I am going to bring some of my best furs to storage by the end of this month, so yes, it has been discussed to keep it in a cool vault or at least a very cool room.

It may have been mentioned already, but furs like to be kept cool and a bit humid to prevent dryness. Fur vaults are generally set at between 40 – 50 degrees with humidity at 45 – 55%. At home, use the coolest room or closet in your house.
~ Molly

My mother’s mink, rarely worn now, but with no repairs required and still very warming, has been well treated but has not been properly stored for some time. As a result, whereas before it used to be extremely light and had a wonderfully slinky sheen, it now looks rather dull and feels very, very heavy (building up of humidity etc?). Would sending to to a furrier restore it to something like its former condition? If so, could you recommend any in the UK?

Many thanks, in advance, for any advice you can give.

Alex.

I hand repair all my furs when it comes to re-stitching linings or split seams. A fine #10 or #11 beading needle and either Nymo or Silamide beading thread works well – these are durable yet thin threads.

Furriers tumble furs in a huge drum to clean. The furs are placed in a bag with either sawdust or ground corncobs that has been mixed with solvent, then they are tumbled. The sawdust gets into the fur, the solvent removed dirt. Coarse cornmeal also works well. Not all furriers use a bag, but I would, cuts down on wear and tear on the furs.

Furriers also use a mixture of stuff including silicones to glaze furs. On something you don’t mind experimenting on, you could try spray silicone. You can also try it for softening a stiff skin instead of oil. I haven’t tried either of these yet, just read about them.
Best Wishes,
~ Molly

Also about the glue. It if is glue from a fusible fabric (a iron patch or hem tape try ironing it with a dry iron with a piece of paper between the iron and the hide. It is like ly the glue when it remelts will stick to the paper (this glue tends to migrate toward the heat source)

If the glue is glue gun or some other thing I am not sure what to try.

Blessings, Gale

I was asked to remodel my first fur about 10 years ago. I spent a month gathering all the information I could find (one of my best resources was an OLD book about furriering that I got through a library lone from a college in Ft Collins) and study the how tos of working with fur.

My greatest screw up was to touch the hide side of a fur with my iron with the steam on. I immediately shrank an iron sized portion. Thank goodness My project was to make a vest from a coat, so I had spare fur to use. A man in St Louis MO at a fur storage place did tell me that he can repair this kind of damage.

A few tips from my decade of self taught fur repair and remodeling

* Check the pelt. If it is hard, papery, stiff or papery your work will be in vain as the stretchy give of a well maintained pelt is needed to hold up to the movement of the fur fabric in response to putting it on and taking it off, the general movement of the body in wearing, reaching, arm movement etc.

* I did find a post on reconditioning the leather of the fur using 2 parts olive oil and 1 part white vinegar sponged on and left for a week or so to soak in. Do nt take the oil too near the edges of the leather as it will naturally spread there (like a drop of water on a paper towel) and you want to avoid oiling the hair. I made a batch of this and was successful in returning “give” to the pelt though I do have some oil residue remaining which I need to figure out how to get rid of as it will stain the lining with oil otherwise.

* You can use iron on interfacing to support the leather ( I first saw this in an inexpensive coat that I repaired and since quite often in furs of many qualities which are new enough for fusibles to be available) ALWAYS use a dry iron, test on an inconspicuous spot and use a low a setting as possible to melt the “glue”

* As most of us do not have a furrier-ing serger I have been using my sewing machine and have done excellently with it.

- Work from the hide side of your fur to do repairs.
- CAREFULLY trim the hair from the edges of the tear you are needing to repair (1/8″ – 1/4″ of clipped hair works well)
- Match the torn edges (trim the edges as needed if they are raggedy) and carefully stitch the edges together with a narrow seam 18″-3/16″ wide.
I do not backstitch at the ends of my stitching, but tie the thread ends.
I use a stitch approximately 9 stitches per inch.
Carefully pick any hairs caught in your stitching out of the seam from the fur side. I usually use a tapestry (blunt point) or a pencil sharpened chop stick as my fur picker.

It is possible to pepair holes (the mouse or dog ate at your fur) but it is more complex than just repairing a tear.

Blessings, Gale

Thanks

I’m going to try the duct tape mentioned above in one of the comments on the sleeve of my Persian lamb. I’m guessing the pelts have dried out and at the point of the shoulder both sleeves have tears right where the pointy end of the hanger would be. (they must not of seen the movie ‘Mommy Dearest’ or else they’d of known better! “No wire hangers ever!!!” ha)

The tears are really jagged leaving very thin, frayed edges that would tear again if I tried sewing them directly. But I’m thinking that if I used small pieces of duct tape on the underside and stitched them together it might work plus it’d help prevent more tears.

Good luck!