What is mohair? Mohair fleece is among the most expensive textiles in the world and is cherished for its softness and durability. But despite its many attractive qualities, mohair has been banned by many clothing brands due to the appalling animal cruelty that is often involved in its production.
Mohair is the hair of the Angora goat and is one of the most luxurious textile fibers in the world – not to be confused with the fiber called Angora, which comes from rabbits. The long, curly white hair of the Angora goat is highly sought after in the textile industry for its exceptionally silky and soft qualities.
What Is Mohair?
Mohair is primarily made using wool from South Africa, which is the largest producer of mohair worldwide. Angora goats are originally from Turkey, but because of the increased demand for their hair, they are now also raised in Australia and parts of Africa.
But what is the reason behind mohair’s popularity? The textile has several desirable qualities:
Extremely fine and silky
Light and durable
Repels water but absorbs moisture
Regulates body temperature to keep you cool in the summer, and warm in the winter
When it is processed correctly, mohair does not crease
How to Use and Care For Mohair
Now that we know what mohair is, the next question is how it is used. In addition to clothing, mohair is used to make pillows, blankets, upholstery, carpets, and stuffed animals. Because natural mohair fibers are quite costly, most mohair textiles are made with a blend of different textile fibers.
Mohair is divided into three quality categories:
Kid:The hair of the very young goat is the finest and the most valuable. It is mostly used to make clothing. Mohair fibers are so fine that they are graded in microns— kid-mohair is 24-29 microns.
Young Goat:This category includes mohair fibers that are 24-29 microns.
Adult:The hair of an adult Angora goat is a bit hardier and measures in at about 34-40 microns. Mohair of this grade is typically used to make carpets, upholstery, and blankets.
Because mohair fabric is very delicate, it’s best to wash it in cold water only. To avoid damage, use the delicate cycle on your washing machine, or wash it by hand. But make sure that your mohair fabric doesn’t soak in water for too long! Do not use a dryer and avoid hanging out in direct sunlight.
Angora goats are sheared twice a year and provide about four to six kilograms (8-13 pounds) of wool each. The shearing process can be intensely stressful for the goats. Depending on the facility, they may be roughly treated, thrown around, and sometimes even mutilated and killed while workers remove their hair.
Recently, PETA took a closer look at what the situation at mohair farms is like in South Africa, where most mohair is produced. What they found was horrifying:
During the shearing process, the goats are pinned to the ground, and their legs are bound. Because workers are paid not by the hour but according to how many goats they have sheared, they work as quickly as possible, with little or no regard for the animal’s well-being. The skin of the animal is often torn in the process, and the open wounds that result can quickly become infected and become fatal.
But even before the first shearing, which usually occurs when the animal is about six months old, Angora goats are treated with the most abhorrent cruelty. Male animals are often castrated with a rubber band, which clamps off their testicl*s without anesthetic and leaves the animals in agony for days. This downright torturous procedure is employed because it is cheap and easy and does not require trained workers. Holes for ear tags are punched with sharp pliers, and the horns of young goats are often burned off, with no pain relief, when the animals are one to two weeks old.
Before shearing, live goats are often thrown into caustic chemical baths to remove dirt and feces from their coats.
Without their coats to provide natural insulation, Angora goats have no protection against the cold and often freeze to death.
Although the typical life expectancy of Angora goats is about 10 years, the vast majority don’t live past five or six years. As soon as they are no longer profitable for mohair production, the animals are sold off to the slaughterhouse.
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What You Can Doto Stop Cruelty
Not all brands have stopped using mohair, but many have committed to it over the past few years. Sign PETA’s petition against wool industry cruelty here.
The best thing you can do for Angora goats is to refuse to buy products made with mohair. If you’re not ready to give up animal fibers completely, at least avoid mass-produced textiles. Instead, look for small farmers who raise their own Angora goats, and treat the animals with care and respect.
Sustainability
Organic wool is a naturally renewable material that is biodegradable and does not require artificial additives. Wool also has unique properties that plant or synthetic fibers can’t compete with. Wool clothing, for example, is more robust, regulates the body temperature better, and does not need to be washed as often.
However, producing wool is resource-intensive. Mass breeding of goats and sheep can also become a problem for the environment if areas are overgrazed.
There is also the fact that Mohair wool comes mostly from South Africa – the long transport to the rest of the world is anything but sustainable.
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In Summary: If sustainable living is a priority for you, don’t buy an excessive amount of clothing made with mohair or any other animal fiber. Instead, look for alternatives. There are many types of plant fibers that produce exceptionally cuddly and soft fabric.
On those occasions when you do buy animal textiles, look for sustainable sources. Buy only locally produced organic wool, and investigate to make sure that animal well-being is a priority on the farms where the material is sourced.
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Mohair is a long, smooth fiber used in sweaters, hats, and other fluffy accessories. You may recognize the word but be unfamiliar with how it's actually obtained, but be warned: As with all animal-derived textiles, the production of mohair garments involves suffering and slaughter. Mohair is taken from angora goats.
Mohair, made from the hair of Angora goats, is prized for its softness and often used in sweaters, coats and winter scarves. But video footage from an investigation by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals shows workers dragging goats by the horns and legs, and lifting them off the floor by their tails.
Products made of mohair are also biodegradable, which offers a significant environmental advantage in reducing waste and promoting sustainability. Mohair, one of the most prized natural fibers, is highly valued for its unique qualities and luxurious feel.
of the drawbacks to mohair is that it is a fuzzy yarn that has a tendency to shed. For this reason, you should consider both the fabric blend and the color of your sofa. Smooth synthetic fabrics (like a polyester blend) will be less likely to show the shedding, as will colors that are similar to one another.
Raw Mohair – Mohair is shorn from the Angora goat twice a year. The shearers use power driven clippers similar to those used by barbers and remove the fleece with long smooth strokes. It is then rolled separately, classified, and packed into bags holding about 70 fleeces and weighing approximately 400 pounds when full.
Unlike wool that can feel 'prickly,' mohair feels very smooth to the touch. This characteristic also means that mohair doesn't feel itchy on the skin as most wool types do (with the exception of Merino wool and a few others), which makes it a better choice for individuals with sensitive skin.
Is there such a thing as cruelty-free or vegan-friendly mohair? Fundamentally, no—mohair will always be a product of animal exploitation. You could push the boundaries and try to source mohair from angora goats in animal sanctuaries, but even that seems like an extreme effort to access a fibre you don't need.
Mohair is one of the most prized natural fibers. It is used to create everything from high-end sweaters and accessories to carpets and upholstery. Made from the coats of Angora goats, mohair is a soft, silk-like textile.
Mohair is composed mostly of keratin, a protein in the hair, wool, horns and skin of all mammals, but mohair's special properties are unique to the Angora goat. While it has scales like wool, they are not fully developed, thus, mohair feels different from common or standard wool.
Yet, once again, cashmere is warmer. Whilst cashmere is incredibly warm, it is also known for its lightweight feel. Cashmere is more delicate than mohair, but when its properly taken care of, it can last a lifetime and forever keeps its softness.
Brushed suri is a decent alternative if you can't use mohair for any reason. It has a similarly light and fluffy fiber, and a similar softness, but it doesn't irritate a lot of people who find mohair irritating.
It is a non-pilling fiber and is among the most durable quality in the world - garments made from mohair last for years. This fiber is, as most other wool fibers, almost no-flammable. When placed under or near an open flame it tends to shrivel into a bed of ashes.
Spray blocking knitting is the best technique for delicate fibres, such as silk, cashmere, mohair, or alpaca. These fibres all become very weak when wet, so can be damaged by wet blocking. Some of them, such as mohair and alpaca, also have a distinctive halo, which is best preserved by spray blocking.
The word mohair is derived from the Arabic mukhayyar (“goat's hair fabric”), which became mockaire in medieval times. Mohair is one of the oldest textile fibres, produced exclusively in Turkey for thousands of years and achieving importance in European textile manufacture during the 19th century.
Mohair, sourced from Angora goats, is a luxurious fabric, but some individuals experience adverse reactions due to its protein content or the lanolin oil it may contain. Common signs of a mohair allergy include skin irritation, such as redness, itching, rashes, or hives, where the fabric has touched the skin.
Mohair is a luxury fibre produced from the long curly hair of angora goats. It's one of several fine fibres that are commonly seen as 'luxurious' in the fashion industry.
They often spin yarn themselves as the rabbits naturally moult every 4 months. They help maintain the animals healthy and in return can make some extra money. Usually they sell the yarn or garments knitted with their own yarn. So yes, as long as angora is harvested ethically, you can find cruelty-free angora garments.
The sheep producing the wool for your favorite Smartwool® socks or base layers are treated humanely, are well-fed, live natural and healthy lives, and are not subjected to harmful practices like mulesing. This means, you're getting the highest-quality ethically sourced products and Merino wool.
Introduction: My name is Greg O'Connell, I am a delightful, colorful, talented, kind, lively, modern, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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