Our most frequently asked question at NEAFP is how to categorize the different grades of fiber. Our fiber grading system is designed to be simple to understand while identifying the areas of the alpaca with different levels of fineness and staple length. The products are designed specifically to take advantage of the different characteristics of each grade. We break down the grades of fiber as follows:

Alpaca Fiber Grades and Their Location

Packaging

Before shearing , we recommend that you blow out your animals to ensure the majority of vegetation is removed. Clean fleece results in a better end product at a lower cost. Removing vegetation during manufacturing impacts the softness so we prefer to do as little of this as possible. Once your animal is sheared, check for any additional vegetation and bag by grade and color.

Packaging Tip: Many people have shipped us their fiber in clean grain bags rather than cardboard boxes. So far, it seems to work fairly well. Normally they line the grain bag with a thin plastic bag, pack as much fleece as they can in it (some do the vacuum pack thing). And sew it closed. We aren’t recommending storing your fiber in plastic, just shipping it.