ALPACA FLEECE

Alpacas originate in the South American countries of Chile, Bolivia, and Peru, but Aumore sources its Alpaca fleece from one of the most highly awarded Alpaca farms in Australia.

Located in South Australia, as of early 2015 the 250-acre property contains a herd of approximately 1,200 alpacas, making it one of only three Australian farms containing over 1,000 animals. There are only around 10 other alpaca farms in Australia with over 500 animals, and the average Australian herd size is between 10 and 30 animals. It just goes to show how rare alpaca fleece truly is.

Why use alpaca fleece in underblankets and quilts?
As alpaca fibres are partially hollow, they are lighter, softer, and warmer than many other natural fibres. The fibres in alpaca fleece have greater thermal qualities, which means you do not need to have as much fleece to create exceptional warmth.

Aumore’s associated alpaca farm started back in 1997,
and over the last two decades its alpacas have been highly awarded. Its animals have won ‘Best in show’ at the National Championships four times, and won ‘Best in show’ at the Supreme Championships an astonishing 170 times. Alpacas are judged on the fineness of their fleece, as well its shape and density. Aumore chooses to use alpaca fleece with fibres of 22 to 24 microns in thickness. This high quality fleece has an average fibre length of between 70mm and 120mm, which means for quilts and blankets it is extremely soft, and it will not fall out or fly away.

When discussing the thickness of alpaca fibre,
there are five different micron groups, but after thorough analysis Aumore believes the 22 to 24-micron thickness is the perfect fibre for its alpaca products. There are also 22 different colours of alpaca fleece, but as coloured fibres are not of as high quality as white fibres, Aumore only uses the latter. Other colours include black, light, medium, and dark fawn (amber), light, medium, and dark brown, as well as grey and rose grey.

Of the 1,200 alpacas on our associated property, the majority are females. They can be shorn once a year, and on average live to be around twenty years of age. When you shear an alpaca, you get 2kg of main fleece, 1 kg of fleece from the legs and belly, and 1 kg from their incredibly long neck. This fleece is then simply placed upon a skirting table to remove large pieces of dirt and vegetative matter. It is then scoured and washed before being put into wadding via a carding machine.