IMPORTANT INFORMATION CHRISTMAS 2020

Our warehouse will be operating all the way to the 23rd December. I would advise choosing Special Delivery after 17th December if you want delivery for Christmas.

Our warehouse is closed from 24th December to 4th January, so if you order from 23rd December in the afternoon, you can expect delivery around the 6th January.

Customer service is also officially closed in this time, but Ada said she will be replying to some emails on the inbetween days, so it is always worth sending an email. Any questions will certainly be answered by the end of the 4th January 2021.

 

The answer might already be here...

Please read our FAQ before sending us a message. It might be quicker.

We do not charge delivery for most UK addresses. Yes, FREE UK DELIVERY. However, some highlands and islands postcodes do attract a delivery charge. Add your cashmere to the basket and go to the checkout and you will see any delivery charge there. By default we offer you a paid service which is guaranteed next day, but you can change it to the free service easily.

If you order before 1pm (Monday-Friday), then we will send your cashmere the same day. We use Royalmail 1st class for most items, so you can expect delivery on the next working day (M-F). Remote areas might take an extra day. If you choose Special Delivery or UPS then next day delibvery is 100% guaranteed. Deliveries in Europe usually take 3-6 working days. We can deliver cashmere to most locations in the world within 10 days.

We accept most cards through our payment processor – Paypal. They are the biggest and most well known, and you can be confident in the security. You do not need a Paypal account, just a credit or debit card.

We also accept payments for pashminas in Bitcoin. We think that this is the future of money and so we will give you 10% off any order if you choose to pay with Bitcoin. Just Google any questions you might have or call us if you want to know more.

We only collect the information from you that is necessary to successfully deliver your cashmere. So we will give the courier your address for example. Other than that, we will never share or sell customer details outside our company.

Our website is entirely secure. You will see the ‘Trustwave’ badge at the bottom of each page which you can click on to verify that the site is secure. You will notice that the URL has https rather than http – and the padlock in the address bar of the browser is shown as closed. Since we began in 2002, we have never had customer details compromised.

When you order your pashminas, you will immediately receive an email confirming that your order has been received by us. We will ship your order as quickly as possible. Once your cashmere items have been sent, we will email you with a courier tracking code if applicable. The courier will deliver your cashmere on the 1st working day after you receive the tracking code.

Most of our pashminas are available to be made in any colour. We have a swatch book with about 100 colours in, which you can borrow, and we also offer colour matching, so you can have any colour you like. This is especially useful for weddings. Allow 3-6 weeks for delivery for made to order pashminas. There is no extra charge for made to order pashminas, but you will not get a full refund if you decide to return them for any reason – except if they are faulty of course.

Pashmina is the most luxurious, softest, warmest and lightest natural fibre in the world, and comes from the Capra-Hircus goat. This is the same goat where cashmere comes from. The difference is that the pashmina only comes from goats resident above about 15,000 feet, and it only comes from the one part of the neck. The higher the goats live, the finer their hair. Genuine pashmina fibres are always less than 14.5 microns in diameter, or about 1/6th the size of human hair.

It is hand-woven by skilled Nepali craftsmen in to wonderful shawls. Each shawls takes many man hours to complete. From the combing of the goat to collect the fur, through hand weaving, dying and finishing. Therefore every shawl is unique. Some places do sell machine made shawls, but the weave can never be as strong as with a hand made shawl.

They have been popular amongst the Indian aristocracy for 500 years, and demand in the west has been massively increasing since they were first paraded on the catwalks of New York and Paris back in 1998.

As you may have noticed, more people are wearing them (even in the summer)!

In a word: Yes.

Do not be misled by fancy designer labels! Most pashmina textiles are woven by local craftsmen in Nepal; the big names are just sewn on later.

Actually, some of the shawls sold by the biggest importers are machine-made: that’s the only way they can assure themselves of a reliable supply, not to mention lower cost. However, there is a difference! Hand-woven cloths are tighter (therefore denser and warmer). To spot a machine-made wrap, look at the fringe base: machines make an unnaturally straight edge. Mypashmina.co.uk sells only textiles handcrafted by experienced weavers.

The best-selling Pashminas – sometimes advertised as “pure” – are really mixes of 70% cashmere (the crosswise “weft” thread) and 30% silk (the lengthwise “warp” thread). Some marketers try to gain a competitive advantage by claiming 75%-25% or 80%-20%, but the difference is insubstantial.

True 100% cashmere pashminas are palpably lighter and warmer than silk blends – some people describe it as “buttery.” The “ring shawl” is a full-size 100% wrap that theoretically is fine enough to pass through a ring. This applies to single-ply pashminas.

However, the 100% pashminas are not as strong as the 70%-30% mix, and they lack the sheen and the elegant drape of the silk, which some people prefer. On the flip side, the more you use a pure cashmere pashmina the better it becomes, a bit like a good wool carpet. So both the main types have their advantages.

They probably use cheaper raw materials. At best a lower grade of cashmere, i.e. shorter fibres, or thicker fibres. At worst viscose. And in between there are some fairly nice pashminas made from super-fine wool, but it doesn’t really compare with real cashmere.

The main factors, of course, are The specific fabric blend, and The style of looming (“hand” or “machine”).

Another relatively minor factor in the price is the silk. There are two grades: 140 and 210. 210 is better, and that’s what we use in all our 70%-30% pashmina/silk items, as well as in our pure silk scarves.A lot of producers are cutting costs by using 140 silk.

Many first-time pashmina buyers (including quite a few tourists who see them being hawked in Asan Tole bazaar in Kathmandu) are attracted by The fuzzy look and feel of brushed wraps. Brushing, however, weakens The cloth, induces shedding, and turns your wrap into a dust mop for lint. True connoisseurs eschew both full-brushed and semi-brushed pashminas. If you really want one, just lend your shawl to your cat for an afternoon.

Conventionally, The full-size is supposed to measure 90 X 200 cm., or 35.4″ x 78.7″; some weavers go for 90 x 210cm, or 35.4 x 82.7″. The natural un-dyed pashminas (“cream” or “champagne”) may correspond to these values, but The cloth shrinks in length by about 4% (roughly 3″) during The dying process. These days there has been some attempt to compensate for The shrinkage by increasing The measurements. At The same time, it is very hard to arrive at an objective measurement of such an elastic cloth. Remember that these are supposed to be hand-woven, with some variability in weaving style, loom tension, and so on: naturally there is inconsistency in The precise measurements. Some sellers prefer to advertise The maximum dimensions; others feel safer advertising minimum measurements. We state dimensions that are nearer The minimum — generally The true measurements are a bit longer. But really, this is a silly question to get all wrapped up in, isn’t it? The full-size pieces are HUGE — who cares about a couple of inches one way or The other?

These days some pashmina shawls are being made without the traditional 3″ knotted tassels. Most of ours have them.

We have some ring stoles without the tassels, and some pure cashmere large scarves.

We can make any item for your without the tassels. It doesn’t cost any more, but it will take a few extra weeks.

“Two-ply” shawls are made by doubling up The wool threads. The result is a thicker cloth, which feels more plush. The fabric can also be produced with 3-ply or more weavings, if you want something more blanket like. Remember, however, that with pashminas, lightness is a virtue. They are incredibly warm for the weight.

Most of our customers prefer 2-ply, so that is our default. The 2-ply is stronger in any case. We do offer single-ply pashminas called ring-shawls. These are light and floaty and still soft and warm.

You can wash a pashmina in the washing machine on a gentle or wool wash, and hang them up to dry. You can iron them with a cool iron when they are still damp, or use loads of steam.

It is the same for cashmere knitwear. Be careful with the iron, make sure it is not too hot, and the steam is on full, and that the garment is still slightly damp.

First, contact us about any problem. You can return your purchase for a refund or exchange.Just contact us first though.

International returns should be sent as small-parcels without letters. Do not send it by courier or Express Mail. On The Customs slip, just write “Merchandise Sample” and for value please write “NCV” (no commercial value); otherwise we’ll have to pay import duty on it again, and it may get hung up at a customs office somewhere.

Send us a message

We will get back to you in working hours.
Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.

+44 1353 771934
hello@mypashmina.co.uk

Our warehouse is located at:
Heavenly Valley Farm
Twenty Pence Road
Wilburton
Cambridgeshire, CB6 3PU

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