ALPACA FIBER - IT'S THE FINEST
Alpacas have been bred for their fine, soft fiber for hundreds of years. Alpaca fiber is the "cash crop" that alpacas provide their owners. Alpacas are usually shorn once a year, yielding an average of 5 to 8 pounds of fiber per animal.
Alpaca fiber is valuable because it combines many positive attributes into one fiber, including:
- It is very soft, uniform and warm and has a natural, rich luster.
- It's natural colors in shades of white, black, brown, fawn and grey, can be blended to produce an infinite array of colors.
- It's unusual strength and resilience does not diminish as the fiber gets finer.
- It's thermal capacity is greater than almost any other animal fiber.
- It is naturally waterproof.
- It's cellular structure has less "prickle factor" than many other fibers, so few people are allergic to alpaca fiber.
- It does not contain grease or lanolin, making it easier to clean.
- It is easily dyed, always retaining its natural luster.
- Garments made from alpaca fiber are quite luxurious. The Incas reserved such garments for royalty!
- It can be processed into either worsted or woolen products. It can be spun, woven, knitted and felted.
Alpaca fiber can be sold to hand spinners and fiber artists. Fiber can also be shipped to one of several national fiber cooperatives or mills to be processed into yarn and finished products. These products are used by the alpaca owners and sold to visitors to alpaca farms.
The goal of the alpaca industry in the North America is to build a herd large enough to support the commercial production of alpaca products. Today, breeders work to continually improve the quality and quantity of alpaca fiber, without compromising the health, conformation and reproductive vitality of the species.
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