MOHAIR - Part 1 - The Diamond Fibre – Commercial fibre grown on the farm

Definition

Mohair is a luxury animal fibre produced by an Angora goat (not to be confused with an Angora rabbit). Technically it is neither hair nor wool but a fibre that is extremely strong and durable and said to be stronger then steel (diameter to diameter). It is almost non-flammable and is claimed to be one of the most durable animal fibres there is.

Mohair hangs for the goat’s skin in defined staples (long wavy ringlets), which demonstrate style (solid twists or spirals) and character (the crimp or wave). A balance between the two is desirable.

Fine mohair (average 22 microns in diameter) is used commercially in the production of light-weight worsted cloth. The stronger fibres are used for knitting wools and the strongest for carpets and upholstery materials.

Why is it called the diamond fibre?

Mohair is called the diamond fibre because of its natural lustre. The closed-scale formation on each fibre acts like the facets of a diamond in reflecting light. By comparison wool, which is often medullated or hollow, appears dull. Unlike wool, mohair does not have hooklets or serrations on the fibre shafts therefore it does not felt when it is rubbed together. Apart from the luxury sheen, mohair has a soft handle and feels smooth and silky to touch.

One of the prime qualities of natural white mohair is its unequalled affinity to accept synthetic dyes to produce a kaleidoscope of brilliant vibrant colours which will not fade.

Quality

The finest quality mohair (the thickness of each fibre measured by its micron diameter) is shorn from kids, but as the animals mature, the fleece and fibre diameter strengthens. Cashmere is finer than mohair, but mohair is mainly finer than wool.

Mohair grows in staples and each staple falls like individual ringlets. When these ringlets have lots of twist they are described as being stylish.  Character is the name given to the natural crimp, wave or corrugation which occurs in every staple. Most fleeces have a balance of both style and character combined. The Angora’s fleece covers a well-bred goat from head to tail.

Growth rate

Mohair grows at a rate of about 100-150mm (4-6 inches) in 6 months and is shorn twice a year. When it grows longer it has a tendency to attract burr or other vegetable contaminants from the paddock, or to become extremely tangled. It is not easy for breeders to keep their animals’ fleeces in good condition when it is overlong.

Why farmers run Angora Goats commercially.

Obviously, for a farmer, the reason for growing the fibre is to make as much money from each clip (shearing) as possible. But volume is not the only factor that determines what the return will be.

Like sheep’s wool, mohair prices have always been cyclical as they are dependent on the demand from the cloth manufacturers in Britain and Europe. It is here that the mills blend mohair with wool to produce expensive luxury cloth which displays the distinctive mohair sheen.

Mohair and angora skins are also in demand in the craft industry for spinning, weaving, also Teddy bear and doll’s wig making. (See MOHAIR - Part 2 – Fibre for craft supplies – spinning and weaving, wefts for Dolls’ wigs and Skins for Teddy Bears)   

GOATS - A colour kaleidoscope - Breeding coloured angoras

One of the prime qualities of white mohair is its ability to accept synthetic dyes and produce vibrant colours. However, if you are a hand-spinner or weaver, the warm subtle grey or brown tones produced by naturally coloured angoras are a delight to behold.

Smokey grey, silver, charcoal even rich brown and ginger, and more rarely, apricot are all available, and if you want to experiment with synthetic dyes over these, the resulting hues are amazingly rich and warm.

Apart from the fibre shorn from these attractive animals, staples of coloured fleece can be used for dolls wigs or felting. Tanned skins (I used the Leidreiter’s Tanning method) are used to make naturally coloured teddy bears or floor rugs, and the goats themselves make an interesting tourist attraction.

It is not only the colour gene that makes these angoras different. The inside of the skin of a culled animal is sky blue and if held up to the light is very dense as against the skin of a white angora. In some Asian countries a premium price is paid for these blue skinned goats.

Coloured angoras are naturally good mothers and often mate earlier in the season and twin more often than their white counterparts – perhaps due to being less inbred and closer to feral stock from which the line was developed.

However, breeders who run coloured angoras together with white animals must follow certain protocols to ensure the white fleece does not become contaminated with coloured fibres.

Shearing of black/coloured goats should be performed separately from the white flock – preferably on a different day as you would if running coloured sheep along with whites. Also if possible – run your coloured animals in a separate paddock, even then fibre contamination can occur from animals rubbing on wire fences. Care and observation are prerequisites in fleece preparation.

For the coloured breeder, kids should be tagged at birth and unwanted male kids culled or castrated at one week old. Don’t forget that white kids born of black mothers will carry the black recessive gene.

Breeding coloured angoras provides some of the breeding challenges which angora breeders experienced before the importation of new genetics from South Africa and Texas in the late 1990s - namely a desire to increase yields without forfeiting micron fineness.

For breeders of coloured flocks, kidding time is particularly delightful and exciting. What colour kids will the doe produce?

Most coloured kids are born with a jet black fleece which is short, course and very curly.

As the coloured kid grows, true mohair replaces the kid fibre and the grey fleece may appear ginger on the tips. But the tinged ends will disappear as the fibre grows into a true shade of grey.

Well before the fame of the book, Fifty shades of Grey, I marketed my coloured mohair under the name Shades of Grey Mohair.

Skins from coloured angoras make attractive floor rugs and the skin from an aborted or culled newborn black kid has the properties of astrakhan. For makers of doll wigs, these are very desirable for boy-dolls, the shaped pate being cut from a tanned kid skin and stuck directly onto the dolls head.

As mentioned earlier, imported lines of improved genetics were introduced into white flocks almost 20 years ago (in Australia) to produce heavier and denser fleeces. However, though fleece production can be improved, some breeders of coloured animals do not want to depart from the silky soft and extremely fine micron fibre size of the diamond fibre that the coloured angora carries.

The natural coloured fleece is highly sought after by hand-spinners and weavers and can be used virtually straight from the goat’s back. Though slippery due to its silkiness, it is a delight to spin on its own but is even better when blended with alpaca or fine wool, silk or other natural fibre. It produces a soft, silky luxury yarn.

Just like white angoras, the goats need shearing twice a year (unless you want to grow a particularly long coloured fleece suitable for dolls’ wigs.)
This speciality product will return a premium price.

As a hobby farmer or tourist park, if you only want to run a handful of goats, the small framed, dainty and docile coloured angora is a delightful choice and, while black fibre cannot be sold in commercial quantities, crafts people will welcome your product as it is a sheer delight to spin.

Some agricultural shows have special categories for both coloured animals and their fleece.

Why not let coloured angoras colour your world?

Note: Years ago the author ran a flock of 20 coloured angoras in Western Australia. She has spun coloured mohair and also made teddy bears and other soft toys and floor rugs from the tanned skins. Part of this article by Margaret Muir first appeared in The Goat Farmer magazine from New Zealand.