724 MARINE PRODUCTS OF COMMERCE 



out with a downward scraping movement of a 2-handled curved knife, the edge 

 of which is just dull enough to prevent cutting the hair or fur. 



After unhairing, the skins are tanned or "leathered." They are given a pre- 

 liminary treatment in which a slight amount of moisture is left in the pelt. Seal oil, 

 which as mentioned above, is extracted from the seal's own blubber is then 

 painted on the flesh side, and the skins are run in a "mill." The action of this mill 

 is similar to the old method in which men tread on the sealskins in their bare feet, 

 but the machine is much more effective and uniform in its action and very much 

 more rapid. The tannage is produced entirely and solely by the action between the 

 seal oil and the hide fiber, no so-called "chemicals" being used. This process gives 

 a true oil tannage, commonly known as "chamois tannage." 



During the tanning process the fur naturally becomes very greasy; and before 

 dyeing is attempted this grease or oil must be removed. This is accomplished by 

 running the sealskins several times in specially constructed mills with hardwood 

 sawdust. In these mills the skins and sawdust are together kicked back and forth; 

 the sawdust, forced down through the fur to the grain, absorbs by capillary attrac- 

 tion the grease held by the fur. Between mill runs the dirty sawdust is shaken out 

 of the skins by tumbling them in steel wire "cages" (similar to some methods of 

 carpet cleaning ) . This allows clean, fresh sawdust to get down into the fur. 



Sawdust is a very useful and necessary material in the dressing and dyeing of 

 sealskins. It is used probably 25 or 30 times during the process, and special kinds 

 of dust are most suitable for each different operation. No other material that has 

 been tried, such as cornmeal, etc., has proved as satisfactory. For sealskins and 

 other furs, however, only the best grades of hardwood dust are suitable. Dust 

 from soft, resinous wood would spoil the furs. 



The skins are then dyed. This operation requires considerable skill and experi- 

 ence as it is entirely done by brushing the dye on the fur rather than by immersing 

 the skins in a dye bath. The dyeing operation is divided into three main steps. In 

 the first step the fur is given what is called a "killing"; this is really a mordant. 

 In the next operation a vegetable black is applied to the upper half of the fur. 

 In the last operation the whole length of the fur from the tips to the roots is 

 treated with a vegetable color of rich chocolate brown. It is this method that 

 produces half brown and half black fur which has been imitated in substitutes 

 such as Hudson seal. More than 2 dozen applications of dye are given to the fur. 



All fur-seal skins were formerly dyed black, but in response to the market de- 

 mand a satisfactory brown dye was developed and was first offered to the trade 

 in 1924. Subsequently other shades of brown have replaced the one originally 

 used. At present, in addition to black, two shades of brown are available: Safari 

 brown, which has been popular since its first introduction in 1934, and Matara 

 brown, a neutral shade, offered for the first time in 1939. 



As the pelts are still too thick to be used by the furrier, they are made thinner 

 by passing them through shaving machines— large cylindrical drums covered with 

 an abrasive and revolving rapidly. The surplus pelt is actually buffed off. During 

 the dyeing process the pelt itself is not stained through with the dye, but merely 

 picks up a surface coat of black. In the buffing operation this black surface is re- 

 moved and a white or rather light yellow chamois leather is produced. 



The unhairing process removes only the coarse hair which is longer than the 

 fur. Practically every sealskin, however, has more or less growth of stubby hair 



