Yak wool is the down undercoat of the yak, the long-haired ox that lives on the Mongolian and Tibetan plateau at 3,000 metres and above. For most of the last century it was used only by the herders who kept the animals. In the last fifteen years it has become the most interesting alternative to cashmere, and it is the fibre behind about a third of what we sell.
Where the fibre comes from
A yak grows two coats. The outer coat is long, coarse guard hair, the shaggy layer you see in photographs. Underneath it, against the skin, grows a short, fine down that the animal puts on in autumn and sheds in late spring. That down is yak wool. The guard hair is used for ropes and tents; the down is what gets spun into yarn.
The down is collected by combing during the spring moult, when it is already loose. A yak gives a few hundred grams of down a year, and after the coarse hairs are sorted out, less than that is fine enough for knitwear. That is why yak knitwear costs about what cashmere costs, although the animal is far larger than a goat.
How it feels
Yak down fibres are around 17 to 20 microns in diameter. Mongolian cashmere runs around 15 to 16. So yak is a little coarser than cashmere, but still well inside the range the skin reads as soft; by comparison, fine merino is 17 to 19 microns and ordinary wool is over 25. Most people cannot tell yak and cashmere apart with their eyes closed. With eyes open the difference is the colour: yak down is naturally dark brown or grey-brown and is almost always left undyed, which is why our yak pieces come in brown.
Yak wool vs cashmere
- Warmth. Yak down is hollow and dense, and warm for its weight. In practice a yak sweater and a cashmere sweater of the same thickness feel equally warm indoors; outdoors in wind, the denser yak holds up better.
- Pilling. Yak pills less than cashmere. The fibre is slightly longer and the surface is less fluffy, so there is less loose fibre to roll into balls.
- Weight and drape. Yak knits are denser and slightly heavier. A yak cardigan hangs straighter and holds its shape at the pockets and hem.
- Softness. Cashmere wins, by a small margin. If the fibre will sit directly on the neck all day, cashmere is the safer choice.
- Colour. Cashmere takes dye well and comes in any colour. Yak is brown.
Yak wool vs merino
Merino is sheep's wool from a specific breed, and the fine grades overlap with yak in micron count. Yak is warmer for the same weight and softer at the same micron, because it has fewer scales on the fibre surface. Merino is more elastic and bounces back from stretching; yak relaxes more like cashmere. Merino is also cheaper and easier to find.
Is yak wool cruel to animals?
A fair question, and one people search for in German more than in any other language. The short answer is no, and the reason is in how the fibre is collected. Yak down is combed out during the moult, when it is coming away anyway, and the animal keeps its guard coat. The yak is not shorn against the season, not kept indoors, and not killed for its fibre. Yaks in Mongolia live in free-ranging herds with nomadic families who depend on them for milk and transport; the down is a side product of that life, not a factory output.
The welfare concerns reported in the press about cashmere mostly concern goats on intensive farms being shorn in cold weather. That is a real problem in parts of the cashmere industry. It is not how yak down is gathered.
Caring for yak wool
Treat it like cashmere: cool water, wool detergent, dry flat. Our cashmere care guide applies word for word.
If you want to try the fibre, start with the Tuul boat-neck sweater or the Altai houndstooth cardigan, or for the home, the Khangai throw. All of them are 100% yak down, knitted in Mongolia, and say so on the label.