Alpaca Fleeceas much as a discussion about alpaca fleece. You see, the fiber is the end product that we strive for in our breeding programs. So, we want the best fiber that we can get! Alpaca fiber is available in a 22 gorgeous natural colors from whites through blacks with grays and patterns, too. There is a favorite alpaca color for everyone! Alpaca fleece has some interesting properties when compared to other fleeces. For example, alpaca fiber is naturally hypoallergenic since it does not contain lanolin like sheep wool. Also, alpaca fiber is warmer than sheep wool since alpaca fiber generally has microscopic air pockets. The relatively smooth hair shaft of alpaca decreases the prickle factor felt with wool. Alpaca is as soft as cashmere. Yet, the fine fibers are extremely strong and light weight. Alpaca fleece is easily dyed while maintaining its luster and brightness. Alpaca is also water resistant and fire retardant. These alpaca fiber facts show the inherent value of alpaca fiber. No wonder alpaca fiber is so valuable! But, what are the characteristics of excellent alpaca fleece? The desirable features are a bit different for huacaya fiber than for suri fiber. And these characteristics can be weighted in a variety of ways. Whether they are right or wrong, I will be referring to the AOBA fleece judging criteria that is used at the alpaca fleece shows. Let’s start with huacaya fleece. The most valued single characteristic according to AOBA is the annualized weight of the fleece with 20 points. Theoretically, weight is related to density if all alpacas are the same size. Density is important since we want to get as much fleece from the alpaca as possible for economic reasons. You can somewhat discern high density if you cannot see much skin when the fleece is parted. However, I believe that fineness is much more important than density. Everyone prefers to wear garments that feel extravagantly soft due to fineness. But fineness only gets 15 points. Lingering fineness is especially significant. The alpaca that can produce fine fleece year after year is a keeper! I have seen several grading methods for fineness. Here is one common method.
It should be noted that royal baby grade and baby grade do not necessarily come from baby alpacas! An alpaca of any age can produce any grade of fineness. Royal baby fleece is worth a premium in the market. However, all grades can be used for an appropriate finished product. Use the lower micron grades for products for scarves and sweaters. Use the higher micron grades for rugs and wall-hangings. You can often discern fineness on an alpaca by noticing the webbing that occurs as you part the fleece. The fine fibers seem to stick to each other like a spider’s web. From my experience, it seems that fleece that is about 22 micron and under will have this webbing attribute. Actually, density and fineness are at odds with each other. It is extremely difficult to have high shear weights and superfine fleece. Finer fleece does not weigh as much nor feel as thick as coarser fleece. The ancient Incans placed a premium on fineness and their alpaca fiber was called the “fiber of the gods” . However, modern Peruvians have placed more emphasis on weight since they have been paid by weight. Money talks! I understand that they are getting back to the original priority of fineness. Hopefully, AOBA will change their judging points to reward fineness more in our industry as well. OK, I will get off of my soapbox now! Uniformity is another desirable characteristic of alpaca fleece with 20 points. Breeders strive for uniformity of micron (8 points), length (7 points), and color (5 points). The finished product will feel more luxurious if all of the fibers are uniform. Another name for the overall feel of the fleece is handle with 5 points. Handle is a composite of fineness, density, and uniformity of micron and length. You want a buttery soft feel in which you can just sumptuously melt away. Wow! What an experience! 
Brightness gets 10 points. You can literally see the shine from really bright fleece.
Style is a bit more difficult to explain as it can be more variable from one alpaca to the next. Style, also called character, is worth 15 points. Style consists of crimp and bundling. Fiber that is well-organized into crimp and bundles is usually denser and finer than fiber that is totally random. Crimp is the “waviness”, “zigzaggedness” or “bumpiness” of the fiber. Crimp can be either high or low frequency, and either high or low amplitude, and various combinations of these features. Sometimes you can obviously notice “speed bumps” on some alpacas with low frequency and high amplitude crimp. You may have to look very closely at really fine fleece to notice its high frequency and low amplitude crimp. So, which type of crimp is the best? After speaking with several judges at various workshops, I finally reached the conclusion that no crimp style is more important of itself. But what is important is the consistency of the crimp. Bundles are composed of secondary fibers surrounding primary fibers as the alpaca fleece grows. You want dense bundles that come from many secondary fibers. Skin biopsies can actually tell you the S:P ratio for your alpaca. Also, you want your primary fibers to be as similar as the secondary fibers as possible. Desirable alpaca fleece will also not contain guard hairs which is worth 10 points. Guard hairs are longer, coarser, and stiffer hairs that protrude out from the rest of the fleece. They are be prickly in finished product. And no one wants prickle! Guard hairs are usually primary fibers and they are usually medullated. Medullation means that the fibers are hollow, but medullation can only be discerned under a microscope. However, you will often hear judges and breeders using medullation and guard hairs synonymously which is not technically correct unless they are carrying a microsope! Another desirable feature of alpaca fleece is lack of impurities, stain, and damage which is worth 5 points. Everything is the mostly the same for suri fleece. However, alpaca fiber has brightness, but suri fiber has luster which is really just semantics. In addition, suri fiber has locks rather than crimp. Suri locks can be twisted in a variety of ways. Again, consistency of lock style is more important than the specific twist. The suri points are a bit different for some categories as well. For example, luster is 20 points, lack of guard hairs is 5 points, and annualized weight is 15 points. These features of alpaca fleece are partly due to genetics – having the right dam and herdsire is essential. However, these characteristics can also depend on alpaca nutrition and alpaca care . Stellar alpaca husbandry can contribute significantly to the quality of the resulting alpaca fiber. Alpaca fiber processing for fleece shows involves skirting out fiber that is not consistent with the majority of the prime blanket. So, get rid of those short fibers, poorly defined style sections, and non-uniform areas, etc. But do not take out too much because you will be penalized by lower weight! I highly encourage you to obtain histogram reports for each alpaca so that you have physical data from year to year in which to evaluate your breeding program. Two companies for fiber testing are
Alpaca Fiber Testing
and
Yokum-McColl. Return to Top of Alpaca Fleece Page
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