Pashmina is world’s softest,finest and luxurious fabric made from certain goats found in Himalayas mostly in Ladakh region. Although there are also other types of goats that can produce beautiful, soft hairs, they aren’t as fine as those of cashmere. Speaking of cashmere, the word actually comes from Kashmir, where most of these goats thrive and where some of the first types of wool had been sold many years ago. The global brand name for Pashmina is Cashmere. However, for the locals, the wools are called pashm. When they have been processed—that is, they have been cleaned and spun—they are already pashmina. Many vendors, though, pass other types of materials including acrylic or rayon as pashmina simply because others have become more aware of what cashmere is. This is where the problem starts because they may be attracted to pay a very high price for what could have been a very ordinary material or they end up disappointed because what they’re looking for is the real thing.
The only way you can determine whether Pashmina is real or fake is by burning it. Take a small fringe of a supposed Pashmina fabric and burn it. As it is made up of natural hairs it will smell like hair upon burning. Also keep in mind that even after burning it will feel soft and if it felt like a tar or plastic then know that it is viscose and not pashmina.