Leather, Artificial Leather, and Fur. Part 3. Fur.

Author: Galina Bodrova, expert

Summary: our last installment in our series of articles on leather and fur is devoted to interesting facts about real fur. Thanks to their excellent insulation properties and a high resistance to wear and tear, fur garments have become a staple in our lives. While currently out of fashion, fur continues to remain one of the most attractive and noble clothing materials.

Background

Fur production dates back thousands of years and originally started when people needed to find a way to protect themselves from the cold due to living in a harsh environment. It was the primitive man who first had the idea to harness the resources of bountiful Mother Nature and invented a likeness of a fur coat made from the hides of wild animals procured during the hunt. In addition to being items of clothing, hides and pelts were used to keep human dwellings warm.

Generally, fur was used by Northern peoples inhabiting Eurasia and North America. As a country of large, dense forests teeming with fur-bearing animals, Russia was destined to become the top nation in procuring and trading fur. In Kievan Rus, fur pelts were as valuable as precious metals and were used as a means of exchange against particularly sought-after goods, such as weaponry, fabrics and jewelry. This even led to the creation of “currency units” of sorts for different types of fur: belas, or squirrel pelts, kunas, or marten pelts, etc. Sable and marten pelts were considered to have the most value, leading to exorbitant prices which the overseas customers were prepared to pay. For instance, one sable fur coat could cost more than an entire house. Marten fur, on the other hand, was a popular clothing ornament among the upper classes.

In the 17th century, “soft gold”, as sable fur was dubbed, streamed into Europe. Russia became one of the major fur suppliers, and rightfully so. The biggest producer was Siberia: this Northern region boasted a plethora of silver foxes, sables, squirrels, and beavers roaming its limitless expanses. Initially, fur was available at any fair, sold freely by the merchants and even hunters themselves. However, a state monopoly on buying and selling valuable fur was introduced in the 17th century, putting an end to this system of free trade.

The state entered into an agreement with the hunters. Now, they were provided with gear and pay, but in exchange had to give up all of the procured fur to the state treasury. This allowed for a better distribution of fur for domestic and overseas trade. A century later, humankind began to think about increasing the population of wild animals and started to breed them. For this purpose, animals were kept in a restricted area – on a small island, where they bred naturally in the wild and were easy to catch.

And the second half of the 19th century saw caged animal farming appear in Russia, due to declining populations of fur-bearing animals in the wild. Fur farms bred animals with the most valuable fur – foxes, both Arctic and red, as well as minks. For the first time, a scientific approach was used in animal farming, so as to create new species with a different coat color through crossbreeding.

In addition, a growing demand for fur fostered the development of handicraft. A separate specialist – a furrier - took care of dressing the fur of both domestic and wild animals, as well as animal skins. The Russian name of this time-honored occupation comes from the Old Russian word for “fur; raw hide, or animal skin”. Russian furriers were considered to be the best in their field of work.

The first industrial facilities processing wild animal fur appeared in Russia at the end of the 19th century, specializing in untreated pelts. A limited number of pelts were dyed using plant dyes.

Types of fur

The fur industry uses three main types of raw material to make its products: the fur of domesticated, wild, and marine animals.

The most popular material is the pelt of domesticated animals, such as hides of cattle, sheep, goats, and deer. It should be noted that the quality of fur depends on the breed of the animal, its age, and living conditions.

Photo title: Wooled sheepskin

Procuring hides of wild animals – goats, moose, wild boars, seals, whales, ringed seals, and walruses - is a much more challenging task, as national legislation and international agreements on species conservation need to be taken into consideration in order to preserve the natural balance.

The fur of marine animals – seals, whales, ringed seals, and walruses – is the rarest and most expensive. This has to do with the difficulty of its procurement, as well as its great value to the fur industry thanks to its excellent insulation properties and softness. [1].

Factors influencing the quality of fur

So, what does the quality of fur depend on?

First and foremost comes the animal species. For wild animals, the deciding factor is their habitat. Depending on the living territory of the animal, changes in the quality of its fur can best be traced based on two features: fur color and pelt size. Fur-bearing animals hailing from northern habitats have thicker hair and larger skins than their southern cousins.

For domesticated animals, the quality of their fur depends largely on their species and breed, as well as age and living conditions.

There is also a difference in the properties of the fur. The fur that comes from wild animals tends to be softer, silkier, and provide better insulation. Cattle fur, on the other hand, is very durable and resistant to wear and tear.

Photo title: Fox fur

Mother Nature has taken care of our furry friends by providing for seasonality. Hibernating animals only change their pelage once a year, renewing their fur gradually. Non-hibernating species undergo a wardrobe switch twice a year, every spring and every autumn. As people dress according to the weather, so do animals: in the colder season, they don a thicker and warmer coat, whereas sporting a lighter, less insulating one for the warmer season.

Fur quality also depends on the technological processes and the processing of pelts. Correct dressing, coloring, and finishing improve the appearance of the fur, extend its life, and protect from external factors. [2].

Manufacturing technology

Modern technologies and scientific discoveries have drastically changed the way that fur can be used. This included working with fur texture, and so pelts are now being clipped, plucked, burned, twisted, combined with different materials, embellished with stones, etc. Designers successfully use fur to construct new items of clothing, playing with the form and volume of fur products. Currently, pelts are used for a variety of purposes, including upholstery, fur clothing and accessories, as well as bags and footwear.

Dressing fur that comes from wild and domesticated animals is similar to manufacturing leather products, but has its peculiarities, too.

The technology of processing fur includes a sequence of operations that can be broken down into the following stages:

- Preparation;

- Dressing;

- Finishing;

- Dyeing.

Preparation

It all begins with removing the animal’s skin, which can be done in three ways: by tube skinning, case skinning, and open skinning. Afterwards the material is always cured so as to prevent saprogenic bacteria from multiplying in the dermis. The same curing methods are used as for processing leather.

As part of the preparation stage, the material is made ready for further processing. The fur skin is soaked, i.e., deep cleaned in special vats by immersing it in clean water. The next stage is fleshing, or skin breaking, which stands for breaking down skin tissue using machinery fitted with blunt knives. Finally, the pelt is degreased with the help of solutions containing surface-active agents. All of this makes the fur skin softer and more flexible.

Dressing

We all know the saying “the prize is not worth the effort”. In Russia, this expression actually reads “the sheepskin is not worth its dressing”, referring to an important and demanding stage that encompasses comprehensive pelt processing using mechanical and chemical means. Dressing includes pickling, tanning, greasing, and drying. Every operation that we mentioned has its own purpose and prepares the material for the next stage.

Pickling is a process of changing the structure of the underskin to make it softer and increase its plasticity. To achieve this, the dermis is treated with acid and table salt solutions; the latter is responsible for dehydrating and breaking up the dermis. The more careful the pickling, the more effective the subsequent tanning.

The purpose of tanning is strengthening the properties acquired by the underskin during the previous production stages. This is achieved through the contact of the skin with a tanning substance: chrome, aluminum, and formaldehyde solutions. This process includes two stages: the tanning substance first reaches the dermis and spreads in it evenly, and then creates a new structure inside. Fur skins from wild and domesticated animals are tanned in paddle vats and drums. Tanning increases the temperature of collagen breakdown, as well as the durability, density and thickness of the underskin, while also decreasing its capacity to swell in water.

However, the resulting structure may stick together if no grease is introduced. This is what the greasing stage is for. Greasing is treating the fur skin with animal, fish, mineral or synthetic oils. They are applied by immersing or coating, making the fur skin soft and flexible.

The final touch is drying the fur skin. Selecting the correct drying method and its parameters is crucial to prevent shrinkage. In order to achieve minimal shrinkage, the skin is stretched out during drying. However, this may expose the shortcomings of previous production stages, leading to defects on the outer layer. Therefore, it is very important to comprehensively follow through with all the production stages, i.e., pickling, tanning, and greasing. It is possible to eliminate some of the shortcomings by tumbling and mechanical hammering.

Finishing

Dressed fur skins are “made presentable” during the finishing process, which encompasses a variety of mechanical operations, such as cleaning, brushing, clipping, plucking, and ironing.

First and foremost, the fur skin or the fur product is drummed – i.e., cleaned mechanically from any remains of dye, grease, and other impurities. This is done in a special drum, where the product is placed together with wet (for sheen) or dry sawdust.

Next, sawdust, regular dust, and slipped-out hairs are shaken out of the fur skin with the help of beetling, which is performed manually or using special machinery.

To spread out the fur, give it volume, and adjust the pile direction, it is brushed.

If it is necessary to alter the length of the hair – for instance, to imitate the fur of exotic animals, or to create a particular pattern, the fur skin is clipped according to a specific method. For example, in order to make the down hair even and velvety, guard fur is trimmed to a particular length using a fur-cutting machine.

Soft and silky down hair can also be attained with the help of plucking. As a rule, plucking is used for pelts from wild animals with particularly coarse down hair, such as beaver and nutria (coypu). The operation is performed using a special plucking machine or manually.

During the ironing stage, the fur product is stretched out and spread out, giving it sheen and silkiness, while also improving its aesthetic properties.

In summary, the abovementioned operations help achieve and emphasize the unique consumer properties of a particular fur product: its form, softness, and volume.

Working on the underskin is also a part of finishing aimed at achieving a smooth and flexible surface, and straightening out unevenness. These properties are attained by buffing the fur skin.

Dyeing

This stage of dressing is intended to achieve unusual fur colors that do not exist in nature, imitate the coat color of a more valuable animal, or mask the defects of the raw material.

The main requirements for fur skin dyeing are colorfastness during storage and use in different weather conditions, as well as resistance to wet and dry crocking.

A variety of dyes are used for this purpose: oxidation, acid, metal-containing, with tanning properties, and others.

Initially, the fur skin needs to be made ready for dyeing. The hair is treated with an oxidizing agent, degreased with a weak alkaline solution, and pickled to improve fur colorability.

Dyeing is generally performed by immersing the fur skin into the dyeing solution. In this case, the underskin and the fur have the same color.

If an imitation of a valuable fur, or an application of a designer print, is required, coating is used. This includes aerography, silk screening, screen printing, and other methods.

Combined dyeing includes both of the abovementioned methods.

Dyeing is followed by rinsing to remove excessive dye from the underskin and the hair of the fur product. Plasticity is regained by treating the fur skin with an aqueous solution of table salt.

If required, further finishing treatments are used on the fur product to improve its performance and aesthetic properties, i.e., water and weather resistance, form, and sheen. [1].

Interesting Facts

In conclusion, we would like to share a couple of interesting facts about fur with you.

1. 6 centimeters – a layer of down hair this thick helps Arctic foxes preserve the temperature difference between the outside and the surface of the animal’s skin at -40°С!

2. The most expensive fur in the world is vicuña fur. Vicuña is a llama whose fur is generally used to produce a fabric costing over 3,000 US dollars per meter. However, due to vicuña fur coats being fashionable in the past century, the llama almost became extinct. Currently, it is the most valuable animal in Peru.

3. The Barguzin sable is Russia’s most expensive fur-bearing animal. Just one pelt may cost up to 1,500 or 2,000 US dollars. Being endemic only on the eastern coast of Lake Baikal, the pelts of these sables are exceptionally valued for their quality and color.

4. Whales have fur, too! However, its purpose is not related to heat preservation. The hair follicles on the whale’s jaws and chin are surrounded by nerve endings. When the prey hits upon the hairs, it signals to the whale that it is mealtime.

5. Faux fur was invented in 1929. As a rule, it is made from acrylic fiber (72%) and cotton (28%). In the Soviet Union, artificial fur was humorously referred to as “Cheburashka fur”.

Stay with us!

[1] – Chemistry and Technology of Leather and Fur. [Khimiya i technologiya kozhi i mekha]. 4th edition, revised and updated. Edited by Prof. I.P. Strakhov, Merited Scientist and Engineer of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic [RSFSR], Doctor of Technical Sciences.
[2] – Fur Farming. [Zverovodstvo]. Textbook and training materials. O.S. Mikryukova.