Angora wool (technical properties)

Angora wool comes from the angora rabbit (not to be confused with mohair from the angora goat). At 11–13 µm the fibre is one of the finest animal textile fibres in existence — finer than merino wool (17–24 µm) and cashmere (14–19 µm). Its hollow structure (medulla) traps air and makes angora up to eight times warmer than sheep wool at only one third of the weight.

Downsides: at 3–6 cm the fibres are very short and have almost no crimp, so they slip out of the yarn and garments shed heavily. Angora is nearly always processed as a blend (typically 20–40 %) with merino or nylon. After heavy criticism from animal-rights groups (PETA investigation 2013) most major fashion houses removed angora from their collections; today certified farms in Germany and France harvest fibre exclusively by shearing rather than plucking.

• Fibre fineness 11–13 µm — exceptionally soft
• Thermal performance 6–8× that of sheep wool
• Very low tensile strength
• Ethics: buy only sheared material, no plucking