ok. Cashmere and merino seem a bit better.

Just glad I don't live in the middle ages. For all sorts of reasons but imagine itching like fuck or freezing to death.

Oh, that's an interesting thought about a possible allergy. I don't even get hayfever so allergies never occured to me.

Good point about the weather too - if I wore any jumper now I'd end up itching from the heat so it might be worth waiting until it's cooler. But it's an instant itch so probably not.

Sheep/lambswool is 50/50 - some itches, some is fine. I can also wear mohair in a cardigan. I avoid angora completely (but due to ethical issues, not allergies).

Thanks for the comments - good to know I'm not weird!

They do it so they can say it’s made from wool🫤

Does my head in.

I can only wear cotton and silk. Everything else makes me itch😖

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I’m biased because I like working with wool, but alpacas dust bathe and are generally filthy. A fleece can go from brown to white once it’s cleaned and it’s hard to clean throughly because it felts as soon as you look at it. So any dirt remaining gets spun into the yarn and is mostly left there, washing can only do so much…