SOME FAST FIBER FACTS
 

• Alpaca fiber is unusually strong and resilient. The strength is not diminished as it becomes finer, making it an ideal material for garments of all kinds.
• Alpaca fiber has more thermal capacity than that of almost any other animal. The fiber is made up of scales which contain microscopic air pockets which gives it high insulation value.
• Alpaca fiber is found in 22 basic colors. From white to jet black with browns, reds, grays and fawns found in between. There are also many shadings which do not fall into the 22 basic colors identified by the international textile industry.
• Alpaca fiber is soft, smooth and supple to the touch. The structure of the fiber produces a soft handle, or feel, with very little ‘prickle’.
• Alpaca fiber has outer scales which are hard, flat cells which do not fit together evenly. The edges of these cells point away from the shaft of the fiber giving the fiber a serrated edge and allowing the fibers to grip together to form a strong and resilient yarn. Softness is determined by scale height and frequency.

• Alpaca fiber has a very low scale height of only 0.4 and a scale frequency of more than 9 per 100 microns. Wool and mohair have scale heights of .8 and frequency of only 6-8 per 100 microns. Alpaca fiber is as fine as cashmere, but is much more resilient and strong. Cashmere fiber, is defined by the Cashmere Growers Association has a "mean diameter of 20 microns or less. The co-efficient of variation around the mean shall not exceed 25% and there cannot be more than 3% of the fibers by weight over 30 microns." A micron is a unit of length equal to one millionth of a meter. Prickle factor is identified by fiber with a micron count of 30 or more. Alpaca fiber usually ranges, in adult animals from 18 to 27 microns, with the majority being around 24 microns. Alpacas are a one coated animal and have no outer guard hair. In other wool or fiber producing animals the guard hair is that which produces prickle. The guard hair is coarse hair which will measure 30 microns or more.
• Alpaca fiber has no lanolin, or grease, like sheep’s wool and can be spun right off the animal. It does not need cleaning, except for removing vegetable matter and dirt, making it easier and less expensive to process.
• Alpacas are usually shorn once a year in the early spring and one alpaca will yield from three to seven pounds of fiber. The yield is thought to be depend 50% on genetics and 50% on feeding and care of the animal.
• Alpaca fiber is sorted by fineness and crimp and crinkle. Crimp, or crinkle, is the regular wave formation or corrugation found in the locks of fiber. The crimp is what makes alpaca fiber resilient and what makes garments made from alpaca keep their shape. It is generally believed that crimp is an indication of density, that is, an animal which has a crimpy fleece will have a more dense fiber and therefore a higher fiber yield.
• Alpaca fiber is strong, soft, resilient and beautiful. Garments made from alpaca fiber practically last forever, hold their shape, and are easy to care for, making alpaca fiber one of the finest fibers in the world!