Yak fiber

Yak fiber is the term commonly used to refer Yak fiber wool produced from the coat hair of Yaks (Bos grunniens), a long-haired bovine mainly found in the Himalayan region, Tibetan plateau, and some areas of Mongolia and Central Asia.

Yak fiber wool has been used by nomads in the Tran-Himalayan region for over a thousand years to make clothing, tents, ropes and blankets. More recently the fiber has started to be used in the garment industry to produce premium-priced clothing and accessories.

The coat hair of the yak is composed of three different types of Fiber that vary greatly in appearance and characteristics. The quantity of fiber produced by one yak is dependent on factors such as sex, age and breed of the yak, and the proportions of the different layers vary throughout the different seasons.

Yak wool has similar properties to other animal fibers, including breath-ability and static-resistance, but has been proven to outperform sheep wool in a number of areas.

Warmth: In woollen garments, air pockets are created between the fibers that reduce the rate of heat transfer. This property combined with Lanolin (a hydrophobic grease present in wool fibers) allowing wool to keep you warm when wet. Yak wool is rich in Myristic acid, a type of hydrophobic fatty acid. Independently conducted tests on yak down suggest that it is warmer than Merino wool. Nonetheless, claims vary on how much warmer it is with values ranging between 10-40%.

Softness: Cashmere is known in the textile industry as one of the softest wools with a fiber diameter of less than 18.5. The diameter of the down fiber of the Yak also ranges 16-20 microns making its softness comparable to that of cashmere. Species-specific DNA probes have been developed to identify yak, which is used to quantitatively test yak-cashmere blends. Although cashmere has already been firmly established in the market, yak wool has potential to be sold as a luxury product due to its softness and the (currently) sustainable and eco-friendly means used for gathering the fibers.

Breath-ability: In general, wool’s comfort comes from its thermo-balance characteristics. The Breath-ability factor of a material depends on its ability to absorb moisture relative to its weight and then release it into the air. The higher the absorption value the better the textile is at adapting to humidity level changes. Wool can absorb over 30% of moisture, greater than Cotton (25%) and far greater than polyester which can only absorb 1% of its weight.

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Wikipedia