For more information on yak fiber, please contact Carol Wilkinson at lcwilkin@juno.com or Lynda Gehring at lmgehring@bwn.net.

Yak down is the softest yak fiber and is the undercoat the animals grow for insulation in the colder months. It is shed in the spring and is wonderful stuff for woven and knitted garments. The down is a short fiber--about 1-1/2" long with some crimp, and it may be challenging to spin unless it has been carded into a roving. As you can see below, the fineness of the yak down fiber could be equated to merino wool or cashmere, and close to qiviut (musk ox down). Yak down does not have the lanolin that makes sheep wool greasy, so you don't lose much in weight when it is washed. The other fibers are medium length (about 2-3 inches) guard hair that is usually mixed in with the down when it is combed out, and then the long, really coarse guard hair that creates the yak’s “skirt”. A rug woven from this guard hair would wear extremely well.

The amount of down fiber on the yak’s back may vary between animals, but it has been shown that the cooler the climate and longer the colder weather lasts, the more dense a coat of down fiber the animal grows. The density of the down coat is greater in calves than adults because their bodies have not built up the fat and hide thickness to protect them from a harsh, cold environment. The denseness of the down coat usually decreases with age as the animal builds up more subcutaneous fat and its hide becomes thicker.


What’s in a Micron?, excerpts from Cashmirror Magazine

Our friend the micron is only a millionth of a meter, or a thousandth of a millimeter—25,400 of them placed side to side would be an inch. They are small. If you had mid-range yak down of about 17 microns, you would need about 1,500 of them placed side by side to make an inch.

Micron count of fibers normally used for various textile purposes are:

Worsted fabrics: 12 to 27
Woolen fabrics: 12 to 30
Hand Knitting Yarn: 26 to 33
Blankets: 28 to 33
Upholstery: 27 to 35
Bedding: 27 to 37
Carpets, saddle blankets, rope & reins: 31 to 52 +


The following comparisons of the micron counts and lengths of various natural and animal fibers were gleaned from several sources, including a fiber testing lab in Denver, Colorado, Cashmirror Magazine and Fiber Facts, by Bette Hochberg. The lower the micron count, the finer the fiber.

Fiber Micron count (range) Length (inches)

Yak Fiber:
Yak down 15 – 18 1-1/2 – 2-3/4
Yak mid-type guard hair 18 – 52 2-1/2 +
Yak coarse outer coat 52 + 5 +

Other:
Bombex Silk 10 – 14
Cashmere 13 – 19 1 – 3
Vicuna 12 – 14 1-1/2 – 3
Cotton (pima) 16 1 – 1-1/4
Cotton (upland) 19 1 – 1-1/8
Camel 16 – 23 1 – 5
Llama 17 – 28 10 – 12 (adult)
Tussah Silk 27 – 30
Alpaca 17 – 34 4 – 12
Angora Rabbit 12 – 16
Musk Ox down (Qiviut) 13 – 17 1 – 3
Buffalo down 22 – 23 1
Mohair (kid) 25 – 26 4 – 6
Mohair (adult) 30 – 55 to 10
Human Hair 15 – 110

Sheep wool:
Merino 18 – 24 1-1/2 – 3-1/2
Fine cross-breed 28 – 31 2 – 4
Medium cross-breed 32 – 39 4 – 8
Coarse 40 – 44 to 12


Processing Mills for Yak Fiber

Mini Mills, Ltd. www.minimills.net 800-827-3397

Mill Canyon www.millcanyon.com 505-854-2862

Zeilinger Wool Mill www.zwool.com 877-767-2920

Taos Valley Wool Mill www.taosfiber.com 505-776-1374