How to soften mink flesh at home

Many women have a fur coat in their wardrobe, but in order for the item to please you for many years with its warmth and quality, you need to purchase properly made products. Quality is assessed according to two criteria - flesh and lint. The mezdra is the “skin part” of the fur coat, and the appearance and service life of the mink depend on its quality. They evaluate it by thickness, elasticity and color. If the skin is too dry, it will rustle like paper when crumpled. You can cope with this problem if you find out how to soften the flesh at home.

Mink white coat

It is easy to notice the dried skin on the inside of the hood; it has become rough to the touch, brittle and hard.

The characteristics of high-quality mink flesh are its sufficient elasticity (not to be confused with stretchiness), natural beige color, medium thickness and good strength.

mink flesh

How to restore fur after getting wet?

Got wet

After getting wet, the fur product must be dried naturally;
First, you need to shake the wet fur coat in order to remove as much moisture as possible from it. ...
After drying, the fur coat should be shaken again and the fur should be smoothed with your hand to make it uniform.

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WHAT TO DO IF THE MESH ON THE FUR COAT HAS HARDENED?

A cozy fur coat made of natural fur is, of course, a luxurious addition to your winter look and reliable protection from the harshest frosts. And in order for a fluffy outfit to please its owner from year to year, it needs to be worn as carefully as possible. However, it also happens that a woman protects the product in every possible way, but still discovers that the fur coat has hardened in some places. What to do?

IF THE FUR COAT BECAME HARD: REASONS

Getting wet is one of the reasons why natural leather loses its softness and plasticity. You may have noticed how leather shoes shrink, lose their attractiveness and become “oaky” after they are thoroughly wet. A fur coat is no exception. If you wet it too much down to the lining, the inner skin (and this is the other side of the skin) will harden, become brittle and may crack. For this reason, we strongly recommend that you refrain from wearing fur items in the rain or sleet.

HOW TO PREVENT YOUR FUR COAT TO HARDEN?

Under no circumstances should you dry your fur coat on a radiator, using a hairdryer, heater or any other heat source!

Any heating devices will shorten the life of the item: the core will simply lose its elasticity. Subsequently, it will be almost impossible to fix the damaged product and you will have to replace the entire wet area. And the quality claims presented to the seller will be unfounded, since the shortcomings of the fur coat that have arisen are the result of improper use, and not a violation of the manufacturing technology of the item.

Allow the fur to dry on its own at room temperature.

Place the product on a hanger in a ventilated room or in the fresh air, but not in direct sunlight. Using a special brush for animals, shake off the water from the fur, moving along the pile, and leave the outerwear to dry completely.

WHAT TO DO IF THE FUR COAT IS WET AND ROUGH?

If it hardens slightly, you can try to gently knead it with your hands.
It is better to do this from the skin side, i.e. you need to rip off the lining if it is sewn on. Using gentle movements, as if rolling a paper tube, knead the skin, avoiding over-stretching it. However, be careful: where the flesh is the driest, it may simply crack. Therefore, it is still better not to take risks, but to immediately take the fur coat to the dry cleaner.
If in some places the skin has become very hard or the wetted area has shrunk after drying, you will not be able to correct the situation on your own.
Contact a good dry cleaner, where specialists will soften hardened areas of leather, stretch the product according to patterns, and then dry it, returning it to its original appearance.
If during the season the fur coat gets wet and dries out repeatedly, and dirt, snow with reagents, etc. regularly get on the fur.
(for example, the hems of long fur coats are often susceptible to this), even dry cleaning will not soften the hardened inner layer. With a 99% probability, the product will have to be disassembled and the damaged area cut off. However, don't be discouraged! After all, after this, an updated stylish thing will appear in your wardrobe.

How to wash sheepskin fur covers at home

If the sheepskin product is too large to be placed in the drum of an automatic machine, it is washed by hand. This applies to blankets, car covers, and capes. This is not a difficult task, but it is labor-intensive.

It is necessary to stock up on a large, spacious container for washing; usually a bathtub is used.
You should prepare the product: shake it out, remove stuck small objects and debris.
If necessary, treat dirt stains or worn-out, dirty areas.
Pour warm (up to 40 degrees) water into a basin, dissolving one or two caps of gel detergent in it. Can be washed with liquid soap or shampoo. If your goal is to get rid of microscopic dust mites that live in fur, then you should use dog shampoo.
The sheepskin product must be soaked in soapy water for 30 minutes.
When washing, you must avoid sudden movements, do not rub the skin too hard or tug at the fur.
You need to rinse the covers in several waters until the detergent is completely removed.
It is recommended to dry the sheepskin in a horizontal position, periodically shaking and stretching slightly.

Important! The sheepskin should not be twisted to remove excess water. It is best to blot it with an absorbent terry towel.

Important Tips

Each owner of a sheep's skin should take into account the following information:

You need to wash sheepskin in a machine separately from other things;
Do not dry the product in the bathroom;
if the floor is heated, then the skin is not spread on it;
Do not use a wet product;
It is prohibited to process sheepskin with a washing vacuum cleaner.

Additionally, you can treat the wool with baking soda mixed with a small amount of essential oil. It is applied to the skin, left for a day, after which it is shaken off and the fur is combed out.

Why stretch the skins?

If you decide to buy a fur coat, and the seller assures you that it is made from whole, unstretched skins, feel free to walk away - you are being blatantly deceived.

To make the product beautiful and of high quality, there is no other way than to stretch the core. Why? Imagine any animal - it is unlikely that in nature you will find such an individual whose head is the same size as its back. Therefore, any natural skin has the shape of a trapezoid, moreover, uneven at the edges. It is not possible to sew such skins together, much less make a fur product from them. In addition, untreated skin easily stretches in all directions, and even if you manage to sew a fur coat, then after the first wear in all “strategic” places: shoulders, elbows, on the chest and, excuse me, below the back, bubbles and stretch marks will remain, as in old "sweatpants". It is unlikely that anyone will like to wear such fur.

How to get rid of stains?

If stains appear on the sheep skin or it turns yellow, resort to the help of improvised means. They act carefully without harming the product. The fresher the stain, the easier it is to get rid of it.

Yellowness

Hydrogen peroxide is used to make wool white. To prepare the solution you will need:

If a small area has been treated, wipe it with a damp, clean cloth.

To remove greasy stains, use baking soda or talc.

Procedure:

Sprinkle the stain with baking soda and press it down with a paper napkin.
Leave the product to act for 4 hours.
Comb out the fur with a brush or wash it.

If the stain is old, then strengthen the recipe with a small amount of dishwashing detergent. In this case, you won’t be able to do without washing.

Coffee and tea

Glycerin helps remove stains from spilled tea or coffee.

Rules for its use:

apply the product to the contaminated area;
leave for 10 minutes;
wash the item in warm water with shampoo, paying special attention to stains.

Salinity

During active use, the fur becomes greasy in certain places. You can deal with the problem without washing the skin.

Procedure:

Sprinkle the greasy area with salt.
Distribute it evenly over the skin.
Leave the salt for 2 hours.
Brush out the skin.

Is it possible?

Sheepskin can be washed either by hand or in a machine. Before you begin the procedure, you need to familiarize yourself with the features of caring for this fur product:

To remove dust and debris, shake or beat the skin well.
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For better cleaning, the product is vacuumed at low power. You need to guide the brush in the direction of hair growth.
To give the coat an attractive appearance, it must be combed with a brush.
To get rid of stains, there is no need to wash the product completely. It is enough to treat the contaminated area.

You should resort to machine and hand washing as needed, but not more than once a month. Regular contact with water will make the skin rough and the fur stiff.

Recipe 4

You can soften mink flesh at home using the following composition:

warm water – 1 liter;
ammonia – 5-6 drops;
toilet soap (preferably glycerin) and castor oil - 100 g each.

After the last procedure, the skin is folded with the fur facing out and left for 5 hours. Next, the product is dried in an unfolded form. It is advisable to leave the fur coat in a room with an air temperature no higher than 27°C.

It is important to understand that softening the flesh at home will not be possible quickly; the process takes a lot of time and is carried out in several stages. All ingredients are available, and the main part of them can be bought at the nearest pharmacy - this is glucose, ammonia, glycerin and castor oil. With their help, you can soften the skin of not only mink, but also arctic fox, black and brown fox and any other fur.

When is dry cleaning necessary?

Dust and fresh stains can be easily washed off yourself. If there are complex contaminants on the wool, then it will not be possible to do without the help of professionals.

The longer the stain remains on the product, the harder it is to remove . Dry cleaning will help you get rid of traces of blood, cosmetics, fuel oil and more. Cleaners will remove all dirt, wash the skin, dry it and comb it.

Before handing over an item to dry cleaning, you need to clarify the cost of the work and obtain a sealed contract. It must specify all the conditions under which the product is accepted for laundry, as well as in what condition the item was received, and what result should be expected.

You need to pay for the service only upon its provision. The average cost of dry cleaning sheep skins measuring 1 square. m. is about 1800 rubles. The final price depends on the complexity of the work performed.

Common damage

Oddly enough, people who are trying to figure out what “correct fur” looks like do it from a photograph. One of the so-called standards in this matter is mink flesh, photos of which can be found very often. However, it is very difficult to judge the quality from the image; for this you need to see the real color, smell, touch it with your hands, and listen to your feelings.

The most common defects are fur flow and stitching. The first, for example, is due to the fact that the hair follicles of some animals are not located in the flesh, but much deeper. After the skin has been removed, the hair loses its base and begins to fall off. If you pull the fur and a couple of hairs remain in your hands, do it again - as long as the “molting” stops the second or third time, everything is fine. Once you comb your fur coat thoroughly, the problem will disappear. But if each time you have more and more hairs in your hand, then the problem is quite serious, and it is called stitching. Here is the result of the work of a cross-haired fur master who cut off too much of the flesh along with the bulbs from which the hair grows.

After such shaving, the hairs simply have nothing to hold onto, and the fur falls off en masse. It is almost impossible to stop this process; we can safely say that the life of such a product is very short.

How to process manually?

You can wash sheepskin by hand. If the product is small, use a basin. The bulky skins are soaked in the bathtub.

The leather should be washed and rinsed with water at the same temperature. Its difference will cause the pile to form a ball. It will be difficult to comb through it.

Procedure:

shake off dust and dirt from the product, check the pile for stuck debris;
pour warm water into a suitable container;
dissolve liquid detergent or regular shampoo in it;
soak the skin for half an hour, periodically knead it with your hands and heat it;
after 30 minutes, the sheepskin is carefully washed; it should not be rubbed or pulled by the fur;
rinse the item - change the water until it becomes clear.

You cannot twist the skin. She is left in the bathroom until the water drains. To speed up this process, the product can be wrapped in a terry towel and lightly pressed.

How to define quality?

Before you deal with the question of how to stretch the flesh, you need to find out what it is and why stretching is necessary.

The mezdra is the layer of subcutaneous tissue in the skin of an animal; it is, so to speak, the “leather part” of the fur coat. The service life of the product and its appearance will depend on the quality of its workmanship. The main evaluation parameters are the strength of the flesh, its thickness, color and elasticity, which depends on the amount of fat remaining after processing.

If the skin was too degreased during the preparation process, then when crumpled it will make a characteristic rustling sound, like parchment paper. This can be fixed, but you need to know how to soften the flesh. And if there is too much fat left, the leather part will look greasy and shiny; products made from such material run the risk of acquiring a sharp, characteristic smell of old lard over time.

High-quality leather has a tan leather fabric of a pleasant light beige color, is quite flexible and has a looser structure than suede.

Washing sheepskin in a washing machine

Machine washing allows you to get rid of stains, lighten the fur and make it silky. To get this result you need to follow 5 rules:

Do not wash fur in hot water. Its maximum temperature is 40 degrees. If you process the product in boiling water, the wool will become matted.
Before washing, the sheepskin must be cleaned of crumbs and dust removed.
Do not use detergents containing chlorine and other aggressive components for washing. Preference should be given to gels and liquid powders.
Calculate the weight of the product. If the item is large and consists of several skins, then it should be washed in a machine with maximum load. When wet, fur increases its mass by 3-4 times.
The presence of stubborn stains is a reason for pre-soaking.

Wash the product according to the following algorithm:

Place the sheepskin in the washing net. If you don't have one on hand, you can use an old white pillowcase. This will help prevent the fur from matting.
Pour detergent into the washing machine compartment or use gel capsules.
Select a delicate wash cycle. You can install the “wool” program, or manually configure the machine. The water temperature should be 30 degrees, and the number of revolutions should be 600 per minute.
After washing is complete, remove the skin from the drum, shake it and place it on a flat surface to dry.

Why does a mink fur coat squeak?

This is due to the fact that during dry cleaning, the fats that are used to treat the skins during dressing are washed out to give them softness and elasticity. To eliminate the crunch, it is enough to treat the back side of the skin with glycerin dissolved in a small amount of water.

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Recipe 2

Another effective solution for softening at home:

glucose – 20 g;
salt (table) – 20 g;
warm water – 1 liter;
glycerin – 20 g;
potassium alum – 15 g.

It is always possible to soften the flesh well with glycerin, but you can also use baby cream to improve the effect.

glycerol

How to wash a sheepskin rug

Since the rug is a voluminous product, it will not be possible to use a washing machine. Must be washed by hand.

Rules for using a sheepskin rug:

Daily shaking out of sheepskin flooring should become a rule for every housewife.
Rugs should be vacuumed once or twice a week, running a brush through the wool. This procedure will help get rid of debris stuck in the deep layers of fur.
A sheepskin rug must be washed at least once a month. This is done manually, with the addition of liquid detergent. After washing, it should be rinsed in several waters and dried in a horizontal position with the fur facing up.

If your sheepskin rug has turned yellow, you can bleach it. To do this, take two tablespoons of a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution and dilute them in 1 liter of cold water. Gently moisten the fur with a sponge, avoiding getting the base too wet. After processing, the sheepskin should dry naturally. If treatment is insufficient, you can increase the concentration of hydrogen peroxide.