Principles and Practice of Fur Dressing and Fur Dyeing

by William E. Austin

There are two principal methods by which dyes are applied to furs in practise: the brush process, whereby only the tips or the upper part of the hair are colored; and the dip process, whereby the entire fur, including the leather is dyed. All other procedures in fur dyeing are modifications or combinations of these two. Killing solutions and mordanting solutions are also applied by one of these methods, usually the dip process, although very frequently combinations of the brush and dip methods are used.

Chronologically the brush method of dyeing came first. The early masters of the art were extremely fearful about employing any means by which there was a possibility of the leather being in any way affected. They naturally had to devise such methods as would give the desired effect in a satisfactory manner, and as would be confined solely to the hair part of the fur, leaving the leather untouched. By applying the dye or other material to be used, in the form of a paste with a brush, the upper portion of the hair only was treated. For different kinds of furs different sorts of brushes were used, and the depth to which the hair was colored could be controlled by skillful manipulation of the brushes. It was frequently necessary to give a ground color to the hair, the lower part being dyed a different shade from the tips. This was accomplished by spreading the dye paste over the hair with a broad brush, and then beating the color in with a specially adapted beating brush. With larger furs, two skins were placed hair to hair after the dye had been brushed on, and the color forced to the bottom of the hair by a workman tramping on the skins. The dyeing of seal was a typical illustration of these procedures. First the tips of the hair were dyed. The color was brushed on, allowed to dry, then the excess beaten out with rods. These operations were repeated until the proper depth of shade was obtained, often as many as a dozen or more applications of the dye being necessary. Then the base color was spread over the hair, and beaten or tramped in until the lower parts of the hair were penetrated. This process also required drying and beating out of the excess dye, as well as numerous applications of the dye to impart the desired color to the hair. Prior to the dyeing, the furs were killed, by brushing on a paste containing the essential ingredients, drying and beating and brushing the fur, just the same as in dyeing. It will be readily seen that such methods were exceedingly laborious, and in some cases the dyeing took many weeks, and even months.

It was quite a step forward when a certain fur dyer, possessing a little more courage, or perhaps, experimenting spirit than the others, attempted to dye furs by dipping them entirely into a bath containing a solution of the dye instead of applying a paste as formerly. The advantages to be gained by such a method of dyeing were many. A large number of skins could be treated thus at one time, and this was a very important consideration in view of the great increase in the demand for dyed furs. By allowing the furs to remain in the dye solution until the proper shade was obtained, the time and labor of applying many coats of dye by brush was considerably reduced, and in addition, there was a greater probability of the products coming out all alike, uniformly dyed. The results as far as the hair was concerned, were indeed highly gratifying, but the condition of the leather after dyeing was not so encouraging. This difficulty has to a considerable degree been overcome, although there are frequent instances of the leather being affected by the dyeing process even with modern methods. However, the remedy in such cases, or rather the preventative is the proper dressing of the skins prior to the dyeing. The dip method of dyeing has acquired great importance, and is being employed in dyeing operations involving the handling of millions of skins annually. In certain instances, nevertheless, the brush method is of prime significance as in the dyeing of seal, and seal imitations on muskrat and coney, enormous quantities of furs being dyed in this fashion. In the majority of imitations dyed, both the brush and the dip methods must be used.

[Figure 19] illustrates the various types of brushes which are used at the present time for the application of the dye by the brush method. Each brush has a specific purpose and use. The procedure in brush dyeing is somewhat as follows. The skins, after being properly treated, that is, killed, and mordanted, are placed on a table, or work-bench, hair-side up. Then by means of a brush which is adapted to the nature and requirements of the particular fur, the solution is brushed on in the direction of the fall of the hair, occasionally beating gently with the brush so as to cause the dye to penetrate to the desired depth. Considerable skill and care must be exercised in this operation as it is rather easy to force the dye down further than is wanted, and in some cases the leather or the roots of the hair may be affected. The skin having received its coat of dye, is then dried and finished, if no other dyeing processes are to be applied. Frequently, with certain types of dyes, several applications of color are necessary, and these are brushed on as the first one, drying each time. Then, on the other hand, the skin may receive a dyeing in the bath by dipping, and for this also, the fur is first dried after the brush dyeing.

Fig. 19. Brushes Used in Fur Dyeing By the Brush Method.

Quite recently, owing to the great quantities of furs which are being dyed as seal imitations, chiefly by the brush method, although the dip method is used in conjunction with it, machines have been invented to replace the hand brush, and the dye is now applied mechanically. Machines for this purpose are by no means new, there being records of inventions almost a score of years past, but they did not achieve much success. Brush-dyeing machines, to be efficient, must be designed to suit the needs of the particular type of fur to be dyed, otherwise there will be a great lack of uniformity in the dyed skins, a condition which cannot occur when the dye is brushed on by hand brushes. [Figure 20A and B] shows diagrammatically, machines invented within the past few years, which are used to dye mechanically furs by the brush process.

Fig. 20. Types of Machines for Dyeing Furs By the Brush Method.

A. (U. S. Patent 1,225,447.) B. (U. S. Patent 1,343,355.)