Merino Wool vs Cashmere vs Alpaca: The Ultimate Guide

Wool has become a staple in everyone’s wardrobe, but with so many options, which one is the best? When choosing between merino wool vs cashmere vs alpaca, factors like sustainability, care, uses, and durability all play a significant role. In this guide, we’ll explore these factors to help you make the right choice.

Properties	Merino Wool	Cashmere	Alpaca Wool
Weight	Light	Light	Lightest
Price	$$	$$$$	$$$
Breathability	Excellent	Breathable but less moisture-wicking than merino	Highly breathable
Durability	Highly durable	Less durable	Strongest
Warmth	Warm	7-8x times warmer than merino	Warmest
Softness	Soft	Soft and “buttery”	Soft, hypoallergenic
Tensile Strength	High	Weak	Highest
Microns	15-24 (ultrafine can be as low as 13.5)	<18	18-25
Animal Breed	Merino sheep	Cashmere goat	Alpaca
Water Retention	Absorbs up to 30-35% of its weight	Absorbs less than 25%	Absorbs 25% of its weight
Best Use	Activewear, everyday wear	Luxury clothing, accessories	All-weather, sustainable fashion

Which Wool is Best For You?

Not all wool is created equal — each type shines in different situations. Here’s a quick breakdown to help you pick the perfect fit:

🏃‍♂️ Best for Activewear & Everyday Use: Merino Wool

If you’re looking for something lightweight, breathable, and durable enough to handle daily wear or outdoor adventures, merino wool is your go-to. Its moisture-wicking and odor-resistant properties make it ideal for performance gear like base layers, socks, and cozy sweaters.

✨ Best for Luxury & Softness: Cashmere

Want that buttery-soft, high-end feel? Cashmere is the epitome of luxury. It’s perfect for elegant sweaters, scarves, and accessories — though it’s more delicate and better suited for occasional, stylish wear rather than rough, everyday use.

❄️ Best for Warmth, Durability & Sustainability: Alpaca Wool

If you’re after a balance of warmth, strength, and eco-friendliness, alpaca wool is hard to beat. It’s warmer than merino, stronger than cashmere, and hypoallergenic — all while being more sustainable due to alpacas’ gentle grazing habits. Great for versatile, long-lasting winter clothes and cozy accessories.

Why Choose Merino Wool?

Merino wool comes from Merino sheep, a breed that originated in Spain but now primarily grazes in Australia and New Zealand. It’s a highly versatile fiber, used in everything from classic sweaters to high-performance activewear.

✅ Naturally odor-resistant and antibacterial, Merino wool helps prevent odor buildup, making it ideal for activewear like socks, coats, and hats. You can wear it multiple times without worrying about bad smells, which is why it’s a favorite for travel and outdoor gear.

✅ Excellent temperature regulation keeps you warm in the cold and cool in the heat, thanks to its moisture-wicking properties. It absorbs sweat and releases it into the air, keeping you dry and comfortable year-round.

✅ Sustainable and eco-friendly, Merino wool requires 18% less energy than polyester and nearly 70% less water than cotton to produce the same number of garments. While Merino sheep need more resources than alpacas, they have a lower environmental impact than cashmere goats, which overgraze and contribute to desertification.

Soft and breathable, Merino wool is comfortable for everyday wear without the itchiness of traditional wool. While it’s not as buttery as cashmere or as plush as alpaca, it strikes the perfect balance between softness, durability, and practicality —making it a reliable choice for all seasons.

Why Choose Cashmere?

Cashmere is the epitome of luxury wool, often chosen for sweaters, scarves, shawls, and even home goods like throw pillows and blankets. While it may not be the most durable material, it’s prized for its unmatched softness and timeless elegance.

✅ Sourced from cashmere goats, this wool comes from the soft undercoat of goats found in Mongolia, China, and Nepal. Since these goats are only shaved once a year, cashmere remains highly desirable and rare. In fact, only about 6,500 tons of pure cashmere is produced annually—significantly less than merino (2 million tons) or alpaca (8,850 tons).

✅ Unparalleled softness sets cashmere apart. With fibers averaging 15-19 microns in diameter, it falls into the fine and superfine categories, making it the softest option among merino, cashmere, and alpaca. It’s incredibly lightweight yet offers impressive warmth, making it perfect for winter accessories.

✅ Delicate but moisture-wicking, cashmere is naturally breathable, though not as effective at moisture control as merino or alpaca wool. It also requires special care, as it’s highly sensitive to temperature—excessive heat or hot water can cause shrinking.

Luxuriously soft yet delicate, cashmere remains a winter wardrobe staple. While it may not be the most durable wool, its warmth, elegance, and feather-light feel make it an irresistible choice for those who prioritize comfort and style.

Why Choose Alpaca?

Alpaca wool isn’t as soft as cashmere but is more insulating and durable, making it a great choice for cold-weather wear. Native to South America, alpacas typically reside in the Andes mountains and are sheared once a year — not just for their fleece but also for their well-being.

Two types of alpaca wool come from different breeds: huacaya alpacas produce soft, fluffy wool with a spongier texture, ideal for knitting and crocheting. Suri alpacas have silkier, shinier wool, better suited for weaving.

✅ Highly sustainable, alpacas have gentler grazing habits and require less land compared to sheep and goats, making their wool one of the most eco-friendly options.

✅ Lightweight yet warm, alpaca wool is renowned for its breathability due to tiny air pockets within the fibers, which trap heat while keeping the fabric airy and comfortable. This makes it perfect for scarves, shawls, cardigans, and even bedding.

✅ Hypoallergenic and moisture-wicking, alpaca fleece contains no lanolin, making it an excellent choice for sensitive skin. Like merino and cashmere, it’s also naturally antimicrobial and odor-resistant while maintaining warmth.

Durable, cozy, and environmentally friendly, alpaca wool is a fantastic alternative to cashmere and merino — offering warmth without bulk and sustainability without compromise.

🏅 Our Wooly Winner: Alpaca

When comparing merino wool, cashmere, and alpaca, one stands out as the ultimate choice. While cashmere is undeniably luxurious and merino wool excels in performance wear, alpaca wool strikes the perfect balance between both.

Alpaca is hypoallergenic, antimicrobial, warm yet strong and durable, and moisture-wicking. It offers the comfort of cashmere and the resilience of merino wool, making it ideal for both casual wear and outdoor adventures.

It also sits at a middle ground in terms of price, making it relatively affordable, especially considering its longevity. As the lightest and warmest fabric among the three, alpaca wool is both practical and sustainable. With growing consumer interest in eco-friendly materials, its popularity is likely to rise in the future.

The Sustainability of Wool: Alpaca vs Merino Wool vs Cashmere

Wool is a sustainable fabric since it is renewable, regenerates multiple times a year, and does not require any artificial or chemical processing before it’s ready to be made into garments. Wool is also biodegradable and recyclable, making it a great sustainable option to add to your wardrobe if the animal is properly cared for.

Synthetic dyes and finishes to the fabric can reduce its ability to biodegrade and release heavy metals and waste back into the earth. All natural and ethically raised wool is a good choice for a piece that will last you for years.

As a sustainable fashion blog specializing in textile analysis, My Eco Closet considers wool one of the safest and sustainable natural fabrics. For wool to be certified as organic, it must be ethically farmed, without practices like mulesing, and the animals should be fed organic feed. The farm should focus on creating and conserving biodiversity.

ECO Tip: Look for the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) award, which is given to companies that responsibly manage animal welfare, land management, and social requirements.

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Cashmere

Cashmere goats are the least sustainable of the three animals, requiring the most land to graze, which can cause advanced land erosion. Cashmere goats need a lot of space to roam and find food. In Mongolia, an estimated 70% of grasslands are suffering from desertification due to grazing animals, with cashmere goats being one of the largest contributors.

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Merino Wool

Argentina used to be a massive Merino wool producer, but after statistics showed that 93% of the land was threatened by deforestation and desertification, it can no longer produce the same amount of wool it once did.

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Alpaca Wool

Climate change in the Andes has also led to a slowdown in alpaca wool production. Alpacas prefer to reside at higher elevations, but they are beginning to experience extreme temperatures and long droughts that affect the herds.

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The Overall Environmental Impact

It’s important to mention the carbon footprints left by wool production, livestock emissions, the energy required for processing, and the transportation of materials, animals, and food. All three of these animals produce methane gas, a potent greenhouse gas that has intense repercussions on the earth’s atmosphere.

ECO Tip: My Eco Closet considers alpaca wool to be the most sustainable and environmentally conscious choice of wool, as alpacas produce roughly 20-25 grams of methane per day, less than their goat and sheep competitors.

Understanding Wool: How It’s Made

All wool is a natural fiber composed mainly of keratin proteins, the same proteins that make up hair and nails. Keratin is a fibrous protein that provides excellent flexibility and strength. 

To create fabric from wool, the fleece of an animal is sheared and sorted based on characteristics like color and micron size. A micron measures the thickness of a wool fiber and is a key factor in determining its price. The finer the wool (i.e., the smaller the micron), the softer it is and the more expensive it typically becomes.

A micron is equal to one millionth of a meter. An average micron measurement for wool is 21-22 micron, fine wool measures at 18.5-19.5 micron, superfine is 15-18.5 and anything less than 15 microns is considered ultrafine. 

Once sheared, the wool is cleaned, dried, and passed through a machine that untangles and aligns the fibers into rovings. These rovings are then spun into yarn, dyed, and woven into fabric, often using a loom.

Frequently Asked Questions