The cashmere throw, and what the label means.

This is the most cashmere you will find in a blend at this price: 10 percent Grade A cashmere from Inner Mongolia with 90 percent merino wool, according to State Cashmere. The throw is reversible, one color on each face, with a fringe, and measures 70 by 50 inches.

Be clear about what that means. Nine parts in ten are merino, and it will feel like a fine, soft merino throw with a little more slip, not like the pure cashmere further down. At about $100 it is fairly priced for that, and the merino makes it hard-wearing.

State Cashmere asks for a gentle hand wash in lukewarm water with a wool soap, and drying flat. Skip it if you want the feel of pure cashmere; for $100 more, the same maker sells it.

Alashan takes its name from a region of western Inner Mongolia and specializes in cashmere, and its labeling is admirably exact. This throw is 95 percent ultra-fine merino and 5 percent Inner Mongolian cashmere, woven densely and given a ripple finish, a brushed surface with a gentle wave to it. It measures 50 by 70 inches.

Five percent is the point at which US rules require a fiber other than wool to be named on the label at all. What you are buying is a very good merino throw with a soft, finished surface from a maker that knows fiber. It is warmer and more substantial than the State Cashmere blend, and it comes in a long list of colors.

Alashan says its throws should be hand washed gently or professionally dry cleaned. Skip it if the cashmere is the point for you; at this percentage, it is a finishing touch.

This is pure cashmere, 100 percent Grade A fiber from Inner Mongolia by State Cashmere's account, in a lightweight throw of 60 by 50 inches with a fringe at each end. State Cashmere sells direct and works, it says, straight with herders, which is how it keeps the price well under the cashmere houses.

The difference from the blends is obvious in the hand: lighter, looser, and warm out of proportion to its weight. It is the right size for the arm of a sofa or the foot of a bed, and light enough to pack for a cold guest room.

The maker says dry clean or hand wash only, in lukewarm water with a wool soap, and dry flat. Some pilling is normal with any cashmere and is removed with a cashmere comb. Skip it if you need something to throw in the machine.

The Essential Throw is Alashan's standard pure cashmere throw: 100 percent super fine Inner Mongolian cashmere, woven with what the maker calls superior yarn size and weaving density, and finished with the same rippled surface as its blends. It measures 50 by 70 inches including the fringe.

Density is what separates it from the lighter State Cashmere throw. It has more cloth to it, so it drapes heavily and holds warmth like a blanket, not a wrap. It comes in a wide run of solids, camel among the most classic.

Alashan recommends gentle hand washing or professional dry cleaning, and at this price dry cleaning is the sensible choice. Store it folded, clean, in a breathable bag, because moths go for soiled animal fiber.