Fur durability
For the fur durability , the durability of fur products , there is no scientifically developed statements. However, in the 20th century, experts in the fur industry made some attempts to compare the various types of fur and fur with respect to their carrying capacity.
The figures given there are not unambiguous. In addition to the subjective observations of durability in practice, there are also influences from fur dressing and fur finishing as well as numerous other factors in each individual case .
General
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Beaver jacket with torn edges (1957)
The durability of a fur is understood to mean its ability to maintain its material properties, given by nature or by additional human processing, for as long as possible. This concerns the durability of the leather , the breaking and tearing strength of the hair , but also its color fastness. The quality of a hide depends on many factors. The following can be generalized with reservations: Fur species that live wholly or temporarily in the water have a particularly thick and hard-wearing fur. The colder the living space, the thicker and silky the hair. A dense, soft undercoat is characteristic of the winter fur of the temperate and cold zones. In tropical animals, guard hair generally predominates over wool hair . Marten species usually have a particularly durable fur. Winter coats are qualitatively better than summer coats, transitional coats (from the period of coat change ) may under certain circumstances tend to hair loss ("mild hair"). The skins of small carnivores have a quicker and therefore more stable leather than those of herbivores.
The main factors for the extent to which the skin is worn are:
- Strength and resilience of the individual hair
- When wearing fur clothing, strong hair is more resistant to external influences than fine-haired ones. Damage to clothing is caused by friction, for example, on the edges, the lower sleeves and the sides of the torso underneath, on the neck, the seat, etc., in the case of fur carpets from the footwear.
- The length ratio between the upper hair and the undercoat
- A longer and thicker upper hair of the fur grants the lower hair better protection, the durability of the undercoat is less threatened. However, most long-haired types of fur are more prone to abrasion and thereby impair the appearance of the fur part before the leather is completely abraded or even visible.
- With appropriate fashion fur skins are often sheared or the top hair is plucked, the crafted from fur garments are usually under names such Samtnerz , Samtbisam , Samtnutria offered etc., even Sealkanin , previously used word formation for these finishing forms ( Sealbisam etc.). With shorn skins, the upper and lower hair have the same hair height and are therefore exposed to the same load, but the closed hair cover is considerably less prone to abrasion. If the fur is plucked, only the softer, finer lower hairs remain. Basically, the fur is more exposed to external influences, but an objective comparison of durability is still difficult. The owner of the natural fur may be annoyed by the fact that the undercoat becomes visible through the rubbed guard hair, while with velvet fur the damage is only noticeable after the leather has become visible.
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- Hair density
- Thick-haired fur is more durable than lighter, thinner fur. The larger mass of hair will wear out more slowly.
- Hairiness
- More shedding fur is subject to faster wear. The hair thins further and becomes less attractive. More hairy types of fur are rabbits , rabbits and cats. In animals, the greatest hair loss occurs at the end of summer during the period when the hair is shinged; it is weakest during the full maturation of the fur at the beginning of winter.
- Hair fragility
- The brittleness is a major factor in the poor wearing properties of a fur. This hair breaks when it is kinked and has little tensile strength. The hair of the antelope, gazelle, serval, kid and goat, roe deer, stag and adult reindeer is particularly brittle. In the tip part of their hair, rabbit fur and fox are particularly brittle.
- Matting
- The matting from friction, dirt and dust affects the play of the hair and the appearance of the fur.
- Leather texture, leather thickness
- Thin-leather skins are less firm, especially small animal species such as suzliki (ground squirrel) and mole . The leather tears more easily and becomes rotten more quickly. The bigger the fur, the stronger and more durable the leather. The size of the skins within an animal species can differ depending on their origin, and thus also their leather durability. The skins of younger animals are thinner than those of older animals; the cup bears and otters are mentioned as examples . The leather of older animals is also particularly durable with sheep goods . In sheepskins is, by age, each with different strengths leather, differentiated commercially: Lambskins, Research , Schmaschen , Galjaks . Fine broadtail skins and kidskins are particularly thin-leather. Male skins usually have thicker leather than female skins, they are often larger in the body, with the exception of chinchillas , in which the females are larger. Warm storage may accelerate the aging or decomposition process of the leather.
- Type of tanning and finishing
- The type of dressing (tanning) and finishing (dyeing, bleaching, etc.) has a noticeable effect on the durability of hair and leather, especially through
- a) the type of finishing, including the auxiliaries and tanning agents used.
- b) the dyeing process.
- If you work properly, the dyeing should not cause any deterioration in the quality of the hair or leather. However, any additional bleaching that may be required may considerably impair the hair fragility, and if not handled properly, leather damage can also occur. Especially in the past, the chemicals and auxiliaries used for the finishing continued to have an effect on the hair and especially on the leather, in some cases even after the finishing.
- Exposure to light
- a) Sunlight in particular bleaches fur; in high mountains, ultraviolet radiation has a particularly rapid effect.
- b) The dyes used in earlier years sometimes quickly lost their color expression, even when the skins were stored in the dark, and the colors occasionally decomposed ( oxidized ). In the 1930s in particular, this led to problems with colored red foxes. The modern fur dyes correspond to the textile colors and are correspondingly color-fast.
For furs that are in use, the following have an impact on their durability and good appearance, and thus on their useful life:
- Careful treatment and the frequency of use. Fur worn more often wears out faster and becomes dirty faster. It is to be stored properly. That means protecting it from pests and keeping it dark and as cool as possible. Furriers offer fur preservation for summer storage . Fur goods can also be made moth - proof with the so-called eulanization .
Shelf life tables (comparison)
When fashion turned to fur towards the end of the 19th century and people began to wear fur with the hair facing outwards, load-bearing capacity, especially abrasion resistance, became more important. Up until the turn of the 2nd millennium, fur was used primarily as an inner lining for women’s and men’s clothing, as well as for fur trimmings, accessories, which mainly included a muff , fur tie or scarf, and a fur headgear for women and girls. At that time, fur books were first published, and in the work of the London fur trader JC Sachs there is a list, perhaps the first, in which he compares the load-bearing capacity of the different types of fur when used in fur clothing. Like all later authors, he put the extremely strong and heavy sea otter skin with a durability of 100 percent first.
The assessments of the various experts about the individual shelf lives differ significantly in some cases, but the trend is the same and in some cases they have changed over time. This is particularly noticeable with the colored red fox . It can be seen what difficulties initially existed in coloring a red fox black. The coloring was not only not permanent, it also caused considerable damage to the hair, a problem that has now been completely solved thanks to modern chemical colors. It cannot be ruled out that some of today's colorations even improve the durability, or at least the color fastness, through the additional color storage in the hair.
- Paul Schöps: The most detailed and probably most well-founded comparison of durability was published by the German fur specialist Paul Schöps in 1964. He made use of the cooperation of master furriers and tobacco shops and their practical experience with regard to the apparent wear and tear. Various tables on the subject had already appeared before, in the meantime some new fur species had been put into use, and the finishing and finishing technology had made considerable progress. Sea otter fur, which is no longer traded, is still regarded as the most durable fur, followed by the fur of the American otter. In addition to the sea otter and other species of the zoological family of otters, many of the species listed in the lists are now under species protection and / or a trade ban.
- At Schöps, the classification was made in stages of ten percent each, only the weakest species were given the value class of five to ten percent. The most durable types of fur based on practical experience were set at 90–100 percent. It was noted that it was not advisable to give more precise information about the fur types. Even the best quality skins have somehow finer differences in the texture of the hair and leather and therefore also in their wear behavior.
- David G. Kaplan: The New York furrier David G. Kaplan described in his 1974 book “World of Furs” the most important types of fur of the time in terms of their properties, their use, including a comparison of their durability, and, as an important addition, their specialty Repair and redesign options . Like Schöps and all other predecessors, he applied the percentage comparison with the types of fur that are considered to be the most durable.
- American Fur Breeder: The American magazine for fur breeders "American Fur Breeder" published a short list in 1940, after recent microscopic hair examinations, which was then printed in the German specialist newspaper "Der Rauchwarenmarkt". In the tobacco products market published in Leipzig, the then world trade center for furs, it was said: “Even if the durability of the most valuable furs shows only minor differences, a highly differentiated scale can be drawn up which clearly shows the differences in quality”.
- William B. Austin and Kurt Nestler: Kurt Nestler, also active in the Leipzig tobacco shop, used a table drawn up by the American William B. Austin seven years earlier for his book "Rauchwaren und Furzwaren" in 1929, to which he compared some of the corrections that he realized : “Our observations in this regard have shown that today, and above all, in the Leipzig finishing industry, they no longer work with strong stains and chemicals that are harmful to the hide, as they did before the war. The difference in durability between colored and natural skins of the same type and quality is very minimal, except for skins that have been bleached and dyed. There may well be differences between natural and colored fur in terms of durability. But here, too, methods have been found the application of which minimizes this difference. Differences, as they are given in the table below, are far too blatant, as any fur processing company can confirm today. A fox whose durability was rated at only 40 points anyway does not lose a 15 simply by being colored. It seems as if the table was drawn up on the assumption that the less good varieties are always used for dyeing. But then the list usually gives the wrong picture, especially when it comes into the hands of laypeople. [...] On the other hand, certain comparisons are no longer valid today either. "
- John C. Sachs: London was another fur wholesale center next to the Leipziger Brühl and New York. The local furrier "Captain John C. Sachs (Late Northhamptonshire Regiment), Lectures at Drapers' Summer School, Cambridge", as it is called in his third edition book on the title page, had drawn up a comparative shelf life table for furs around 1923, perhaps was it's the first ever. He wrote: “You can tell from it that the toughest fur is sea otter, and the most sensitive hare and, perhaps a little surprise, the high position of the Canadian sable - apparently so tender, and the low rank of the goat - apparently so hard."
| Fur type | Schöps (1964) | Chaplain (1974) | American Fur Breeder (1940) | Austin (1922) corr. Nestler (1929) |
Sachs (ca.1923) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| monkey | 20-30% Scheitelaffe (Königsaffe, Seidenaffe) |
20-30% most types |
- | - | - |
| antelope | 5-10% | 5-10% | - | - | - |
| Astrakhan | - | 40-50% engl. "(Caracul)" |
10% | 60% (Austin) 25% (Nestler) | 15% |
| Bassarisk, Ringtailcat | 50-60 | 60–70% colored 60–70% natural colored |
- | - | - |
| Pine marten (noble marten) | 40-50% | 50-60% | - | 65% natural color 45% (Austin) 55 (Nestler) blinded |
60% natural and colored |
| Beaver with awns | 80-90% | 90% | - | 90% | - |
| Beaver, sheared | 70-80% (high, low cut) |
80–90% unplucked 60–70% plucked, sheared |
- | 85% plucked |
91% |
| Bilch (Siebenschläfer) | 5-10% | - | - | - | - |
| Muskrat , sheared | 50-60% | - | - | - | |
| Muskrat with awns | 50-60% | 70-60% USA black muskrat 40-50% USA muskrat |
45% | 45% | 51–57% natural color 33% Hudson |
| Blue back fur | 50-60% | - | - | - | - |
| Brown bears | 90-100% | 80-90% | - | 94% brown or black |
94–96% [general] "bear" |
| Broadtail | 30-40% | - | - | - | 18-75% engl. "Astrakhan broadtail" |
| Burunduk (Chipmunk) | 20-30% | 20-30% | - | - | - |
| Caloyos | 50-60% | - | 15% | - | - |
| chinchilla | 20-30% | 20-30% | - | 15% (Austin) 20% (Nestler) | 17-25% |
|
Chinchillona (short-tailed chinchilla) |
10-20% | - | - | - | - |
| Chinchilla rat | 5-10% | - | - | - | - |
| Civet Cat (Lyraskunk) | 20-30% | 40-50% | - | 40% | - |
| Badger | 60–70% Europe, China, Korea, Japan (mostly brushware) Honey badger: Middle East, Africa |
60-70% | - | - | 75% |
|
Desman (silver bisam, Wychochol) |
40-50% | - | - | - | - |
|
Noble fox : silver fox , platinum fox and others mutation foxes , cross fox , blue fox , white fox |
40-50% | 50–60% blue fox, gris fox, cross fox, platinum fox, new silver fox 40–50% white fox 20–30% old silver fox |
- | - | 40% silver fox 20% white fox, " bleuté " fox |
| Squirrel (feh) | 30-40% | 30-40% | - | 25% (Austin) 30 (Nestler) | 28-75% |
| Icebear | 90-100% | 90-100% | - | - | - |
| Otter | 90–100% especially North American. otter |
90–100% Canadian 70–80% South American 60–70% Asian |
- | 100% | 98% |
| Flying Dog (Molenda) | 10-20% | low durability | - | - | - |
| foal | 60-70% | 40-50% | - | 35% Russian |
- |
| Galjak | 10–20% larger varieties more resistant |
- | - | - | - |
| gazelle | 5-10% | - | - | - | - |
| Genette (gorse cat) | 20-30% | - | - | 35% | - |
| Big cats | 50–60% tiger , lion , jaguar , snow leopard, (Irbis) , puma , clouded leopard , cheetah |
80–70% leopard 50–60% jaguar, lion 30–40% cheetah |
- | 75% leopard |
81-86% leopard |
| Guanaco | 50-60% | - | - | - | - |
| Semi-monkeys | 20-30%; 30-40% | - | - | - | - |
| Half Persian | 50-60% including Shiraz |
- | - | - | - |
| hamster | 30-40% | 30-40% | - | - | - |
| Rabbits | 5–10% gray hare (field hare), white hare (Siberian hare, mountain hare) |
10-20% | 5% | 5% | 5% |
| Domestic cat | 50-60% | 30-40% | - | - | - |
| Ermine , weasel | 30-40% | 50-60% | 25% | 25% | 32-35% |
| Polecat | 40–50% also white polecat |
60-70% | - | - | - |
|
Japanese marten, Japanese mink |
40-50% | - | - | 20% | - |
| calf | 30-40% | 40-50% | - | - | - |
| kangaroo | 20-30% giant kangaroo |
30-40% | - | - | - |
| Rabbit | 20-30% seal rabbit, beaver rabbit 10-20% upper hair rabbit, rabbit plucked |
10–20% except for finely sheared, colored French |
5% | 5% wild rabbit |
8th % |
| Small cats, wild | 50-60% | 40-50% | - | - | - |
| Koala bear | 30-40% | - | - | - | - |
| Kolinsky | 20-30% | 40-50% | - | 25% | - |
| Hyrax | 5-10% | - | - | - | - |
| Lambskins - sheepskins , sheared | 50-60% Buenos, Borregos, Embros, Borrequitos |
60–70% beaver lamb |
- | - | - |
| Lambskins - upper hair | 40–50% moirés: Eastern China, Indian lamb , Baghdad, Astrakhan |
- | - | - | - |
| lynx | 50–60% fine and coarser origins |
40-50% | 50-60% | 25% | 33–43% natural color 22–25% black colored |
| mole | 5-10% | 10-20% | 5% | 7% | 11% |
| Mouflon | 30-40% | - | - | - | - |
| Marble (bobak) | 70-80% | 50-60% | - | - | 10% colored |
| Native Cat (spotted marten) | 30-40% | - | - | - | - |
| Mink (wild mink) | 70–60% coarser provenances 50–60% silky provenances, including Canadians |
70-80% | 70% | 70% natural color 35% (Austin) 55% (Nestler) colored |
76-81% |
| Mink (farm mink) | - | 80-90% | - | - | - |
| Nutria | 40–50% plucked, with awns |
50-60% | 25% [always plucked at the time] |
25% (Austin) 45% (Nestler) [always plucked at the time] |
35–45 [always plucked at the time] |
| Opossum, American | 30-40% | 40-50% | 35% | 37% natural color 20% (Austin) 30% (Nestler) colored |
37% |
| Opossum (Possum), Australian | 50-60% 30-40% Adelaide |
70-80% | - | 40% | 42-43% |
| Opossum (possum), Tasmanian | 50-60% | 30-40% | - | - | - |
| Otter shrew (baby otter) | 20-30% | - | - | - | - |
| ocelot | 50-60% | 70-80% | - | - | - |
|
Pahmi (Chinese beech marten, sun badger ) |
60-70% | 50-60% | - | - | - |
| Fur dogs (east asia) | 50-60% | 60-70% | - | - | - |
| Persians (Karakul) | 60-70% | 50-60% | - | 65% | 63-75% |
| Pechaniki | 50-60% | - | - | - | - |
| Pijiki (young reindeer) | 20-30% | - | - | - | - |
| Prairie wolf (coyote) | 60-70% | up to 40% | - | - | - |
| Ringtail | 40-50% | - | - | - | - |
| Red foxes | 50–60% coarser provenances; also Grisfuchs , Kitfuchs , Korsuk , Prairie Fox 40–30% Mongols |
40–50% kit fox "(Corsac Fox)" 50–60% |
40% natural 25% (Austin) 35% (Nestler) colored |
40% natural color 25% black colored |
43–53% natural color 25% black colored |
| Horse skin | 20-30% | - | - | - | - |
| jackal | 60-70% | - | - | - | - |
| Feast | 50-60% | - | - | - | - |
| Platypus | 50-60% | - | - | - | - |
|
Seal (Bear Robbe) , Seebär, fur seal |
60-70% | 90-100% | 90% Alaska Seal |
80% natural color 70% colored |
83-87% |
| Sea fox (raccoon dog, tanuki) | 50-60% | - | - | - | - |
|
Seal with awns (hair seal) |
40-50% | 60-70% | - | - | - |
| Sea otters | 90-100% | 90-100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Skunk , North American | 50–60% harder provenances, including Minnesota. The silky Eastern are less resistant |
- | - | 50% | 66-73% |
| Skunk, South American | 30-40% to 50% Montevideo |
65% | - | - | - |
| Slink lamb | 40-50% | - | - | - | - |
| Beech marten | 50-60% | 50-60% | - | 45% (Austin) 55% (Nestler) natural color 35% (Austin) 45% (Nestler) colored |
43-45% |
| Suslik (ground squirrel) | 10-20% | 20-30% | - | - | - |
| Tibetan lamb | 30-40% | - | - | - | - |
| Tigeriltis (Perwitzky) | 30-40% | - | - | - | - |
| Viscacha | 5-10% | 10-20% | - | - | - |
| wolverine | 90-100% | 90-100% | 100% | 100% | - |
|
Virginian polecat (fishing marten, pecan) |
90-100% | 90-100% | - | - | - |
| Wallaby | 5-10% |
30-40% | - | 65% natural 50% colored |
- |
| Raccoon (scales) | 50-60% | 70-80% more American |
65% | 65% natural 50% (Austin) 55% (Nestler) colored |
73-83% |
| Water rats | 5–10% yellow, Russian |
- | - | - | - |
| Whitecoat | 50-60% | - | - | - | - |
| Weasel | 30–40% 40–50% Chinese and Japanese |
30-40% | - | - | - |
| Wolf, timber wolf | 60-70% | up to 60% Timberwolf |
- | 50% natural color |
63-73% |
| Wombat | 30-40% | - | - | - | - |
| zebra | - | Not good, hair too stiff, thick leather |
- | - | - |
| Civet cat (african) | 50-60% | - | - | - | - |
| Civet cat (asian) | 60-70% | - | - | - | - |
| Kid | 10-20% | 20-30% | - | - | - |
| goat | 10-20% | - | - | 15% | 23-33% |
|
American sable (spruce marten) |
40-50% | 50-60% | - | - | 67-75% |
| Sable, Russian, Siberian | 50-60% | 50-60% | - | 60% natural color 45% (Austin) 55% (Nestler) colored ( blinded ) |
63–75% natural color 55% blinded 50% colored |
In 1932 the wool researcher E. Tänzer published an identically structured list of durability, in which the hare fur is also considered to be the least durable.
Before 1986, Erich Beinhauer , Chairman of the Committee for Technology and Research of the Central Association of the Furrier Trade , put together a new shelf life table as a diagram for use by experts from all the studies known to him, "which was only allowed to be published in strict confidence and nowhere". He commented: "Unfortunately, the percentages can only be seen for the whole fur, whereas the durability of leather and hair shows great differences."
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Paul Schöps et al: On the durability of fur . In: Das Pelzgewerbe No. 4 and 5, 1963, pp. 148–151.
- ↑ Helmut Lang: Fur . Deutscher Fachverlag, Frankfurt am Main 1989, p. 20. ISBN 3-87150-314-2 .
- ^ Ernst dancers: hair and fur studies. The Rauchwarenmarkt, Leipzig 1932, p. 11.
- ↑ Ingrid Weigel et al.: Changing hair and fur maturity . In: Das Pelzgewerbe No. 4, 1961, pp. 149–158.
- ↑ a b c Paul Schöps; H. Brauckhoff, Stuttgart; K. Häse, Leipzig, Richard König , Frankfurt / Main; W. Straube-Daiber, Stuttgart: The durability coefficients of fur skins . In: Das Pelzgewerbe , Volume XV, New Series, 1964, No. 2, Hermelin Verlag Dr. Paul Schöps, Berlin, Frankfurt / Main, Leipzig, Vienna, pp. 56–58.
- ^ A b David G. Kaplan: World of Furs . Fairchield Publications. Inc., New York 1974, pp. 153-197 (English).
- ↑ a b c The durability of the fur hair . In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt No. 26, June 28, 1940, Leipzig. Primary source: American Fur Breeder , USA
- ^ A b John C. Sachs: Furs and the Fur Trade . 3rd edition, Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd, London undated (after 1926), p. 137 (English).
- ^ Kurt Nestler: Tobacco and fur trade . Max Jänecke, Leipzig, 1929, 1st edition, pp. 102-103. Based on William B. Austin: Principles and Practice of Fur Dressing and Fur Dying . D. van Nostrand Company, New York, 1922. Last accessed October 10, 2019.
- ↑ The durability of fur . Photo, undated and without an author's note, with an imprint of the expiry date (G. & C. Franke collection).
- ↑ Subject: Revision of the Jury Fränkel's smoking manual […]. Letter from E. Beinhauer to the publisher Christian Franke, Murrhardt, Bad Homburg, July 10, 1985, sheet 1 (sheet 3: shelf life table (G. & C. Franke collection)).