CHAPTER VII 



TAKING CARE OF FURS 



The buyer of raw furs judges the value and the quality of the 

 skin by the pelt side. Most skins are taken from the carcass of the 

 animal cased with the pelt side out. This is done by splitting the 

 skin around the hind legs and peeling the skin off over the body 

 like drawing off a stocking. The pelt is then stretched with the fur 

 on the inside and the pelt or leather on the outside. A prime pelt 

 means prime fur. The fur of a prime-pelted skin when it is dressed 

 and made up into a garment will stand up straight, while the fur 

 of an unprime pelt will lay flat and slope to the tail. In buying a 

 fur garment it is well to take these points into consideration. Furs 

 of the best quality have lots of life, the fur bristles and stands up 

 and has a natural lustre and gloss. The poorer furs are dead looking 

 and flat, the hair drooping over and there is a lack of life and lustre. 

 In buying furs one should consider the purpose for which the garment 

 is to be used. The raccoon coat will outwear almost any other fur 

 garment for hard usage and automobile wear. The moleskin gar- 

 ment will not last long if subjected to hard wear. The pelt is very 

 thin and the fur is light and there is not much to hold it together. 

 The woman who buys a fine Russian sable neck piece or a silver 

 fox and wears it out in the hot sun light can expect to have the color 

 fade and the fur become brittle and lose its natural lustre as the 

 pigment of the hairs dry up. The life of fur can be doubled and 

 trebled with a little care. Avoid sitting on the coat, whenever pos- 

 sible. Do not wear fine furs in the strong sunlight any more than 

 is absolutely necessary. Keep them clean. It is cheaper to send a 

 fine fur coat to the furrier and have it cleaned occassionally, than to 

 buy a new coat. Fine furs should be cleaned as often as any other 

 similar garments and if they are kept clean and hung in a place where 

 air and light (not sunlight) can get to them, there will be little or no 

 danger from moths. The moths will never bother any garment that 

 is clean and shaken out in the air and used. It is only when they 

 are stored away full of dust and dirt in a dark closet that the moths 

 have a feast. Do not pack furs away in moth balls; send them to 

 cold storage; but most important of all, keep them clean. 



