Currently, rabbit fur outerwear is quite popular. She is not only attractive, but also warm. Like any other clothing, be it outerwear or everyday clothing, items made from rabbit fur require timely and proper care. The easiest option is to hand over your outerwear to a professional dry cleaner. But! There are several proven ways to clean rabbit fur at home, so as not to spend money on dry cleaning services.
Can I wash it at home?
Do not soak, wash by hand or in an automatic machine, or clean with detergents; this will damage the product. Dry clothes at room temperature; using a hair dryer is not recommended. To remove minor dirt, use a soft-bristled brush. Clean the pile with a low-power car vacuum cleaner or hair dryer.
Before using the products, try cleaning the jacket by knocking it out. Hang the clothes on a hanger, cover with a damp cotton cloth and beat out. In winter, the product is cleaned with snow: the item is placed pile side down and knocked out (the method is suitable for environmentally friendly regions).
Large fur items cannot be washed even on the delicate cycle. Washing will cause the item to change in size and the fur will begin to fall off.
Precautionary measures
Any fur, and especially rabbit fur, is a delicate material. Careless actions can ruin it forever. To clean a fur coat or cape and not aggravate its condition, you need to remember a few “taboos”:
- Under no circumstances should fur items be washed;
- It is not recommended to use strong chemicals to remove stains;
- no need to comb the fur with a fine-toothed comb;
- Do not dry fur clothes on a radiator or with a hot hair dryer.
Remembering these simple rules, you can cope with dirt on your own and wear your favorite fur coat for many years.
Review of rabbit fur cleaning products
Before removing dirt, test the substances on an inconspicuous area (apply for 15-20 minutes and evaluate the result). For convenience, the product can be poured into a spray bottle.
Starch
The substance perfectly absorbs household dirt and dust and is safe to use.
Rub the starch into the pile and wait half an hour. The product should darken. Shake or vacuum the product to remove any remaining starch. Repeat if necessary.
Vinegar
A solution of water and table vinegar (2:1 ratio) will remove organic stains. This method will help get rid of the unpleasant odor, give the item a silky, well-groomed shine and softness.
For stubborn stains, dilute vinegar essence in water (4:1). The substance is caustic and toxic; you should work with rubber gloves.
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Bran
Place the clothes on a hanger or spread them out on a flat surface. Sprinkle the product with bran and leave for 15-20 minutes. Shake the item and comb the lint. Repeat if necessary.
The method is suitable for products of any color; black fur can be cleaned.
Peroxide
Prepare a solution: hydrogen peroxide (1 tsp), ammonia (1/2 tsp), water (400 ml). The substance removes yellowness that forms during long-term storage or exposure of fur products to water.
Talc
You can clean a rabbit fur coat with talcum powder or baby powder. Rub the substance into the pile with light movements and leave for half an hour. After the procedure, the product should be vacuumed or shaken well.
Talc can be replaced with semolina or wheat flour.
Starch, bran, flour, talc are natural adsorbents that can be used without fear of spoiling the item. For greater effect, substances are combined. Option – baby powder and bran (ratio 1:2).
Finishing work.
Dried skins are kneaded and pulled in all directions. The trifle crumples well with your hands, you should not allow it to dry out. Dried skins will need to be moistened again. Larger skins can be pulled through a bracket, kneaded on a disk, you can sharpen one edge of the board and use this edge for kneading.
For large skins, use a wooden pulverizer. Rabbit skins are processed well at home and, when properly processed, are easily wrinkled by hand.
If you process a large number of skins, then you need mechanization - a sliding drum. It can be made from wooden boards or plywood sheets. The drum diameter is 1.5 meters, width 70 cm. To rotate, you will need a small electric motor and gearbox.
The optimal drum rotation speed is 30 - 40 rpm. There are partitions inside for capturing skins. To break down the skins, you need large pieces of car tires or river pebbles the size of oranges.
Skins and sawdust are placed in the drum. When rotated, the skins fall and, thanks to pieces of rubber, are kneaded. In a drum, you can clean the skins from fat; for this, a solvent (turpentine, white spirit, etc.) is added to the sawdust.
After this treatment, the skins need to be shaken free of sawdust either on a special mesh drum or on the same drum where a mesh is installed instead of a locking hatch.
Sawdust is used from deciduous species (oak, aspen, birch, beech). After breaking, the skins need to be given an aesthetic appearance; the dermis is sanded with sandpaper by hand or on a machine. After processing, the skins become even softer. Then the pile is combed out with a metal needle brush.
If you don’t have a retractable drum, it’s okay, dressing skins at home can be done without it, you can clean the skins by washing them in wool shampoos, you shouldn’t wash the skins immediately after dressing, you need to wait a while so that the fat from the fat emulsion lubricate the collagen fibers well, the skins should rest.
When washing, chemicals (tanning agent, salt) will be preserved to some extent and the skins will remain soft.
How to clean a rabbit hat or collar
- fat stains on the collar will go away if you treat them with hot bran. You need to heat the substance in a clean frying pan with a non-stick coating to a temperature of 50°C and pour it into the pile;
- prepare the solution: 3 tbsp. l. coarse table salt, 1 tbsp. l. ammonia, 400 ml water. Apply the liquid to a cotton pad, wipe off the stains, and let the substance soak for half an hour. Then wipe the surface first with a damp cloth, then with a dry cloth;
- To clean yellowed rabbit fur at home, mix denatured alcohol (technical alcohol) and ammonia (1:1 ratio). The liquid will remove stubborn stains on a fur hat;
- clean things without using chemicals: stretch the product onto a three-liter jar and clean with steam. For these purposes, you can boil water and hold the item over steam, you can use an iron with a steam function;
- collars are cleaned using gel for fur products (powders and liquid products are not suitable). The item is dipped into the solution and, without twisting, hung to dry;
- to give a fur knitted hat a shine, wipe the pile with glycerin (can be purchased at a pharmacy) or spray with Amway spray;
- You can wash the rabbit collar lining with soapy water, being careful not to stain the fur. Either tear off the lining, wash it, then sew it back on;
- Faux fur collars and hats cannot be cleaned with acetone, alcohol, or vodka. At home, soap solution works well to remove stains. The substance is applied to the foam rubber and the stain is treated. The product is dried in the open air. Faux fur can be washed in a washing machine if you select the delicate cycle.
Grandma's secrets
Previously, when there was a lot of snow in winter, it did not turn gray from car exhaust and production waste; a fur coat was cleaned outside in frosty weather. It was laid out with the pile down towards the snow and knocked out. As a result, all the dust and dirt came off the fur coat, it became clean and shiny. Today, only residents of ecologically clean areas where there is enough snow in winter have this opportunity.
We recommend: Cleaning natural white fur from dirt and yellowness at home
However, you can still clean fur at home in a similar way by replacing the snow with a damp white cotton cloth:
- hang the fur coat on hangers;
- wrap it in a damp, clean cloth;
- knock out.
If heavily soiled, you need to change the fabric to a clean one and repeat the process. Once the dust has been removed, you can move on to cleaning organic contaminants - greasy areas on the collar or sleeves and, if necessary, stains.
Features of cleaning a white fur coat
- Mix 0.5 tsp. ammonia, 1 tsp. hydrogen peroxide, 1 glass of water. Treat a white fur coat with this solution and the stains will go away.
- Snow-white items can be cleaned well with semolina or starch.
- Use animal shampoo (dilute with water first). The liquid is applied to a napkin and the pile is processed in the direction of growth. Afterwards the surface is wiped with a dry cloth and dried.
- Prepare a solution of bluing with water (1 tsp of blue for 1 liter of water). The method is suitable for removing stains and preventing the appearance of yellowness.
After treatment with chemicals, the product will acquire a pungent odor. After the procedure, dry the item outside for 30 minutes.
Practical advice
- Do not clean rabbit fur with hard brushes. Use clothes brushes with soft bristles. After processing, hide the product in a case and put it in a closet.
- Before hiding an item after seasonal wear, it needs to be thoroughly dried in the fresh air, without turning to radiators or heaters for help.
- To avoid yellowing of white fur, hide the product in a dark fabric or paper cover, preferably blue. Before hanging it in a closet for storage, check that there is no mold or moth there. The product in the closet should not be in close contact with other things, as a result of which the fur can become very wrinkled.
- You can clean hats and collars with gels. To do this, add a little product to warm water, then dip the small item into the solution. The manipulation is carried out several times. Then remove the item, but do not wring it out. Let the water drain on its own. Take the garment out to dry in fresh air, but do not leave it in direct sun. To prevent the pile from sticking together, comb the fur while drying.
- If there is a need to wash the lining in the hat, its inner part is pulled out and the fur is put on a 3 liter jar. The pile is steamed and the lining is washed as usual. Then the elements are fastened together.
Removing dust from a fur coat
Under no circumstances should you wash a rabbit fur coat! You can take your item to the dry cleaner to freshen it up. You can use one very simple method:
- Lay the fur coat on a flat surface and cover with a damp towel.
- Beat out the dust using a carpet beater or a regular stick.
- Afterwards, wipe the entire product with a swab dipped in vinegar and dry.
- In order to give the product shine and softness, you can wipe the fur coat with glycerin.
Cleaning options
Any fur product is a delicate item. Incorrect actions can permanently ruin a rabbit fur coat, hat or collar. Therefore, the applicable product must be tested.
The test is carried out on an inconspicuous small area of the product. After applying the substance, you should wait at least fifteen minutes, then remove it and analyze the result.
To clean fur, they will help you cope with the task:
- Hydrogen peroxide.
- Talc.
- Bran.
- Vinegar.
- Semolina.
- Petrol.
- Starch.
- Ammonia.
- Soft brush.
The available tools used to carry out this procedure are accessible and low in price. But their effectiveness allows you to avoid the cost of purchasing expensive cleaning solutions. Cleaning fur does not take much time and does not require complex actions.
Any fur product is a delicate item. Incorrect actions can permanently ruin a rabbit fur coat, hat or collar. You can avoid such situations if you adhere to several important recommendations:
Remove stains
Sometimes stain removal is also required. At the same time, it is not always possible to take the product to the dry cleaner, and therefore you have to look for ways to clean a rabbit fur coat, especially when it is white. Quite ordinary things are also useful for this. You need to purchase purified gasoline, technical alcohol or denatured alcohol.
These products are great for removing greasy stains from things, which often happens to those parts of a fur coat that come into contact with human skin - cuffs, collar, pockets. To do this, you need to mix the ingredients in a 1:1 ratio, soak a cotton pad in the solution and wipe the fur. For further wear, you will need to let the fur coat air out, and therefore this method is recommended to be used at the end of the season or devote time to this on the weekend.
Gasoline, like vinegar, must be used only in a diluted state, since in other cases it can damage the fur, even causing bald spots and holes in the fur coat. Grease stains can be removed using other means. For example, “White spirit” mixed in equal proportions with ammonia is suitable. To do this, you need to wipe the fur coat and let it dry.
In half a liter of water you need to dilute a tablespoon of ammonia and 3 tablespoons of salt, apply the product to the product for half an hour, and then simply wipe with a dry, clean cloth made from natural materials. A solution of water and vinegar has a similar effect.
