The hand of cashmere is soft, silky and velvety, giving a warm and soft sensation. The thinnest and finest part is the down of the undercoat and is called duvet, that is, the soft and woolly lower layer; the thickest part with stiff and rough hairs comes from the outer coat and is called giarre. To collect it, the coat is manually combed during the moulting season, which takes place in spring. Production is on average between 100 and 200 grams of fine hair for each adult animal.
The particular climatic conditions, the strong temperature changes between day and night in these areas, favor the development of the hair called duvet. This hair (like all animal fibres) has the purpose of thermo-regulating the animal's body with respect to the external environment, protecting it from both low and high temperatures.
