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Woven Alpaca: main characteristics
The Alpaca cloth is unique and difficult to imitate. Also known as the gold of the Andes, alpaca wool has special characteristics: the wool derived from alpacas can be heavy or light depending on how it is spun, which means it is ideal for different types of clothing.
Compared to sheep's wool, alpaca wool is significantly softer and is also stronger. Alpaca wool is a noble fibre, which boasts centuries of history and uses in various fields, including insulation since it is a non-flammable material. Furthermore, alpaca wool has ideal qualities for those who suffer from allergies to traditional wool, and adapts much better to the shape of the body, assuming even greater elegance and wearability. Furthermore, alpaca wool is soft, supple and hypoallergenic.
Extreme quality and brilliance, practicality and softness are just some of the characteristics of alpaca fabric, so let's find out more about this high quality material famous all over the world.
Where does alpaca wool come from?
Alpaca wool comes from the fiber of an animal called an alpaca. An alpaca is a South American camelid, which means it is a member of the llama, guanaco and vicuna family. Most alpacas live in Peru, but they are also found in Bolivia, Australia, the USA and even the United Kingdom, although the main exporter of alpaca wool in the world remains Peru.
The alpaca fabric comes from two different breeds of animal: one is the Huacaya Alpaca which has a soft and slightly curly fleece, and the other is the Suri alpaca, which instead has a silky and twisted coat that is highly prized for its natural sheen. The alpaca fabric dates back to the 4th millennium BC. when, during the Inca era, the famous gold of the Andes was chosen to make the fabrics of the nobility. In fact, we have several testimonies of the time on the processing of this fiber. Today alpaca is a fabric whose processing is protected by UNESCO as an asset of universal interest.
Because it is so versatile and advantageous, alpaca wool is nowadays processed in many parts of the world to make it also possible to meet worldwide demand. Modern alpaca farms are at the forefront precisely to keep the quality standards of this yarn intact and to protect the survival of the species.
How is alpaca fabric made?
Alpaca is a fabric that originates precisely from the hair of alpacas: the shearing season in South America runs from November to March, when it's warmer. To make this fabric even more special is the fact that alpacas cannot be sheared more than once a year, as the animal's fleece takes enough time to grow. Wool alpacas are bred with extreme care, being precisely precious animals, to maintain the properties of the wool as well as the survival of the species.
The shearing process begins after the animals have been kept in a dry place for at least 24 hours and after they have been sorted by color and shade. In general, alpacas need to be sheared to prevent health problems and above all it is a careful shearing that does not harm the animal in order to reduce stress to the animal. At least three people per animal are involved in shearing since someone needs to separate the sheared fibers.
A female alpaca can produce up to 2.5 kg of wool while the male can reach 4.5 kg per shearing, therefore per year. Before being processed on an industrial level, the wool is manually divided, dried and collected in bales which are then sent to the textile laboratories. There are therefore 7 production steps:
- - Hand razor shearing;
- - Hand sorting and carding, i.e. combing the long hairs to make the fibers uniform;
- - Torsion or twisting, where the fibers are twisted to form skeins of wool
- - Spinning done manually with a spindle;
- - Washing to degrease wool;
- - Drying;
- - Winding;
Alpaca wool dyes very well because it absorbs colors while the natural colors in which it is available are a total of 22 colors, and therefore dyeing is not always necessary.
The characteristics of the alpaca fabric
Alpaca wool has particular characteristics that make it precious and desired all over the world. It has a variety of natural colors ranging from pure white to shaded black, so much so that it can be used both natural and dyed. Alpaca wool is very versatile and is suitable for the production of various garments with an insulating function from both heat and cold.
There are different categories of alpaca fabric that vary according to the degrees of softness. In general, however, alpaca fiber has smaller scales than sheep fiber, and this allows garments made from alpaca to cause less itchiness. Alpaca wool is resistant because the fiber is longer: a long fiber makes the yarn stronger because the fibers fit together better and do not break. An alpaca fabric garment tears much less and does not wear out, so the garments can be worn more often.
Being almost lanolin-free, alpaca wool is hypoallergenic: the level of lanolin it contains is very low and is often removed during processing and washing, so alpaca garments can be also worn by people who suffer from lanolin allergy. Additionally, alpaca wool has a unique fiber structure that makes it soft without being weak or vulnerable. The combination of all the characteristics of the alpaca fabric make it absolutely special.
How does alpaca wool feel on the skin?
There is that special pleasure when you feel a soft fabric against your skin. It provides you with a truly inexplicable and divine feeling. One of the fabrics that provides that particular feeling of luxury and softness is alpaca wool. Alpaca is a fabric that appears smoother to the touch due to the smaller and less protruding scales, this means that alpaca wool has a lower spin factor than other fibers with a similar micron number.
Normally, smaller scales could indicate a loss of strength, because they have less ability to interlock, and here's the amazing thing about alpaca: its scales are still very well able to interlock with each other, still producing a strong fiber . The alpaca garments are chosen in particular because they provide warmth even at low temperatures and an infinite number of resistances:
- - water resistance: alpaca wool has great transpiring capabilities and absorbs humidity;
- - wind resistance;
- - fire resistance: alpaca wool is self-extinguishing and does not melt on the skin when it is on fire;
- - stain resistant: just like with water, liquids are eliminated before they can enter the fibres;
- - resistant to bad odors that evaporate in the fiber.
Not to mention that alpaca is a soft and silky fabric, with a unique natural sheen and is an exclusive and quality fabric. All this makes the garments made with alpaca wool very advantageous and perfect to wear for all physiognomies, as it adapts to all body types. In addition, alpaca is a shiny fiber that bends and shrinks with difficulty.
How to choose an alpaca garment?
To ensure that an alpaca garment maintains these properties, it is important to choose carefully. Garments made from alpaca are very expensive due to the intrinsic properties of the product and its careful and sophisticated production. Alpaca wool is certainly very convenient because it resists over time but it is good to consider that its production is not very sustainable since it requires global transport.
It is therefore better to choose garments from brands that focus on sustainability and which therefore compensate for the problem of transport with sustainable activities. Furthermore, alpaca wool is expensive so be wary of cheap garments that may contain a very low percentage of alpaca fabric and therefore compromise most of the benefits. Fortunately, most of the methods used to grow alpaca wool are low-impact precisely to preserve the farms themselves, but it is good to pay attention to the origin of the alpaca you decide to buy and make sure it comes from ethical farms.</p >
Manuela Conti's alpaca garments are distinguished by the high percentage of alpaca fabric. In particular, some of our alpaca garments have 50% alpaca wool and about 30% virgin wool . We can list:
How to take care of a garment made with alpaca wool?
An alpaca wool garment can be completely ruined by washing it the wrong way. It is therefore important to keep a few things in mind when caring for your alpaca wool garments. The good news is that there is a really simple way to keep alpaca wool beautiful and that is to wash it as little as possible.
The ideal is certainly to opt for a hand wash and air drying, if it is really necessary to wash it. Alternatively, you can leave the garment in the air or in a place with steam to make the odors disappear. Finally, keep in mind that an alpaca garment is vulnerable to moths and molds; therefore, in the summer it is good to store it in a dry place and add a repellent inside the box.
