Dog hair

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Electron microscope image of a dog's hair

Dog hair refers to the hair of domestic dogs as spinnable fiber .

history

“Shear your long-haired dogs and goats!” Appeal shortly before the end of the First World War

Yarns made from spun dog hair have been found in prehistoric finds in Scandinavia and in textiles from the Navajo Indians of North America. It was the most important fiber in the North American continent before the Spanish introduced the sheep.

During the two world wars, among many other collection campaigns, calls were made for the delivery of dog hair for textiles. A socially critical study of domestic dogs from 2008 indicates that with the use of the hair of so-called “luxury” or “female dogs” an attempt was made at the same time to keep these animals (such as guard dogs, guide dogs, etc.) that are not regarded as useful dogs justify.

In 1920, dog hair collars and hats were the last novelty in England. The hair was partly colored, partly left natural.

Nowadays dog hair is only used for hand spinning in private households or by small producers.

Extraction

Newfoundland dog next to his combed hair
Dog brush for combing out

The hair is combed out or brushed, preferably while the coat is changing , less shaved (e.g. in the poodle). The material from the shoulders and back is best, the fibers from the hind legs and tail are coarser, while those on the stomach are very soft, but often of a very short pile length . If there is a lot of or very coarse top hair in mixed-hair dog breeds , this must be sorted out, otherwise it can be processed together with the woolen hair . Generally, the hair is washed immediately after it is collected, or the dog is washed itself before combing. It has been proven that hair from the following dog breeds is suitable for spinning:

Use and properties

Breast ornament with a border made of dog hair. From the Society Islands in the Pacific, brought back from a James Cook voyage in 1768–1780.

Dog hair is often blended with other natural fibers by carding to create a yarn with better wearing and processing properties. The staple length of dog hair is often only between 1.25 cm and 2.5 cm. 50% sheep's wool is particularly often used to make the yarn more elastic and durable. Angora can also be stretched with dog's hair, because both are very similar in their properties, that is, very soft and fluffy and tend to fluff. The fiber can also be dyed , the top hairs taking on the color less well.

Spun dog hair is water-repellent, but not very elastic and, based on its weight, up to 80% warmer than sheep's wool.

The yarn made from dog hair is usually processed into knitted goods such as sweaters , hats and the like, which are worn as outerwear or weatherproof clothing.

See also

Commons : dog fur  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Web links

Wiktionary: Dog hair  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

literature

  • Kendall Crolius et al. Anne Montgomery: Knitting with Dog Hair: Better a Sweater from a Dog You Know and Love Than from a Sheep You'll Never Meet . St. Martins, New York 1997, ISBN 978-0312152901 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ J. Suzanne Greer: Evaluation of Non-Traditional Animal Fibers for Use in Textile Products . Thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University . (2003)
  2. ↑ Julika Renger: Social debates about the economic and psychosocial use of the dog from 1870-1945 in Germany . Inaugural dissertation to obtain the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at the Free University of Berlin, Berlin 2008. pp. 108–112.
  3. ↑ Editor: Also a kind of dog fur . In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt No. 10, Leipzig, January 24, 1920, p. 10.
  4. ↑ a b Kaye Collins: Dog down - delightful or disastrous? In: Spin Off, the magazine for handspinners . Vol. 15, No. 3, 1991, pp. 55-61. Loveland / Colorado, ISSN  0198-8239
  5. ↑ Stephen K. Holzinger: Putting on the dog . In: Spin Off, the magazine for handspinners . Volume 17, No. 4, 1993, pp. 48-51. Loveland / Colorado, ISSN  0198-8239
  6. ↑ Sandra Choron; Harry Choron: Planet Dog: A Doglopedia Houghton Mifflin. Page 326, ISBN 0-618-51752-9 . Google Books , accessed May 3, 2008