How can you tell if cashmere is good quality?

Good cashmere feels soft and dense rather than fuzzy and thin, springs back quickly when stretched, and does not shed a cloud of loose fibers when you rub it. Fiber diameter is the underlying driver: finer, longer fibers make a garment that stays soft and resists heavy pilling, while coarse, short fibers pill and shed after a few wears. From a photo, look for a tight even knit, a two-ply or heavier construction noted on the label, and minimal surface halo or fuzz.

Is vintage cashmere better than new cashmere?

Sometimes, but not automatically. Older cashmere from established Scottish or Italian mills was often made from longer, finer fiber than a lot of cheap modern cashmere, so a good vintage piece can outperform a new budget one. But cashmere also degrades if it was low grade to begin with or was washed harshly for decades, so age alone is not a quality guarantee. Judge the actual fiber and construction, not the era on the label.

Why does my cashmere sweater pill so much?

Heavy, persistent pilling usually means the garment was made from short, coarse fibers that work loose and tangle with friction. A little pilling in the first few wears is normal even for good cashmere as loose surface fibers shed, but it should slow down and stop. Cashmere that keeps pilling heavily for the life of the garment was low grade from the start, which is common in cheaply produced 'cashmere' regardless of what the label says.

What is the difference between cashmere and pashmina?

Pashmina is a type of cashmere, traditionally made from an especially fine undercoat of Himalayan goats and most associated with shawls and scarves rather than knitwear. The word is often used loosely in retail, where many 'pashmina' scarves are actually a cashmere-silk blend or not cashmere at all. As with any cashmere, the fiber fineness and honesty of the label matter more than the marketing term used to sell it.

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How to Tell if Cashmere Is Good Quality (5 Tests)

Kevin GuiJuly 9, 2026

How to Tell if Cashmere Is Good Quality (5 Tests)

Short answer: Cashmere quality is set by fiber diameter and length, not by the "100% cashmere" label. The finest, longest fibers make knitwear that stays soft and resists pilling for years; short, coarse fibers pill and shed heavily after a handful of wears even when the label still legally reads 100% cashmere. You can judge the grade from a listing before you buy by checking softness versus fuzz, ply and density, the care label, how much the surface hazes with loose fiber, and how fast the knit springs back when stretched.

Most vintage cashmere on resale apps is not the luxury heirloom the word implies. A lot of it is low-grade fiber that was never built to last a second season, sold at luxury-adjacent prices to buyers who cannot tell the difference from a thumbnail. Once you can, a $30 Pringle of Scotland sweater and a pilled department-store cardigan stop looking like the same purchase.

It's the Fiber, Not the Label

"100% cashmere" only tells you what animal the fiber came from, not how good that fiber is. Quality comes down to two measurements: how fine each fiber is (its diameter, in microns) and how long it is (its staple length). Finer fiber feels softer; longer fiber stays anchored in the yarn instead of working loose and pilling. The best cashmere is both fine and long, which is why it feels buttery and still looks clean after years of wear.

The informal industry grades you will hear (Grade A, B, and C) roughly track this. Grade A is the finest and longest fiber, Grade C the coarsest and shortest, with the premium end of the market generally aiming for fibers in the mid-teens of microns. Treat those grades as a useful shorthand rather than a strictly regulated standard, because there is no single enforced grading body policing the word "cashmere" on a label. That gap is exactly why two sweaters can share the same label and wear nothing alike.

The 5 Tests for Cashmere Quality

You can run the first two from good photos and a careful read of the listing; the rest you confirm in hand once it arrives.

Tick each test as you assess the sweater

1. Touch test. Good cashmere feels soft and substantial, not fuzzy and thin. A fluffy, brushed surface that feels great in the shop can be short fiber disguised: that fuzz is loose fiber that will soon become pills. Aim for smooth and dense over cloud-soft. 2. Ply and density. Two-ply (two strands twisted together) is denser and more durable than single-ply. Hold the fabric up to light: a quality knit is tight and even with little light coming through. Loose, see-through knit and a flimsy hand signal a thinner, cheaper make. 3. Label reading. Look for ply, country of origin, and mill or brand. Scotland and Italy have deep cashmere traditions; names like Ballantyne, Pringle of Scotland, and Johnstons of Elgin signal a milled heritage that generic department-store labels do not. Ask the seller for a clear photo of the care tag if the listing hides it. 4. Halo and pill exam. A faint, even halo can be fine, but a surface already dotted with pills or shedding visible fiber in the photos is short-fiber cashmere that will only get worse. On a resale listing, existing pilling is your clearest warning sign of low grade. 5. Stretch and recovery. Gently stretch a section and let go. Quality cashmere springs back to shape quickly. Fiber that stays stretched, bagged, or slow to recover points to a weaker yarn and a garment that will lose its shape at the elbows and hem.

Why Some Vintage Cashmere Gets Softer and Some Turns to Felt

Good cashmere, made from long fine fiber, tends to bloom with age and gentle washing: the fibers relax and the hand softens. Low-grade cashmere does the opposite. Short coarse fiber, especially after decades of hot washing or machine drying, mats and felts into a dense, scratchy board that no amount of care will bring back. This is why era alone tells you little. A 1990s Scottish-milled two-ply crewneck can feel better today than the day it was made, while a cheap 2000s cardigan can already be a felted loss. Judge the fiber in front of you, not the decade on the tag. For the bigger picture on how material drives resale value, see understanding fabric composition in vintage clothing.

What Good Cashmere Is Actually Worth

Here is where knowing the grade pays off directly. A pilled, single-ply mystery-brand sweater and a clean two-ply Pringle of Scotland piece can be listed within a few dollars of each other on the same app, because most sellers price cashmere by the word on the label, not the quality of the fiber. That mispricing runs both directions: real luxury cashmere gets dumped cheap by sellers who do not recognize it, and low-grade cashmere gets marked up by sellers who assume the word does the work.

When you spot a piece worth buying, Crawli compares that cashmere sweater across nine resale marketplaces at once, so you can see whether a $30 Pringle listing is the deal of the year or just the going rate for a pilled cardigan. On a fiber this easy to misprice, checking the cross-platform range before you buy is the difference between a steal and an overpay.