Camel (Hair & Wool)

The classic for coats and blankets.

Now we're talking about noble hairs. Fine camel hair comes primarily from Alashan in Mongolia and from China. The animals are kept by nomads and live around the Gobi Desert, in Outer Mongolia, and the Chinese provinces of Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Gansu, and Xinjiang. These are regions with extreme climates, hot summers and icy winters with temperature fluctuations of 70 degrees. The camel, like the cashmere goat, has adapted to this climate. Its coat consists of short, soft, insulating underhair and long, coarse outer hair that repels snow and rain.

In spring, camels shed their entire coat. Occasionally, animals are also shorn. Production per animal per year: 4-5 kg

Camel Hair

Camel hair is very strong, easy to spin due to its good length, and has a beautiful natural camel color. Natural blonde baby camel hair comes from albino camels, is very rare, and not bleached. Only small quantities are offered in Europe, and the price is higher than for camel-colored qualities.

The quality and price/kg of unspun camel hair currently ranges from 8-42 Euro/kg, depending on:

Fineness: 18.8-25 microns
Dehairing degree: up to 2% possible (Percentage of coarse guard hairs and kemp)
Length: usually 35-50 mm (undercoat only)
Color: camel-colored, very small quantities in natural blonde
Demand: high
Euro/Dollar exchange rate: approx. 18-34 Euro/kg depending on fineness

Camel hair is very well suited for use in blankets because of its good length and beautiful natural color. It is pleasantly fine and can be spun at low speed due to the good friction properties and length of the camel hair. This results in a beautiful, voluminous yarn, which is then plied for blanket production. Further processing requires appropriate know-how to ensure that the high-quality camel hair can fully develop its positive properties. Camel hair blankets are classics and were already used as luxury items on the airship LZ 127 as blankets for a sophisticated standard.