Vintage How-To: Purchasing & Caring for Fur

Everything you need to know to keep your fur looking fabulous!

With Rachael Zoe and the Olsen Twins rocking fur in practically every paparazzi photo this season, the trend is more popular than ever. Fur is beautiful, luxurious, and can be very practical in cold climates—but it is also expensive and controvercial. Fur farming standards are inconsistant internationaly, and when purchasing fur, it is difficult to know how the animals were raised. One way to avoid supporting contemporary fur farms is to wear vintage. While for valuable fur I strongly suggest professional care, you can get lesser quality second hand fur for bargain prices—and in that case you might be curious abour how to mend and maintain it yourself. If you have some common sense and basic sewing skills, I truly encourage you to try to protect and repair your fur, rather than leave the precious material to deteriorate—the maintenance can add up years, maybe tens of years to the fur’s life.

This article will help you select a quality fur from a shop, store your fur in the off-season, clean and condition your fur, and execute minor repairs. With winter and the holiday season right around the corner, you’ll have all the information you need to stay warm and look like a million bucks.

How to pick a good fur from charity shop

When you evaluate the condition of the fur in the second hand shop, the hair itself tells a little. Usually fur retains its shine and softness easily.

You should pay more attention to the leather under the hair. Does it feel soft and supple — or brittle and hard, or paper like? Does it leave dust or more coarse residue to your hands? Can you find tears, usually from seams, check especially underarm, middle back, side seams, elbows and around the collar? Does the fur shed hair?

If there are no major tears and the hair seems to be relatively well attached to the skin even brittle skinned, hardened or slightly papery fur can be saved. Note that some furs are relatively prone for shedding even in decent condition, rabbit is a good example.

Check also marks of possible insect damage (small, usually round holes, broken hair or bald spots in small but distinct areas) and staining, with pale fur especially around the collar. To see possible yellowing you might need to see the fur in natural light, tungsten light is so warm colored that it can camouflage light yellowing. See also sleeve openings and inner collar, these areas can be dirty and/or badly worn.

photograph of a girl wearing furThere are many places to look for vintage fur. You can always try thrift shops like The Salvation Army or Goodwill, vintage shops in your local area, or online sites like eBay or Etsy. Vintage-furs.com has a lovely selection, although it is pretty spendy. Unfortunately, online shopping prevents you from being able to do the feel tests previously discussed.

Everyday care for all fur

Never store your fur in plastic—and don’t use mothballs or cedar or any other substances with strong smells to preserve it. If moths are nuisance in your apartment, you should take your fur coat to professional storage for summertime. If you have a dry, air conditioned atmosphere in your home, you may also consider professional fur storage. Both excessive dryness and excessive moisture are bad for fur. Dryness makes the skin age fast and it comes brittle and prone to tearing, and moisture encourages the insects and —in bad cases—mold. Cool space is better for fur storage than warm.

Let your fur breathe. Use a sturdy, wide shouldered hanger for it and be sure to not to squeeze it between other garments. Avoid hanging stuff over the fur. If you bag the fur for storage, use a fabric pouch or uncolored paper pouch for protection—never plastic. You can even add some tissue paper inside the collar (make a sort of extra collar out of it, so that it raises the pouch slightly to the air) to avoid pressure and protect the shoulders.

When wearing your fur, avoid carrying a heavy shoulder bag. This can compress, tear, or otherwise damage the garment.

If the fur gets wet in a rain—no problem. Just shake excess water out of it and let it dry freely in normal room temperature. Don’t use heat. If the fur is soaked, take it to the professional when it has dried.

Small stains can be removed from fur with Marseille soap and bit of water—or a 50/50 water-rubbing alcohol mixture. Use a sponge or cloth that does not stain or leave any residue. When using soap and water, don’t wet the fur. Just keep the sponge lightly moist, and rub the stain so that the soap makes just a bit foam. Lastly, rinse the sponge well and remove all foam residue with moist sponge (you might need rinse the sponge several times and keep stroking the fur with moist sponge). With alcohol, the process is essentially same: moisten the sponge with mixture and squeeze excess of it out. Rub the stain carefully—no need to rinse. You can always test your method of cleaning on a hidden area—especially wise with dyed fur.

A professional can condition your fur—this should be done in 2-3 year intervals to keep the fur in top shape. The brittleness of the skin means that you need to hurry.

Collection of vintage fur items availible on eBay

"A trick to remove odors is to enclose some ground coffee in the bottom of a garment bag for a few days."

Stylist Nini Nguyen wearing vintage fur, photographed by Loc Truong

Tips and tricks

DISCLAIMER: I’m not a furrier. I have grown up in the area of Finland where fur farms were common sight and fur was quite a essential part of middle and high class woman’s wardrobe. However I did not learn my skills there, these things are a combination of common knowledge and my somewhat limited—but very self-educative—experiences with second hand fur.

I’m going to walk through a specific project to illustrate the basic ideas. The stole I bought for my mom is a really beautiful brown mink with a light gray cast. The main part of the lining is in good condition, just light staining and yellowing, no tears. There is a small tear on the lining of the collar.  The skin feels slightly brittle and dry—and there are two torn areas in the skin. One tear on the shoulder—this looks like someone has pulled the hem, and the skin does not feel particularly fragile from here. Another one is near the collar seam and this is worse. Actually all main seam areas of this fur feel bit hardened and brittle.

Pre-conditioning

When I start to work with second hand fur I usually freeze it first. Freezing kills insects and germs, it also removes some odors. I don’t know if this is recommended—but it has worked for me so far. I pack the fur in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer. Don’t pack it too tightly—pick a large enough bag. If you want to be completely safe, keep it there for two weeks; some sources state that this is the time needed to kill possible fur beetle worms.

Removing  and washing the lining, removing odors

Most furs are constructed so that the lining can be easily removed. That means that there probably is a strip of lining material that is sewn tightly around the edges of fur—and the actual lining is attached to this stripe, usually hand sewn with slipstitch—or even just basted on. Under the lining there might be another layer of fabric for support and extra insulation.

This stole is constructed exactly like that, and I decided to remove the lining entirely for washing and proper conditioning of the leather. Under the lining there was a loose weave fabric or wadding, quite yellowed and in pretty bad shape. I decided to remove it altogether, it does not have any support function whatsoever. When removing the lining and wadding I noticed that the original lining has probably been replaced once—the upper part of the lining stripe is slightly different material. Actually the largest part of the lining is different material than the smaller part under the collar. At the same time the stole has probably been shortened a bit, the fabric is that new one in the bottom and and the stitching is slightly lighter.

Another trick to remove odors from fur (and other garments) is to ground some coffee beans to the bottom of a plastic garment bag and enclose the garment there for few days.

Hand wash the removed lining. For the lining I made a bath from sap soap and warm water. From my experience, sap soap is quite gentle for colors and vintage materials, but still relatively effective against stains and yellowing. You may need to soak the lining overnight, which is preferable to scrubbing. Personally I prefer preserving the original materials as often as possible, although they might not be in a top shape anymore.

When I examined the fur stole further, I noticed that there was one main reasons for the hardening of some seams—on the construction or on some repair there was added some fusible fabric tape with adhesive to some of the seams. The glue was mostly disappeared and the tapes were on place just because of stitching but it was evident that all areas that were in contact with the adhesive had been dried out. So, don’t repair fur with glue.

Conditioning the leather

I don’t know if the furriers can condition the skin from the fur side of the coat, but with my hobbyist skills I have always done it from the wrong (leather) side.

The recipe for leather conditioner (you can use this same mixture on other leather garments as well, excluding mocha and split leather, as well as some heavily coated ones) is simple:

  • Oil. This can be food quality flaxseed oil, olive oil, mink oil or neatsfoot oil.
  • Mild acid. Use regular white vinegar or spirit vinegar (not the spiced variants, though).

Use a container with tight lid, and pour there one part of vinegar and two parts of oil. Close the lid and shake vigorously. Use a small sponge or piece of cloth to dab the conditioner on the skin. Condition the edges carefully, but don’t stain the lining edging or the hair. Pay attention to all dry and brittle areas and if the conditioner just sinks add some more. The areas in good condition don’t necessarily need much conditioner. It does not matter if the application is not 100% even—the conditioner will spread itself gradually to the skin. Also pay attention to all areas that are under tension or friction (fitted body part, especially back and shoulder seams, waist, sleeve fitting, underarm, elbows, collar back and seat of the long fur, surroundings of buttons or hooks—and if you plan alterations condition the areas to be altered with extra care).

Now leave the for to the hangar for few days, inside out so the vinegar smell evaporates from the skin (it will, but it can take up to one week) and the conditioner sinks in the skin.

Repairing

Next step is to repair the fur. Usually repairing is easier by sewing by hand, but naturally large seams or alterations can be sewn with machine, too.

Simple tears with healthy leather around can be sewn together from the wrong side. Avoiding visible stitches is relatively easy with fur. If there is a torn area, like on the shoulder of this stole, it might be a good idea to sew just few supportive stitches to the torn area to keep the leather stripes on place and baste a piece of supportive fabric (thin woven cotton is great) to area to lighten the tension. Bad tears on main seams are the most difficult. You probably need to alter the construction less or more, usually at least take in the seam a bit—and cut the worn out parts first. I have to take in the collar seam of this stole. It will make the neck opening slightly larger, but I see no other way to go with this.

You will need a special leather needle, which are available for handsewing and for machines. Leather needles have slightly triangular profile which makes a small incision to the leather, rather than round hole. In hand sewing it is useful to use heavy thread, or regular sewing thread doubled. Never use polyester thread on skin—it is very hard and will eventually cut through the leather. Cotton and silk will both work. You can use all usual stitches for the leather, but usually simple oversewing stitch works fine for small tears. When sewing fur by hand be sure that you don’t squeeze bunches of hair on the right side. Work from wrong side, but observe the right side when you are working, your stitches should be perfectly disguised under the hair.

When sewing with machine, use a teflon foot or put a sheet of tissue paper between the leather and foot (just tear it away after seaming). The leather will not slide against the regular metal foot. Brush the hair inwards (meaning there are no hairs bursting through the skin edges) before sewing. Use small and dense zig-zag for the seams and sew from the very edge of the skin—the seam should “open” when gently pulled. If the hair has gotten into your seam use a sharp needle and pull them carefully out.

Cutting the fur

The fur is easiest to cut from the wrong (leather) side with a very sharp knife. I have used surgical knifes with great success. A fabric cutter or very sharp carpet knife could work, too. Mind the hair when cutting.

If you have to use scissors be careful not to cut any extra hair. I would probably cut from the right side dividing the hairs from where I aim to cut so that I can see the skin.

Finishing

Iron the cleaned lining pieces on the back side.

Pin the lining on place and sew it on using slipstitch. Note that the leather conditioner needs to be fully absorbed (at least couple of days, preferably a week) before you attach the lining—so you can’t do this all in haste.

With Rachel Zoe and the Olsen Twins rocking fur in practically every paparazzi photo this season, the trend is more popular than ever. Fur is beautiful, luxurious, and can be very practical in cold climates—but it is also expensive and controvercial. Fur farming standards are inconsistant internationaly, and when purchasing fur, it is difficult to know how the animals were raised. One way to avoid supporting contemporary fur farms is to wear vintage.  While for valuable fur I strongly suggest professional care, you can get lesser quality second hand fur for bargain prices—and in that case you might be curious abour how to mend and maintain it yourself. If you have some common sense and basic sewing skills, I truly encourage you to try to protect and repair your fur, rather than leave the precious material to deteriorate—the maintenance can add up years, maybe tens of years to the fur’s life.
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