Why Yak Khullu Wool Isn't More Popular?
Khullu ("coo-loo") is the Tibetan word for the soft, fine undercoat of the yak, which is a type of wool.
Khullu ("coo-loo") is the fiber grown around the neck and belly of yak. Khullu ("coo-loo") is some of the highest performing wool that is extremely durable while maintaining a soft and luxurious hand feel. Yak wool is obtained both by shearing or by combing. Yak herders traditionally comb their animals regularly a few weeks before shearing in order to obtain a fine undercoat in advance
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Properties of Yak Khullu:
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Yak Wool Vs Polyester: Everything is better than Polyester, the only benefit to synthetic fibers is softness and mass production. However, it comes at a cost, the fine synthetic fibers required to make a polyester soft shed into the water system with each wash and are the leading cause of microplastic pollution.
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Yak Wool Vs Cotton: Khullu beats cotton in almost every way. it’s a far better thermoregulator and significantly more durable. While cotton might be breathable its poor wicking abilities cause it to retain odors.
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Yak Khullu Vs Alpaca: Yak khullu and alpaca wool are both soft and popular for high-quality knitwear, and both are more environmentally sustainable than cashmere. Yak wool is generally more durable and resilient due to its higher tensile strength. Additionally, yak wool may be slightly warmer than alpaca wool because its higher crimp allows it to retain more heat, particularly in looser knit fabrics where air pockets enhance insulation.
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Yak Khullu Vs Merino: Yak and merino are extremely similar, yak is almost like a super version of merino. A little more antimicrobial, a little more thermoregulating, a little softer, and a little more expensive.
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Yak Khullu Vs Cashmere: Yak khullu is often considered a sustainable alternative to cashmere. It’s soft like cashmere and easy to care for, unlike cashmere. It’s also 30% warmer and 2x more breathable than cashmere.
How Sustainable Is Yak Khullu?
Khullu is naturally the most sustainable material to use when making clothing, it’s regenerative, biodegradable, and durable.
Yak plays a key ecological role within the regions they inhabit. Besides recycling nutrients through their gentle manner of grazing and fertilizing dung, yak are central to human life.
They have partnered with nomadic herders for centuries. Yak are gentle grazing animals meaning they have footsteps as soft as their khullu and short tongues that only remove the top of plants.
Yak on the other hand lives nomadically throughout the mountains grazing by only removing the top of plants instead of their whole root.
Gentle grazing, nomadic lifestyle, and ecological contribution make yak fiber one of the most sustainable fabric in the world.
Chamtsee's Vision
Tibetan communities have been using yak khullu wool for centuries. However, the emergence of cheap durable synthetics has reduced its use to ceremonial garb only.
The demand for the luxurious wool has ebbed but has not caught on due to readily available alternatives such as cashmere, merino wool, and alpaca, which are naturally white and therefore easier to dye than the naturally brown yak.
However, change is on the horizon, as the impact of overgrazing cashmere goats becomes more and more clear companies and consumers are looking for a sustainable alternative.
We are a very small workshop at present, but we have big dreams for the future!