The best way I have found to repair a vintage fur thats not worth spending money at the furrier is to cut a patch of fabric – best from a cotton shirt, place it under the rip in between the lining and the pelts – then with a hot glue gun glue one side of the rip to it, let it dry, then glue the other side to it, you would never know and its still flexible!
: )
the WORST THING you can do yo a fur is use GLUE to repair itt… hoever says it is clueless about repairing furs. glue will dry out and crack and there goes your fur. people dont give advice if you dont have a clue..
I must agree…as I said in the article, the ONLY time I use glue is a TINY dot of it on a toothpick to fasten a Persian lamb curl back into place.
I appreciate your knowledge, but please don’t be nasty to people who post here. Thank you.
Sharon
I tried to repair my just purchased vintage fur, apologies but unsure what the fur is possibly able, it is made from lets running down in lines and had a 3 inch split at the back close to the shoulder, I opened the lining and using an iron on invisible mending patch from behind tried to repair. What an idiot I was, I now have glue on the coat, a 2nd split and still the original split although it is larger, I will sew the splits now having read the advice given, but does anyone have any idea how I can remove a patch of glue about 2 ins square please as if I cant sort this out I might as well throw the coat, which was lovely. Anj
Per a furrier if you are not going to wear the coat a lot or are making something like a blanket out of an old coat you can use duct tape on the tear. She said to pull the rip together, tape from the back and then hold the hair dryer on it. Please be aware that once you do this the duct tape will not come off without ripping the skin.
I purchased a vintage fur that has no visable flaws except that it is kind of stiff. I was wondering if I could open the lining and use some kind of leather oil, mink oil, lexol, etc. on the hide side to soften it. Any other “do it yourself” suggestions so that I don’t have to pay a furrier?
Y’all can send me your fur fiascoes!! Even if you think they are too small or awkwardly shaped.
If you can’t pay for shipping, I may be able to, it just depends.
Thanks,
M
Hello
I have this old fur coat and it has an approx 5 inch long rip on the arm sleeve.
i’m not sure what type of fur it is.. it’s a bit course, it’s dark brown with lines on it..
mink? but.. i dont know how to repair it.. should i add fur, or should i try and sew it back together. the rip is right on line.. i’m sorry i don’t really know fur lingo
i need help :( i really want to repair it and wear it this winter.
Hi Natassia,
From your description, and what I know is commonly available out there, I would bet this is muskrat. Dyed with stripes to make it look more like mink, muskrat is a very versatile and relatively inexpensive fur that was popular (dyed like thta) in the 1930′s and ’40′s. If there is a tear that large, it really depends on the condition of the skin itself, not the fur, as to whether it can be sewn back up. Open the lining and see how stiff the skin feels. Use my directions from the article to sew it and possibly reinforce it with a leather patch from behind, after you finish sewing it. And wear it with extreme care, meaning, take it off before getting into a car, and just be very aware of the way you’re stressing it. No shoulder bags, nothing that will grab the fur in any way.
Good luck!
I have a home product I am going to test myself and I will post the results here.
Thank you for your site!!! I have a couple old coats that I haven’t been able to part yet but they’re really aren’t wearable either with the rips and tears in the pelts.
I’m going to try the duct tape mentioned above in one of the comments on the sleeve of my Persian lamb. I’m guessing the pelts have dried out and at the point of the shoulder both sleeves have tears right where the pointy end of the hanger would be. (they must not of seen the movie ‘Mommy Dearest’ or else they’d of known better! “No wire hangers ever!!!” ha)
The tears are really jagged leaving very thin, frayed edges that would tear again if I tried sewing them directly. But I’m thinking that if I used small pieces of duct tape on the underside and stitched them together it might work plus it’d help prevent more tears.
I have fur jacket acquired from a reputable furrier about 1980. The large collar is curly lamb. Due to the way the jacket was stored, the collar has developed what can best be described as “bed hair.” The curls near the outer edge of the collar lie awkwardly because of pressure over time. I’ve tried combing lightly with a hair pick, which helps, but the problem lingers. Can this be fixed?
I have bought a fox fur stole but the head has bent and is too stiff to reposition. Does anyone have any ideas on how to soften the head to position it correctly so it lies flat?
Hi I was wondering if anybody knows how it fix a fur coat that has gone stiff, it is very old.
I have several ventage furs. I would like to glaze and restore the leather myself. Any ideas?
Hi,
I have gain some waight and I can’t button my shierling jacket. It was to hot for our winter
Thanks anyway.
Haw can I trim the fur and make it shorter?
thanks
I recently obtained a vintage sheared mink stole that has an odor. Not worth it to me to pay for professional cleaning. Does anyone have any tips on getting odor out of fur AND lining. Thinking about using Febreeze extra strength, but not sure.
Thanks
Hello ppl, I came across several chinchilla pelts that I’d like to color to match a vest. Does anyone know of a process to dye the skins?
For all you guys and gals that want to fix up your furs. I’ve got a great website you can go to.
http://lanasfur.com
She has product for glazing your fur, and now she has a product that is for
fixing the dried out skin of your fur. But that means you have to remove your lining and use the product right on the skins. I’m a guy that likes his fur coat in the middle of winter. They keep me very warm. I buy pre-owned furs. Mostly Bomber style in Long hair Beaver.
I actually take them to a local furrier here in town, and he replaces the lining and the zipper.
What most people don’t think about, is how heavy their lining is. If its too thin, more of the weight of the coat will be on the seams. but if you get a heavier lining, it will take more of the weight off the coat and the lining will carry more of the stress. Plus it will also add to the
warmth of the coat. I hope you all find this information helpful!
best regards, BJ.
This is such a helpful post. Thank you!!!