Fox fur cleaning and glazing

[Guest]

I was wondering what people thought of having their fox furs cleaned and glazed, how often to do it, how much it costs and some of the benefits.

[Panther10]

I just took my fox coats in this past week. Although I tend not to take my coats in every season since its an expensive ordeal, they are supposed to be cleaned and every summer. I'll have to see if I like the results and if it's worth repeating next year. My coats cost $75 each to clean and store but one of the coats had a very large (but thankfully not serious) sweat stain on the back and had to be reconditioned. since that costs more I'm not going to do that on a regular basis. only when its necessary.

[Guest]

What happens if I don't clean it often? I only use the coats inside for personal uses and they don't look dirty. Does cleaning make the fur softer?

[Panther10]

they wear out and fall apart if they are not cleaned on a regular basis. Furs are still natural products and can decompose after a certain amount of time. Cleaning the coats helps revitalize the hairs and the hide and keeps them from becoming too brittle.

[AKcoyote]

Panther10 is mostly correct, but a few details need to be mentioned.

 

Cleaning does not specifically preserve the hair or leather but does remove dust, dirt, and other contaminates that mat down the hair and make a fur look old before its time. Glazing adds some lanolin to the hair and if an electrifier is used, fluffs up the hair.

 

Unfortunately to my knowledge there is not a reliable method to keep the leather under the hair from eventually drying out and becoming brittle. Glazing helps, but only slows the drying out process.

 

The best is to clean the fur as needed dictated by how often used; proper storage; and use responsibly to prevent friction which breaks the hairs.

[bigfur1]

There is a reconditioning process that furriers do to help prevent the leather from drying out. they apply conditioner to the back side of each skin. We had this done to my wife's BlackGlama mink and it is almost 30 yrs old and looks great.

[AKcoyote]

Personally I am not aware of any reconditioning process, but my knowledge was gained working with a furrier who was not necessarily keeping up with news in the fur industry. If the process exists, and I am not saying it doesn't, I hope its use becomes common practice.

 

One recent development in the tanning process is to scrape the leather much thinner than was common 30 or more years ago. This is to reduce weight of the pelt and thus the finished garment; but it leads to much more rapid drying out of the leather and a shorter usable life for the garment.

[FurGirl96]

I was curious and looked up how they are cleaned on Youtube and I couldn't believe it when I saw that they are cleaned with wet wood chips!! I thought fur was never supposed to get wet, but the video was super informative.

[AKcoyote]

Usually ground walnut shells or marble dust are used. There is a big difference between soaked with water and materials that have been soaked in a solvent to loosen contaminates from fur.

[bigfur1]

Animals get wet. If your fur gets wet just shake it out and hang it to dry.

[AKcoyote]

There is a HUGE difference between a living fur bearing animal getting wet and a tanned pelt getting wet. If the leather under the hair gets soaked it will probably shrink and become misshapen as it dries. Water that is just on the surface of the hairs can be shaken off and the garment allowed to air dry away from any heat source.