Middle micron fibre or fibre of 19 to 22 micron ~ A Review The
term middle micron fibre was coined to cover fibre which falls
outside generally accepted definitions of cashmere and mohair.
The large bulk of the merino wool clip falls within the 19 to 22
micron range, yet the quantities of goat fibre in this range are
relatively small. A number of attempts to characterise or
promote this fibre or some subset of type within the middle
microns have met mixed success and much confusion remains.
However, middle micron fibre is generally of mean fibre diameter
between 19 and 22 microns and has characteristics intermediate
between cashmere and mohair. Generally accepted definitions of
cashmere include fibre with a mean fibre diameter finer than 19
microns which in the raw state has two fibres; a fine cashmere
component and a coarse hair component which is removed on
dehairing. The cashmere component is crinkled in appearance.
Mohair, for the purposes of this review may be considered a
single fleeced animal; that is