It is always fun to hear strange or little known facts from other farmers harvesting Alpaca Fiber. Here we share some tips and odds that have been gleaned from three alpaca owners – they have a combined 700 animals and over 35 years of alpaca experience. None of these “facts” are meant to be scientifically proven, just anecdotal and very interesting and hopefully helpful to a new owner. Enjoy:

• Fine but strong: Alpaca fiber is very strong and flexible, even an animal that produces superfine fiber has strong fiber. Clothing and products made from alpaca fiber will last longer, hold their shape, and won’t pill due to the strength of this unusually soft yet strong fiber.

• Light weight because it is filled with air: Strong, but filled with air. Alpaca fiber is also ideal for clothing because it has micro air pockets that allow it to retain heat better than wool, while remaining lightweight and easy to wear.

• Dry your alpaca with a hairdryer: you will never need to groom or wash your alpaca. When you’re getting ready for shearing day, you can pick up any large pieces of farm debris and then lightly blow away the smaller pieces – start low and work your way up.

• Dryer Towel – To deter moths and prevent musty odor from permeating the fiber, you can place a dryer sheet in each fleece bag.

• Fire Retardant: That’s right, this fiber is naturally fire retardant, it doesn’t need additional treatments – it comes free with the fleece.

• Waterproof – Also comes as a free benefit: the fleece is not waterproof, but it will protect against raindrops and spills, as this also helps make it stain resistant!

• What’s in a color? Alpacas come in many natural colors, the judges at the show recognize 22 colors. The fiber is also easily dyed. However….Commercial buyers prefer and pay more for white fiber and fiber that has no depth of color or variation; and artisan buyers prefer the various natural colors and drool over fleece that has natural gradients of color. That means you can’t lose: someone, somewhere is going to love that pinkish to grayish color on your spotted alpaca!

• Every owner’s mistake: Almost every owner has been told that they shear a young calf within a few months of birth. Almost every owner has decided that their baby has the most prized color and curl, so they are going to beat the odds and use this fine baby hair for a masterpiece! Then they curse and cry as they cut mats of tangled, felted, hairy, disgusting fleece from that baby cria. They then swear they’ll never go through that again and try to warn all of their friends, who won’t listen and have to learn the hard way. Good scissors will somehow make the fleece grow a great waviness and length, so try to follow this advice when you see your first cute pup.

The demand for this special fiber is growing due to these fun facts and much more. So enjoy your animals and harvest your Alpaca Fiber with pride.