Camel hair specifically refers to the fur from the body of a camel, but more generally refers to the fibre (and

cloth Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is n ...

) that may be made from either pure

camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

hair or a blend of camel hair and another fibre. Camel hair has two components: ''guard hair'' and ''undercoat''. Guard hair is the outer protective fur, which is coarse and inflexible and can be

woven Woven fabric is any textile formed by weaving. Woven fabrics, often created on a loom, are made of many threads woven in a warp and weft. Technically, a woven fabric is any fabric made by interlacing two or more threads at right angles to one anot ...

into

haircloth Haircloth is commonly understood as a stiff, unsupple fabric made from coarse fibre from camelids, bovines, horses, goats, rabbits, hares and reindeers. However, a softer variation is valued in the textile and fashion industries for their rarity, ...

. (Guard hair may be made softer and plusher by blending it with another fibre, especially wool.) The undercoat, which is shorter and finer than guard hair, is less protective but more insulating. It is very soft and frequently used in the making of textiles for coats. Camel hair is collected from the

Bactrian camel The Bactrian camel (''Camelus bactrianus''), also known as the Mongolian camel, domestic Bactrian camel or two-humped camel, is a camel native to the steppes of Central Asia. It has two humps on its back, in contrast to the single-humped drome ...

, which is found across Asia from eastern

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

. Significant supplier countries of camel hair include

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Gathering and production

Each camel can produce approximately five pounds (2.25 kg) of hair a year. Camel hair may be collected by

shearing Sheep shearing is the process by which the woollen fleece of a sheep is cut off. The person who removes the sheep's wool is called a '' shearer''. Typically each adult sheep is shorn once each year (depending upon dialect, a sheep may be sai ...

combing Combing is a method for preparing carding, carded fibre for spinning (textiles), spinning. Combing aligns fibers in parallel before spinning to produce a smoother, stronger, and more lustrous yarn. The process of combing is accompanied by ''gil ...

or by hand gathering the fiber that is shed naturally during the six- to eight-week

moulting In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is a process by which an animal casts off parts of its body to serve some beneficial purpose, either at ...

season in late spring. After collection, the coarse and fine hairs are separated. Fibres are then washed to remove any dirt or debris before being spun into

yarn Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. '' Thread'' is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern ...

suitable for weaving or

knitting Knitting is a method for production of textile Knitted fabric, fabrics by interlacing yarn loops with loops of the same or other yarns. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done Hand knitting, by hand or Knitting machi ...

Use

The wearing of camel hair clothing is mentioned in the Bible ( Matthew 3:4) and it was traditionally used for tents, carpets and cloaks by the

Berbers Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arab migrations to the Maghreb, Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connec ...

and in other areas where camels were kept. Its good thermal properties provide insulation. Pure camel hair is recorded as being used for western garments from the 17th century onwards, and from the 19th century a mixture of wool and camel hair was used. The first fashion brand to popularise camel hair in clothing was Jaeger, a British manufacturer that specialised in the use of fine woollen fabrics for coats and suits. It became popular in the U.S. in the 1920s and 1930s, having been introduced through the sport of

polo Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...

, where a casual camel hair coat was worn by players in between matches. Camel hair may be blended to create fabrics suitable for coats, outer sweaters and underwear. The long coarser hair may be used as a backing for carpets. Although most camel hair is left as its natural tone of golden tan, the hair can be dyed and accepts dye in the same way as wool fibres.

References

{{fibers Animal hair products Camel products Woven fabrics

Gathering and production

Use

See also

References