Caring for a fur: the habits that matter

A fur that is well treated is worn for decades. A fur that is badly stored degrades in a few seasons, often without anything showing in the first year. What matters happens outside the wearing season: where the piece sleeps, what it hangs on, and in what air. Here are the rules that count.

The hanger

This is the simplest point and the most often neglected. A fur hangs on a wide hanger, with thick, rounded shoulders, able to take up the shoulder line of the garment. A thin metal or plastic hanger concentrates all the weight on two points. After a few months the lining marks, the shoulder seam pulls, and the pelt deforms there.

The garment should hang buttoned or fastened at the top, so the weight spreads and the fronts do not gape.

The space around it

A fur needs air around it. Compressed between two coats in a full wardrobe, it flattens. The hair lies down, the volume disappears, and it does not always come back. Fox and other long-haired furs are the most exposed to this.

Leave at least a hand's width on each side. If the wardrobe is full, take out another garment instead.

The garment bag

A bag in cotton or untreated canvas protects from dust and light while letting air through. That is the right choice.

Plastic bags are to be avoided. They trap damp against the pelt. A pelt that stays damp stiffens, then cracks. The bags dry cleaners provide are made for transport, not storage: take them off when you get home.

Light

Direct light, sunlight in particular, fades the hair. The effect is gradual and irreversible. A fur stored facing a window loses its shade on the exposed side, and the contrast eventually shows. Store it away from light, or in a closed bag.

Damp and heat

The pelt of a fur contains oils left by the tanning. Heat drives them off. A dried-out pelt turns brittle: it tears at the seams and the folds, and that damage is not easily repaired.

In practice: never store a fur above a radiator, against a heated wall, or in a very dry room in winter. Conversely, a damp cellar encourages mould. A temperate, ventilated room, neither damp nor overheated, is right.

When it gets caught in the rain

A wet fur is not lost, provided you react correctly.

• Shake it gently to get the surface water off.
• Hang it on its wide hanger, in a room at normal temperature.
• Let it dry in open air, with nothing else.
• Once dry, shake it again so the hair settles back into place.

What not to do: hairdryer, radiator, tumble dryer, or any directed heat source. Heat cooks the pelt. Forced drying does more damage than the rain itself.

What you must never do

• Brush a fur with a stiff brush. Hard bristles tear out the guard hair. A wide-toothed comb is enough for long hair. Flat pile generally needs nothing.
• Spray perfume, hairspray or deodorant on the fur. Alcohol dries out the hair and the pelt. Put your perfume on before the garment.
• Wash, soak, or machine-clean. Tanned pelt does not survive immersion.
• Treat a stain with an off-the-shelf stain remover. Household solvents attack the tanning.
• Fold and store in a box or a suitcase. Creases mark the pelt for good.
• Iron, even through a cloth.
• Pin a piece of jewellery or a brooch through the skin. The hole stays and weakens the area.

Moths

Moth larvae attack animal fibres. The wool of a shearling is particularly vulnerable, but no fur is safe. Prevention is simple: clean storage, regular airing, inspection at the start and end of the season. A garment worn and then put away with traces of perspiration attracts insects more.

Avoid putting mothballs in direct contact with the fur. The smell soaks in and the product can mark. Use a sachet placed in the wardrobe instead, with no contact.

Seasonal habits

Twice a year, take the piece out, hang it in the air for a few hours in a shaded room, inspect the seams, the cuffs, the collar and the ends of the sleeves. Those areas concentrate the wear. A seam starting to give is fixed in a few minutes by a professional. The same seam ignored for two winters becomes a tear in the pelt, which costs a great deal more to repair.

When to hand it to a professional

Some jobs are not done at home. Take the piece to a furrier or a specialist cleaner in the following cases:

• a set-in stain, greasy or coloured;
• dull, dusty hair that no longer lifts with airing;
• a persistent smell;
• an open seam or a split pelt;
• a torn or unglued lining;
• a piece left unworn for a long time, before putting it back into service.

Cleaning a fur has nothing in common with ordinary dry cleaning. It uses processes specific to tanned pelt and hair. A general dry cleaner who takes a fur without asking questions is not the right person.

How often depends on use. A piece worn regularly can go several seasons between professional cleanings. Cleaning too often achieves nothing and strains the pelt for no reason.

Going further

Our notes on caring for and passing on a piece set out these habits season by season. If you are still weighing up the material, the comparison of the different furs spells out what each one asks for. And to understand what a workshop can rework on an older piece, see our page on the furrier's work.