CHAPTER III

FUR DRESSING

INTRODUCTORY AND HISTORICAL

Fur dressing has a twofold purpose. First of all, the putrefactive processes must be permanently stopped, so that the skin may be preserved as such, or worked up as some fur garment, without danger of decomposition. Having taken measures to a.s.sure the endurance or relative permanency of the pelt, the prime consideration is, of course, the appearance of the hair. The hair must be so treated that all its inherent beauty is brought out to the fullest extent. It must be made clean and soft, and all the natural gloss must be preserved, and if possible, enhanced. The appearance of the leather is relatively unimportant, since it is not seen after the furs are made into garments. There are, however, certain qualities which it is essential for the leather to possess after being dressed, and these are, softness, lightness of weight, elasticity or stretch, and a certain firmness or 'feel.' In other words the important considerations in fur dressing are the employment of means, and the exercise of care to preserve or even improve those characteristics of the pelt which make it valuable.

The dressing of furs has many features in common with the manufacture of leather, which is a kindred art. But whereas in fur dressing the prime consideration is the appearance of the hair, and the leather is of secondary importance, in the production of leather, the hair plays no part at all, since it is entirely removed from the pelt. The fundamental points of resemblance between leather manufacture and fur dressing are in those processes and operations which are concerned with the preservation of the leather, and rendering it in the proper condition for use.

Both leather dressing and fur dressing have an origin which may be regarded as identical, and which dates back to the haziest periods of antiquity. In the course of satisfying his needs, primitive man killed the animals about him, and thus obtained his food. The killed animal also furnished a skin, which after undergoing certain manipulations and other treatments, could serve as a protective covering, ornament, or defensive weapon. Since the skin in its natural state was hardly fit for use because of its easy tendency to putrefaction, it is evident that man had to find some means of preventing this decay in a more or less permanent fashion, and moreover had to treat the skin so that it would be suitable for use, by rendering it soft and flexible. The discovery of means to accomplish these purposes was probably one of the first great steps forward on the path of progress and civilization.

There are evidences of the use of animal skins in the earliest periods of antiquity, in fact it is a usage which may be literally regarded as "old as the hills." One of the earliest written records of the employment of the skins of animals as garments, is in the Old Testament, where it states, "Unto Adam and to his wife did the Lord G.o.d make coats of skins, and clothed them." Numerous other biblical references indicate the use of animal skins for various purposes, sometimes prepared as leather, with the hair removed. Among the Egyptians tanning seems to have been a common occupation. The particularly attractive skins, like those of the leopard or panther, were especially prized, and were made up as furs for ornamental wear, rugs and decorations. The less valuable skins were unhaired and made into leather. Although the tanning or leather-producing processes of the Egyptians are quite unknown, numerous figures engraved in stone afford an indication to some of the manipulatory operations, such as soaking the skins, fleshing, softening with stones, stretching over a three-legged wooden "horse," etc. Many articles, made of leather, have been found in the various Egyptian sarcophagi, and all are in a splendid state of preservation, after forty centuries, thereby indicating a very efficient method of dressing animal skins. Likewise, the presence in the museums of various articles, leather and fur, of a.s.syrian, Phoenician and Persian origin, tends to show that these peoples also possessed a considerable degree of proficiency in tanning. Frequent references in the Greek literature show that leopard and lion skins were worn as war cloaks, and they undoubtedly were properly made. In the _Iliad_ is described an operation for the preparation of skins for use as garments, and the method seems to be a sort of chamois dressing.

The first method of tanning skins was, in all probability, that of rubbing into the skins various fatty materials found close at hand, such as parts of the animal, fat, brains, milk, excrement, etc., such an operation const.i.tuting the basis of what is now known as the chamois dressing. One of the reasons for believing that it was the first process to be used by primitive man, is the fact that certain undeveloped tribes and races of the present day still dress skins by it. The American Indians, even to this day prepare skins by rubbing in, on the flesh side, the brains of the animals which furnished the skins. The Eskimos dress skins by rubbing in animal fats or fish-oil, and subsequently softening and stretching the skins with their teeth in place of, or for want of other implements.

Usually, however, variously shaped stones or bones of animals are used to obtain the proper degree of softness and flexibility. It is true, too, that some of the skins dressed in this primitive fashion can scarcely be excelled by any dressed with more modern processes and tanning methods.

The next step forward in the preparation of animal skins for use was undoubtedly the utilization of substances found in the earth. Common salt, sodium chloride, was the most universally used substance of mineral origin, just as it is today. Our prehistoric ancestors eventually discovered the preservative action of salt, and applied it to skins.

While it was effective, it was not sufficiently permanent, so another mineral, also of very common and wide occurrence was used in combination with the salt, and the result proved quite satisfactory. This second common mineral was alum. The use of alum, which is the basis of numerous tanning processes to this day, seems to have been quite a popular method of ancient times. Artemidorus, a Greco-Roman writer, mentions the use of alum by the Greeks, and the Romans are known to have prepared a soft, flexible leather called aluta (alum leather), by using it. In view of the fact that Egypt had extensive deposits of alum, it is believed that the alum-salt process was employed also by the Egyptians in the preparation of leather. However, the evidence on this point is not conclusive.

One of the most important methods of producing leather, either as such or on furs, was with the aid of certain vegetable extracts, known as the tannins, from which the process of tanning gets its name. The discovery of the value of these materials for converting the decaying raw skin into a leather which could be preserved for an almost indefinite length of time, and which was flexible and soft as desired, was of far-reaching importance. For it is only in very recent times that these tannins have been superseded in part by new tanning substances whose use is simpler and more time-saving. Yet there are unmistakable indications that the tannins were employed for tanning at a period which reaches back to the dawn of history. Although it is scarcely probable that the people who used these materials could have known of the existence or the nature of the particular substances in the vegetable extracts which actually effect the tanning action, experience taught them to employ these plants which possessed the highest content of active ingredients, and which, consequently, were most effective in use. Tychios, of Boetius, a Greek supposed to have lived about 900 B.C. and mentioned in the _Iliad_, is considered the oldest known tanner, and was regarded by Pliny, a Roman writer, as the discoverer of tanning, and of the use of the various vegetable tanning materials. At any rate, the Greeks used the leaves of a so-called tanning-tree, which was probably the sumach. The Egyptians worked with the acacia, while the Romans used as tanning materials the barks of the pine, alder and pomegranate trees, also nut-galls, sumach and acorns. The Romans were quick to employ methods used by the peoples whom they conquered, and it is in this way that they learned the use of many of the plants mentioned, for tanning purposes.

Many other ancient peoples had various processes of tanning, the methods probably differing in each country. Thus the Chinese, Syrians, and much later, the Moors, were each known for proficiency in a certain cla.s.s of leather tanning. It has been said that in general, even up to modern times, tanning with nut-galls was the characteristic method of the Orient; with oak-tan, that of the Occident, while the use of alum is regarded as the method peculiar to the Saracens.

In prehistoric times and the early centuries of civilization, skins or pelts were prepared for use by the individual, the work usually being done by the housewife and daughters, while the masculine members of the family were engaged in hunting the animals and obtaining the skins. At a later period, when people had advanced to the point where they lived in cities, the preparing or dressing of skins became centered in the hands of a comparatively small number of people, and thus the work took on the aspects of a trade. The workers in fur were at first the same people who made leather out of the skin, for the two kinds of work were very closely a.s.sociated. During the period of the Roman supremacy, historical records show that the furriers, who did all the work connected with furs, from purchasing the raw skins, dressing them, making them into garments, to selling the latter, were organized into a.s.sociations together with the leather workers. After the fall of the Roman empire, and throughout the centuries known as the Dark Ages, all traces of the furriers seem to have been lost, but in the beginning of the Renaissance period in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, we again find records of the furriers, who were now all members of the furriers' guilds, also in a.s.sociation with the leather workers. As formerly, all the work connected with the production of fur apparel from the raw furs, was done by the master furrier and his apprentices. The methods and the implements used, were essentially the same as in Roman times, and in fact, up to a very recent period there was very little change in either.

With the advent of the great industrial era at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the guild system became ineffective, but the furriers continued their work as heretofore. Up to about the middle of the nineteenth century, the furrier continued to be the only factor of any importance in the fur trade. There was no need for speed in his work, for the demands of the trade were not so urgent. The fact that the dressing of furs often occupied two to four weeks was no deterring factor in his business. However, with the great expansion of the fur trade about this time, it became impossible for the individual furrier to do everything himself, and keep up with the requirements of his customers.

Specialization commenced, and establishments were set up solely for fur dressing. The traditional time- and labor-consuming processes were still used, but the efficiency of work on a large scale enabled the fur dressers successfully to fill their orders. But the fur trade continued to grow by leaps and bounds, and very soon the fur dressers were no longer able to meet the demands of the trade. It was then that the science of chemistry came to the aid of the fur dresser, and helped him meet the exigency. By devising dressing processes which were cheap and efficient, and which only required several hours, or at the most one or two days, as compared with as many weeks, the chemist brought the fur dresser out of his dilemma.

And with the adoption of mechanical time- and labor-saving devices, the fur dressing industry has made wonderful progress.

CHAPTER IV

FUR DRESSING

PRELIMINARY OPERATIONS

The fur dresser receives the skins in one of two shapes, flat or cased, depending on the manner in which they were removed from the animal. Flat skins, as for example, beaver, are obtained by cutting on the under side of the animal from the root of the tail to the chin, and along the inner side of the legs from the foot to the first cut. The skins are either fastened to boards or attached to wooden hoops slightly larger than the skins, so as to stretch them, and are then carefully dried, avoiding direct sunshine or artificial heat, as it is very easy to overheat the skins and thereby ruin them. The great majority of skins, however, are cased. The pelts are cut on the under side of the tail, and along the hind legs across the body, the skin being then removed by pulling it over the head off the body like a glove, tr.i.m.m.i.n.g carefully about the ears and nose. The skin is thus obtained inside out, and is drawn over a stretching board or wire stretcher of suitable shape and dimensions, so as to allow the skin to dry without wrinkling. The pelts, after drying in a dry, airy place, are removed from the stretchers and are ready for the market. With some furs, as foxes, the skins are turned hair-side out while still somewhat moist, and then put on the stretcher again till fully dried. In most cases, however, skins are sold flesh-side out. Throughout the various dressing operations cased skins are kept intact, being turned flesh-side out or hair-side out according as the processes are directed to the respective sides. The pelts are only cut open if they have to be dyed, or after the manufacturer receives them, when they have to be worked into manufactured garments.

A distinction which is made by fur dressers and dyers, and also by the fur trade in general, divides furs into those derived from domestic animals, particularly the various kinds of sheep, including also the goat species, and those obtained from other animals by trapping. In fact, at one time, and to a certain extent even to-day, dressers were divided into two groups based on this distinction, one cla.s.s dealing only with furs obtained from the sheep family, and the other working with other kinds of furs.

This differentiation is not a simple arbitrary one, but has a rational justification. As mentioned before, the manner and habit of living of the animal are important factors in determining the nature and const.i.tution of its skin, both leather and hair. The structure of the body being dependent primarily upon the nature of the food absorbed by the animal, it is only natural that herbivorous or vegetable-eating animals such as sheep and goats, should possess fur of a different sort from that of the carnivorous or meat-eating animals, such as the majority of fur-bearers are. It also seems clear that furs differing in their character and const.i.tution should require somewhat different treatments, and accordingly the methods are modified when furs like lambs or goats are dressed. To a great extent, however, the fundamental operations are similar for all furs, regardless of nature or origin, and these will be discussed briefly.

Inasmuch as the first great purpose of fur dressing is to render the skins more or less permanently immune from the processes of decay, it is necessary to prepare the pelts so as to be most fit to receive the preserving treatment. The skins as they are delivered to the fur dresser have, in the majority of cases, been stretched and dried to preserve them temporarily, while in some instances, especially with the larger furs like bears and seals, they are salted and kept moist. The flesh-side of the pelt still has considerable fleshy and fatty tissues adhering to it, and the hair is generally soiled and occasionally blood-stained. In order to get the pelts into such a condition that they can be worked and manipulated, they first have to be made soft and flexible. Very greasy skins are sc.r.a.ped raw in order to remove as much as possible of the attached fat, the operation being known as beaming or sc.r.a.ping. The typical beam, shown in Fig. 3, consists of a sloping table usually made of some hard wood, and placed at an angle of about 45. It is generally flat, although in some instances convex beams are also used, about a yard long, 8 to 10 inches wide, and firmly supported at the upper end. The skin is placed on the beam, flesh-side up, and is sc.r.a.ped with a two-handled knife (Fig. 4), always in a downward direction.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 3. BEAM.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 4. KNIVES USED IN FUR DRESSING.]

The first step in softening the skins is to get them thoroughly moistened, and this is variously done, depending on the nature of the skin. Lambs, for example, require the gentlest means of wetting them, while rabbits can stand soaking in water for several days. The manner and duration of moistening must be adjusted to the character of the pelt. For the putrefactive processes which were stopped by stretching and drying the skins, continue as soon as the pelt is again moistened. The progress of decay causes the evolution of certain gases, the simplest of which is ammonia, and eventually, if permitted to proceed, brings about the complete disintegration of the skin tissue. It has been found that a certain amount of gas formation is necessary to loosen up the fibres in order to get the best quality of leather after tanning. This process must be interrupted at the proper time and not allowed to proceed too far.

Skins which have been preserved fresh by salting, require only a comparatively short time (about 2 hours) to become softened by soaking in clean, soft water. Most dried skins need a longer treatment before they are sufficiently flexible. The addition of certain substances to the water facilitates and accelerates the softening. In some instances salt water is used for soaking the pelts, the preservative action of the salt tending to prevent any loosening of the hair. A solution of 1/4% borax is very effective in rendering the skins soft, and clean as well. Borax has an exceedingly mild alkaline action, and causes a slight swelling of the skin tissue, which then absorbs the water more readily. Being also preservative and antiseptic, borax tends to prevent decomposition of the skin tissue. Another chemical of a different nature, but equally effective is formic acid, used in the proportion of 1.52.5 parts per 1000 parts of water. Formic acid also induces a swelling of the skin, the pelts being soaked in a short time, and the antiseptic action of the acid obviates the possibility of the hair becoming loose. The water used should be fresh and clean, and the soaking must be stopped as soon as the skins have become soft and flexible. Sometimes the skins are allowed to soak overnight in water, while in other cases, the pelts are just moistened by dipping in water until thoroughly wet, and then laying them in a pile for several hours, or overnight. Another method which is practised with certain types of skins is the use of wet sawdust or of sawdust moistened with salt water. The fur skins are either embedded in the sawdust or drummed with it for several hours, or until sufficient moisture has been absorbed to render them flexible. By this means there is no danger of the skins being over-soaked, or of the hair being loosened. When the skins have been properly wetted, they are drawn with the flesh-side across the edge of a dull knife-blade, in order to help loosen the texture of the skin.

They are then put into a tramping machine and worked until completely softened. In the case of large or heavy skins, the moistened pelts are worked on the beam with a dull beaming knife to impart thorough softness and flexibility.

The pelts are then cleaned with particular reference to the hair. With some furs this is accomplished simply by drumming for several hours with dry sawdust, whereby the oil and dirt are removed from the hair, and the hair is then freed from the sawdust by caging. Other skins are washed, being pa.s.sed through a weak soap solution for a short time, the dirty spots being brushed. Occasionally an extract of soap-bark is used in place of the soap, being even more effective. The cleansed skins are then thoroughly rinsed to remove any of the cleaning material, which would affect the gloss of the hair if allowed to remain on the skins. Then in order to eliminate as much as possible of the water in the skins, they are hydro-extracted, a centrifugal machine of the type shown in Fig. 5 being used. The basis of its action depends on the utilization of the principle of centrifugal force. The machine consists essentially of a perforated metal basket generally made of copper, capable of being rotated at a high speed. Surrounding the basket is an iron framework, polished or enamelled on the inside. The wet skins are placed in the rotating basket, fur side toward the perforations, and the water which is thrown off from the skins pa.s.ses through the little holes, and is caught up on the walls of the outside frame, from where it is led off through suitable ducts.

The centrifugal device is properly equipped with balancing and regulating attachments, as well as with a brake. The power may be applied by the over-drive or the under-drive as is most desirable in the particular case.

The inner surface of the basket can also be enamelled or otherwise made resistant to the action of acids or other chemicals.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 5. CENTRIFUGAL MACHINE.

(_Fletcher Works, Inc., Philadelphia_)]

When the skin is removed from the animal, as much as possible of the adhering fat and flesh is sc.r.a.ped off, but in spite of this, and in spite of subsequent beaming by the fur dresser, there is always a thin layer of flesh and fatty material remaining and this must be removed so as to expose the corium, enabling the efficient action of the chemicals used in the tanning processes. The process of removing this undesirable layer from the flesh-side is known as fleshing. It is a rather delicate operation, requiring considerable experience and dexterity on the part of the worker, for it is exceedingly easy to cut into the skin and damage the fur. A fleshing knife of the type commonly used is shown in Fig. 6.

It consists of a sharp blade fastened at a slight angle from the vertical, with the cutting edge away from the workman, who straddles the bench, and by drawing the skins back and forth across the edge of the blade, removes all flesh and fat, leaving the corium free and clean. Large skins cannot conveniently be fleshed in this fashion. They are placed on the beam, and fleshed with a fleshing or skiving knife similar to the beaming knife, but consisting of a slightly curved, sharp two-edged blade having handles at both ends. Frequent attempts have been made to use suitable machines to do this work. A type of machine which has met with considerable success is depicted in Fig. 7. It is fashioned after the models used for the fleshing of hides for leather manufacture, and has special adjustments and regulating devices which afford protection for the hair part of the fur. From time to time other fleshing machines are put on the market, yet none of them seems to enjoy any great popularity, for fleshing is still largely a manual operation. With some cla.s.ses of pelts, fleshing presents some difficulties, and chemical means have to be resorted to in order to loosen the flesh sufficiently to enable proper fleshing. In the case of large furs like bears, leopards, and the like, which while of no great importance in the fur trade, are occasionally met by the fur dresser, the skins after being soaked, and washed with soap-water, are partially dried; then the flesh-side is treated with technical b.u.t.ter or oil, which is tramped in. A mixture of salt water and bran is then applied to the skins, thereby causing a swelling action to set in, and the flesh becomes loosened, and is easily removed by fleshing on the beam. Seals receive a special treatment which makes them soft, and gives them greater stretch after they are tanned. A paste made by mixing a very dilute solution of caustic soda with an inert substance like French chalk, china clay, etc., is applied to the corium after the skins have been fleshed, then the pelts are folded up, and allowed to lie for several hours. They are then entered into a dilute solution of calcium chloride and left overnight.

After being washed in a paddle or drum, first with fresh water, and then in water containing lactic or formic acid to remove the lime, the skins are ready for tanning.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 6. FLESHING KNIFE ON BENCH.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 7. FLESHING MACHINE.

(_Turner Tanning Machinery Co., Peabody, Ma.s.s._)]

CHAPTER V

FUR DRESSING

TANNING METHODS

After the pelts have gone through the preliminary operations of softening, washing and fleshing, they are ready to receive the treatment which will convert the easily decomposing skin into leather of more or less permanency, depending on the method used.

During the past century, considerable study has been made both by scientific and technical people, of the problem of leather formation.

Numerous theories as to the nature of the process have been evolved, but even to this day, no satisfactory explanation has been given which would account for all the facts as they are now known, so the matter is still a subject of considerable controversy. Procter, who is one of the leading authorities on leather today discusses the development of the tanning theories as follows:

"The cause of the h.o.r.n.y nature of dried skin is that the gelatinous and swollen fibres of which it is composed not merely stiffen on drying but adhere to a h.o.m.ogeneous ma.s.s, as is evidenced by its translucence. If in some way we can prevent the adhesion of the fibres while drying we shall have made a step in the desired direction, and this will be the more effective the more perfectly we have split the fibre-bundles into their const.i.tuent fine fibrils, and removed the substance which cements them. The separation of the fibres can be partially attained by purely mechanical means.... Knapp, to whom we owe our first intelligible theories of the tanning process, showed that by physical means the separation and drying of the fibres could be so far effected as to produce without any tanning agent a substance with all the outward characteristics of leather, although on soaking it returned completely to the raw hide state. He soaked the prepared pelt in absolute alcohol, which penetrated between, and separated the fibres and at the same time dried them by its strong affinity for water. More recently, Meunier has obtained a similar result by the use of a concentrated solution of pota.s.sium carbonate which is even more strongly dehydrating.

"Knapp made a further step by adding to his alcohol a small quant.i.ty of stearic acid which, as the alcohol evaporated, left a thin fatty covering on the fibres which completely prevented their adhesion, and reduced their tendency to absorb water; and he so produced a very soft and white leather. Somewhat similar are the principles of the many primitive methods which apply fatty and alb.u.minous matters, grease, b.u.t.ter, milk, or brains to the wet skin, and by mechanical kneading and stretching, aided by capillarity, work these matters in between the fibres as the water evaporates. Such methods are still used, and enter into many processes in which other tanning agents are also employed.

"Building upon these facts, Prof. Knapp advanced the theory that the effect of all tanning processes was not to cause a change in the fibres themselves, chemical or otherwise, but merely to isolate and coat them with water-resisting materials which prevented their subsequent swelling and adhesion. True as this theory undoubtedly is in many cases, it can hardly be accepted as the whole truth, and it seems incontestable that frequently the fibres themselves undergo actual chemical changes which render them insoluble and nonadhesive.

"Before Knapp's work, the prevalent theory, at least as regards vegetable tannage, had been a chemical one, started by Sir Humphrey Davy. If a solution of gelatine be mixed in proper proportion with one of tannin, both unite to form a voluminous curdy precipitate; and, according to Davy's ideas, this was amorphous leather. Against this, it was urged that even the supposed 'tannate of gelatine' itself could not be a true chemical compound, since the proportions of its const.i.tuents were considerably varied by changes in the strength of the solutions, or by washing the precipitate with hot water; and further, that in chemical compounds, the form was changed, and no trace of the original const.i.tuents appeared in the compound; while in leather apart from some change of color and properties, the original fibrous structure remained unaltered.