Granular Cashmere: A Complete Guide to Properties, Processes and Applications

Granular cashmere is a high-end knitted fabric that combines the soft texture of cashmere with the three-dimensional touch of granules. Through a special raising process, the surface of the fabric is formed into dense, rounded small particles. It not only retains the skin-friendly and warm advantages of cashmere, but also enhances the durability and fashion sense of the fabric. It is widely used in the fields of high-end clothing and home textiles in autumn and winter. This article comprehensively analyzes the core value of granular cashmere from the six dimensions of principle, process, application, maintenance, technology, and trends.

1. Principles: Structure and functional logic of granular cashmere

The core advantage of granular cashmere comes from the dual synergy of raw material characteristics + granular fleece technology, achieving the unity of touch, warmth and appearance:

1. Material characteristics support The main raw material of the fabric is cashmere fiber blend. The common ratio is cashmere 30%-50% + polyester/nylon 50%-70%. Cashmere fiber ensures the softness, skin-friendliness and natural warmth of the fabric, while polyester or nylon improve the wrinkle resistance and wear resistance of the fabric, solving the pain points of pure cashmere being prone to pilling and deformation. Some high-end products will add a small amount of spandex to give the fabric moderate elasticity.

2. The granular structure forming principle uses weft knitting technology to weave the base gray fabric, and then passes through the steel needle carding and heat setting treatment of special raising equipment to break the fibers on the surface of the fabric and then curl and interweave them to form dense granular bulges. This particle structure can lock more still air, and its thermal insulation performance is more than 20% higher than that of ordinary cashmere fabrics. At the same time, the diffuse reflection effect on the surface of the particles gives the fabric a low-key matte texture, which is both beautiful and practical.

2. Technology: Production process of granular cashmere

The production of granular cashmere requires three core stages: raw material preparation - weaving and shaping - finishing. Each link directly affects the granular texture and quality of the finished product:

1. For raw material preparation, high-quality cashmere fiber with a fineness of 14-16 μm is selected, combined with ultra-fine polyester short fiber, and blended yarn is made through processes such as carding, drawing, and spinning; the yarn needs to undergo antistatic treatment to avoid impurities adsorbed by static electricity during the weaving process.

2. Computerized circular knitting machines are used for weaving and shaping, and gray fabrics are woven using plain weave or small jacquard structures. The yarn tension is precisely controlled during weaving to ensure a tight structure and uniform thickness of the gray fabric, providing a stable base for subsequent grain raising.

3. finishing processing

• Raising and combing: The gray fabric is fed into the raising machine, and through repeated combing by steel needle rollers, the fibers on the surface of the fabric are pulled up to form a preliminary fluff layer;

• Shearing and styling: Use a shearing machine to trim the length of the pile, and then heat-set it at a low temperature of 120-130°C to curl the ends of the pile into a rounded granular shape. At the same time, the size of the fabric is fixed and the shrinkage is controlled within 2%;

• Dyeing and color fixation: low-temperature environmentally friendly dyes are used to dip-dye to avoid high temperatures from damaging the soft texture of cashmere fibers; after dyeing, they are washed and fixed multiple times to ensure that the color fastness reaches level 4 or above to prevent color fading when worn.

3. Application Category: Applicable Scenarios of Granular Cashmere

With the characteristics of softness, skin-friendly, warmth and wear resistance, and outstanding appearance, the application of granular cashmere covers the two core areas of high-end clothing and home textiles and soft furnishings:

1. Apparel field: It is the preferred fabric for autumn and winter coats, sweaters, scarves, and gloves. The grained texture is three-dimensional and comfortable, and is suitable for close-fitting wear. The durability of the blended material allows the clothing to cope with both daily commuting and outdoor travel. The grained cashmere fabric is used for children's clothing, which avoids the delicate characteristics of pure cashmere and is more suitable for use scenarios where children are active and active.

2. Home textile field: used to make high-end blankets, pillows, sofa covers, etc. The natural skin-friendly feel of cashmere combined with the granular three-dimensional touch improves home comfort; the low-key matte texture is suitable for various home styles such as light luxury and new Chinese style, making it a popular choice for high-end soft furnishings.

4. Maintenance: Cleaning and maintenance skills for granular cashmere

Because granular cashmere contains cashmere fiber, maintenance needs to take into account the delicate characteristics of cashmere and the integrity of the granular structure to extend the service life of the fabric:

1. Cleaning precautions

• The water temperature should be controlled below 30°C. Prioritize hand washing and wash with gentle pressure to avoid excessive rubbing, which may cause the particles to fall and damage the cashmere fibers. For machine washing, use a cashmere-specific laundry bag and select the cashmere/wool-specific washing mode.

• Use a neutral detergent specifically for cashmere. It is forbidden to use bleach and softener. Softener will block fiber gaps and reduce warmth retention. Separate dark and light colored fabrics during cleaning to prevent color transfer.

2. Drying and storage

• After washing, gently squeeze out the water, lay it flat in a cool and ventilated place to dry, avoid hanging and exposing it to the sun, and prevent the fabric from stretching and deforming due to gravity; during the drying process, you can gently pat the fabric to help the particles regain their fluffiness.

• When storing, fold it neatly and put it in a drying closet. Add mothballs to prevent moths (mothballs need to be wrapped in gauze to avoid direct contact with the fabric); avoid heavy pressure to prevent the particles from collapsing under long-term pressure.

3. Daily maintenance: If the fabric has slight pilling, use a special cashmere depiller to trim it at low speed without pulling. When the particles fall down, gently blow them with the cold wind setting of a hair dryer and comb them to restore the three-dimensional shape.

5. Technology: Core technological breakthroughs in granular cashmere

With the upgrade of textile technology, granular cashmere has achieved multiple innovations in terms of quality stability, functionality, and environmental protection:

1. The particle setting technology has been upgraded to develop an intelligent temperature-controlled raising system, which accurately controls the raising temperature and time to ensure uniform particle size in each batch of fabrics, solving the pain point of uneven particle density in traditional processes. At the same time, the shearing process is optimized to make the particles more rounded to the touch and avoid skin irritation.

2. Functional fabric research and development uses fiber modification to develop functional fabrics such as cashmere with antibacterial particles and cashmere with antistatic particles; styles with added antibacterial agents can inhibit the growth of bacteria and are suitable for making close-fitting clothing; antistatic treatment prevents the fabric from absorbing dust and improves wearing comfort.

3. The environmentally friendly process uses a waterless dyeing process to reduce water consumption and pollutant emissions; biodegradable packaging materials are used to practice the concept of green production; some brands use recycled cashmere fiber to make blended yarns to reduce raw material waste.

6. Trend Category: Market Development Direction of Granular Cashmere

From the perspective of consumer demand and industry technological innovation, granular cashmere will develop in three major directions: high-end, functionality, and sustainability in the future:

1. The high-end customization trend combines digital jacquard technology to weave exclusive patterns or LOGOs on the surface of granular cashmere to meet the personalized customization needs of high-end clothing brands and create differentiated product competitiveness.

2. The multi-functional fusion trend integrates functions such as warmth retention, moisture wicking, and anti-fouling, and develops granular cashmere fabrics suitable for outdoor sports, such as mountaineering jacket linings, which combine warmth retention and practicality and break through the limitations of traditional cashmere fabrics.

3. The trend of sustainable development is that the application proportion of recycled cashmere fiber will continue to increase, and brands will pay more attention to environmental certification; at the same time, they will optimize the production process, reduce energy consumption, and promote the transformation of granular cashmere into green high-end fabrics.