Expert tips for caring for fur garments
Imagine the Kardashians’ fingers gently sweeping over 20 different fur coats! How should their closet look? First of all, this closet should be dark, cool and very roomy.
Dark, so that the sunlight won’t be able to oxidize the hair and dry out the leather. Sunlight can loosen the fur’s lustre and can even change its colour. Cool, so that the oil in the leather won’t dry out and therefore make the leather brittle and prone to tearing.
Your closet shouldn’t be cramped, otherwise air won’t be able to circulate around your clothes, the leather will dry out and mold could start developing. Therefore, don’t put your fur coat, hat or moccasins in a garment bag.
Never, ever, put it in plastic, as the condensation will make it, again, moldy. If you take your fur on a trip, put it in a bag of loosely woven cloth in your luggage. Only use broad hangers with shoulder pads.
The furrier’s storage:
The furrier will place your heirloom in a strictly temperature- and humidity-controlled vault for the summer months. The temperature is set between 7.2 and 11 degrees C and the humidity at between 48 and 50 per cent. By the way: the word furrier comes from the Old French word “fourrer” which means “stuffed”.
How the furrier will clean your jacket:
Beware: never take your fur piece to a dry cleaner – they don’t have the means, products, nor tools, or the knowledge of how to clean that coat. Also don’t try to do this at home with store-bought cleaning agents.
Take your garment to an authorized fur care specialist or qualified furrier (fancy combining that Air North trip to Edmonton with a concert?). What normally happens to your fur coat: dust and pollutants are attracted to the oil of the hair and settle on your coat, then draw the oil out of the pelt, causing it to look old and tired, dull and matted. The natural shine is missing.
The professional fur cleaner will first inspect your coat for any tears and stains. Then the lining will be cleaned, after which the fur coat is placed in a large drum that holds sawdust and a cleaning solution; this process will remove dirt and oils from the fur.
The piece then is being vacuumed to remove the sawdust, then hand-steamed to remove any final residue. Using large rollers that provide a static-electricity effect, the hairs will lift, separate and lie in the same direction. The furrier then uses oil to recondition your coat, both hair and pelt, so that’ll look, once again, shiny and sleek.
Then there is “lusterglazing”, a dry-cleaning process that will clean and deodorize your vest, preserve the lustrous beauty, restore the silkiness, so the leather will stay soft and supple.
Furriers who use organic, not petroleum-based, cleaning agents, can also take care of your faux fur item. But then again, faux fur is not biodegradable.
When keeping your garment at home:
Shake the fur piece out regularly. When dirty, wipe it with a clean damp cloth only in the direction the hair is growing, then take a fresh dry cloth and do the same until mostly dry. Don’t scrub. Best is to let it dry on its own; you can then, with a fur brush, brush it out very gently. If you don’t have one, use your fingers. Follow the direction of the hair with short and even strokes, working a small section at a time. The leather of furs that are always kept in a warm and very dry environment might start to crack or rip.
As for hats: When wet, shake and reshape so that it will hold its form. Don’t rub the water away – the fur will end up matting. Let it air dry in a well-ventilated, dark and cool area, away from direct heat sources. You could make your own custom hat stand. Fur is very durable when cared for properly. This column has been compiled with information gleaned from fur.ca, meganmelanson.com, benzingfurs.ca, morrisfurs.com and furhatworld.com.
