5 Major Questions to Ask Before Purchasing a Pashmina Shawl?

Before investing in a masterpiece or an artwork, you must know about the artist, his skills, and the type of art he is well-known for. The same thing is applied while buying fabrics such as pashmina. Before buying a shawl, you must have an idea of the pure pashmina shawl, its fabric, and a lot more things to save yourself to get fooled by the shopkeeper. For that, this article can be a saviour for you. It throws light on some of the major questions to ask before purchasing a pashmina shawl.

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Question 1 - Is the Pashmina Shawl Hand-Woven or Hand-Made?

There are a lot of retailers who sell the pashmina shawl with the tag “Hand-woven” when it is machine-made. In actual, it is very challenging to figure out this. Even so, the quality of the pure pashmina shawl will speak for itself and help you make the right decision. The things that are handmade have slight flaws and design irregularity and this is something that adds more beauty to the piece. So, you can either ask the storekeeper or figure it out yourself.

Question 2 - How Many Hours Did It Take to Make the Pashmina Shawl?

Another best way to identify whether the shawl is hand-made or machine-made is by asking this question to the retailer. This way, you will get sure about the pashmina shawl design work. If the retailer will be genuine and have actually got it hand-crafted, he/she’ll give you a better insight into the hours spent on the shawl.

Question 3 - Where Is Pashmina Fabric From?

The finest pashmina fabric comes from Kashmir. There, a Changthangi goat grows a fine raw fleece as an undercoat. This undercoat is combed off the goat’s body and is processed further to make pashmina shawls, scarfs, and Cashmere wraps. So, you can ask the retailer about the pashmina shawl fabric and how it is made. Only they’ll be able to tell you about the same in detail. This will ensure you about the authenticity of the shawl that you are buying and save you from falling into a trap.

Question 4 - Does the Shawl Contain Blends?

There are a lot of retailers who mix other fabric with pashmina and craft a shawl with that fabric. This is why it is essential to know whether your shawl contains any blend or not. Shawls that are handcrafted and certified are generally free from blends and contain 100% pure pashmina fabric. You can easily see a difference by touching a fabric. So, always check the quality of fabric carefully and also ask this question with the retailer before purchasing a shawl.

Question 5 - Is the Shawl One-Ply, Two-Ply, Three-Ply, Or Four-Ply?

Basically, Ply is considered as the layers of threads used to form a pashmina shawl. The higher the ply will be, the more will be the shawl’s thickness. So, it is really essential to know about the number of plys used to create a pashmina shawl. This will help you know about the quality of the shawl that you are buying.

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Buying a pure pashmina shawl among thousands of retailers and suppliers present is a quite tough task to do. As there are so many fake retailers there, it becomes difficult to identify a genuine supplier. In that case, asking these aforementioned retailers will clear out confusion up to some extent and help you get a better quality shawl at genuine prices. The same can be applied while buying women weavers products as you can ask the same questions online as well. Never ever buy a pashmina shawl without knowing about its quality.