About Mohair Fibers

Mohair is the hair of the Angora goat — no relation, despite the confusing names, to the angora rabbit that produces angora fiber. Mohair grows in long, lustrous locks, and its smooth fiber surface reflects light instead of scattering it, which gives mohair cloth its characteristic sheen and gives dyed mohair some of the richest, clearest colors of any animal fiber.

The fiber has dressed people for centuries in the form of durable suiting, plush coatings and fluffy knitwear. Mohair is strong and resilient for an animal fiber, resists felting and wrinkling, and takes a brush finish beautifully. Its market runs from luxury kid mohair sweaters to the hard-wearing mohair-wool blends inside quality suit cloth and upholstery velvet.

From Angora Goat to Yarn

Angora goats are shorn twice a year, and the fleeces are classed by the age of the animal and the fineness of the hair. Kid mohair, from the first shearings of young goats, is the finest and softest and goes to knitwear and apparel. Hair from older animals grows progressively coarser and stronger, and is directed to suiting blends, rugs, upholstery and industrial uses where its durability is the point.

After scouring, mohair is carded and spun, often on the worsted system for smooth suiting yarns or with a raised, brushed finish for knitwear and blankets. Because mohair fibers are smooth and slippery, spinners manage tension and twist carefully; the same smoothness that creates the luster makes the fiber less eager to cling to its neighbors than wool, so mohair is frequently blended with wool or nylon to anchor the yarn.

Luster, Strength and Dye Color

Mohair reflects light along the length of each smooth fiber, so fabrics glow rather than shine, and dyes strike deep and bright. Suit makers have prized a mohair share in wool suiting for generations because it adds that luster, sharpens crease resistance, and helps a suit shed wrinkles after a day of wear or a journey in a case. In knitwear, brushed mohair creates the halo — the soft cloud of fiber standing off the surface of a sweater.

Mohair also resists felting, because its surface scales lie flatter than wool scales, and it is naturally flame resistant and durable in upholstery service. Its limits are price, a hand that some wearers find prickly in coarser grades, and sensitivity to rough handling when wet. Kid grades answer the comfort question; adult grades should be specified honestly for outerwear and furnishing, not slipped into next-to-skin products.

Where Mohair Is Used

Look for mohair in luxury suits and formal wear, fluffy brushed sweaters and cardigans, scarves, throws, and in upholstery velvets and blankets built for long service. Travel clothing is a traditional stronghold: a mohair-blend suit or jacket shakes out creases after hours folded in a case, which kept mohair in formal and business travel wardrobes long after lighter synthetics arrived. In the home, the same resilience and natural flame resistance that suit clothing also serve blankets and upholstery that must look rich after years of daily use rather than a single season. South Africa is the best-known source of quality mohair, with Texas the historic American center. When sourcing, specify the grade by animal age class — kid, young goat or adult — because that single word predicts fineness, softness and price more reliably than any other term in the mohair trade.