Guest Post: Alpaca Wool Products

Alpaca wool products are some of the finest fiber-based products in the world because they are made from alpaca fleece. Alpaca fleece is warmer, softer, lighter, and stronger than sheep's wool or cashmere. Alpaca fleece is also stain and flame resistant as well as odor and wrinkle free. Alpaca products contain fewer natural oils than sheep's wool, allowing them to retain fewer bacteria, dust, and other allergens.

Alpaca wool is a natural fiber created from inherently environmentally friendly production processes.

Image Courtesy: Google images

• Alpacas are smaller than their llama, guanaco, vicuna, and camel cousins, and have padded rather than hoofed feet, so as free-range animals they do significantly less damage to their terrain.
• Related to the camel, alpacas can also travel long distances while consuming very little water.
• Unlike other free-range grazing animals, alpacas do very little damage to the plants they eat and they avoid eating from trees, leaving behind flora that can continue to reproduce and flourish.
• Alpacas live for 15 to 25 years and are shorn once a year, so they make an excellent renewable resource for high-quality fiber production.

Alpaca wool is sheared from the alpaca's body, washed, and then spun into yarns that are woven into a number of versatile alpaca products. Alpaca wool makes an excellent natural fiber because the animals grow wool in 22 colors of varying shades of blacks, browns, tans, grays, whites, and reds, making dying these beautiful fibers entirely unnecessary.

Most alpaca fiber is made into clothing and other wearable accessories, due to its extreme softness, warmth, and comfort against bare skin. However, the texture and durability of Suri alpaca wool is preferred for rugs and other textiles that are used in the home rather than worn against the skin. Suri alpaca fiber is also often used to create thicker outer garments such as alpaca wool jackets, coats and blazers.

The most commonly produced alpaca clothing products include:

• Accessories such as hats, gloves, and scarves
• Cover-ups such as shawls, ponchos, and robes
• Sweaters, cardigans, and vests
• Skirts and dresses
• Jackets, coats, and blazers

As you can see, alpaca yarn is woven into a variety of over and under garments that can be combined to create a full alpaca-based wardrobe. Alpaca wool is suitable for items such as dresses and robes that would not be comfortable against bare skin if they were made from scratchy sheep's wool. Yet alpaca wool is such a versatile and durable fiber that it is also perfect for layering over other clothing, such as an alpaca wool vest worn over a lightweight alpaca wool sweater.

This is a Guest Post by: Erick Smith