Chapter II: Preface: I. Furs and Their Characteristics 1

Introductory. Knowledge of furs essential. Definitions.
Differences in furs of various animals. Effect of climate
on furs. Effect of age and season on furs. Durability and
relative weights of furs. Description of important furs.

II. STRUCTURE OF FUR 21

The skin. The hair. Under-hair and top-hair. Chemical
composition of furs. Action of chemicals on the skin.
Action of chemicals on the hair.

III. FUR DRESSING: INTRODUCTORY AND HISTORICAL 29

Objects of fur dressing. Origin of fur dressing. Use
of fats. Use of salt and alum. Use of the tannins. Early
organizations of the fur workers. Modern organizations
of the fur dressing industry.

IV. FUR DRESSING: PRELIMINARY OPERATIONS 36

Flat skins and cased skins. Herbivorous and carnivorous
fur animals. Beaming or scraping. Softening the skins.
Cleaning; hydro-extracting. Fleshing.

V. FUR DRESSING: TANNING METHODS 45

Nature of the tanning process. Chief tanning methods.
Comparison of the tanning methods. Effect of dyeing
operations on the dressing.

VI. FUR DRESSING: DRYING AND FINISHING 71

Importance of the drying process. Methods of drying.
A modern type of drying device. Oiling. Staking or
stretching. Beating and combing. Drum-cleaning. Unhairing
and shearing.

VII. WATER IN FUR DRESSING AND DYEING 85

Importance of water in dressing and dyeing. Water
suitable for dressing and dyeing. Soft water and hard
water. Effects of hardness in water.

VIII. FUR DYEING: INTRODUCTORY AND HISTORICAL 90

Purposes of fur dyeing. Improvement of furs faulty in
color. Production of a uniform shade on furs. Dyeing furs
to obtain novel effects. Imitation of valuable furs on
cheaper skins. Difficulties due to the hair. Difficulties
due to the leather.

IX. FUR DYEING: GENERAL METHODS 98

Two methods of dyeing furs. Development of the dyeing
methods. The brush process. The dip process. Blending.
Drying and finishing the dyed furs.

X. FUR DYEING: KILLING THE FURS 106

Nature of the killing process. Old killing formulas.
Modern killing agents. Procedure of killing. Killing with
soda. Killing with lime. Killing with caustic soda.

XI. FUR DYEING: MORDANTS 114

Nature of mordanting. Purposes of mordanting. Theory
of mordants. Procedure of mordanting. Aluminum mordants.
Iron mordants. Copper mordants. Chromium mordants. Tin
mordants. Alkaline mordants.

XII. FUR DYEING: MINERAL COLORS USED ON FURS 125

Mineral chemicals as fur dyes. Lead dyes. Potassium
permanganate as a dye. Other mineral dyes.

XIII. FUR DYEING: VEGETABLE DYES 128

Wood dyes. Old dye formulas. The vegetable dye
materials. The tannin substances. Logwood. Fustic.
Brazilwood. Other vegetable dyes. Characteristics of the
wood dyes. Application of the vegetable dyes. Application
by the brush process. Application by the dip process.
Production of shades other than black.

XIV. FUR DYEING: ANILINE BLACK 144

Dyeing of seal. Nature and history of Aniline Black.
Chemistry of the Aniline Black process. Three stages
in the formation of Aniline Black. Methods of applying
Aniline Black. One-bath Aniline Black. Oxidation Aniline
Black. Diphenyl Black. Aniline Black by Green’s process.
Aniline Black by the dip method.

XV. FUR DYEING: OXIDATION COLORS 155

The original patents. The first Oxidation fur dyes.
Early difficulties. Solution of the difficulties.
Progress with the Oxidation dyes. Para-phenylene-diamine:
a typical Oxidation color. Range of shades obtainable.
Mordants. Procedure in dyeing. Typical formulas.
Combination of Oxidation colors with other dyes.

XVI. FUR DYEING: COAL TAR DYES 171

Use of coal tar dyes. Basic colors. Acid colors; dyeing
at higher temperatures. Chrome colors. Vat dyes.

XVII. BLEACHING OF FURS 179

Purpose of bleaching. Steps in the bleaching process.
Methods of bleaching. Bleaching materials with reducing
action. Bleaching materials with oxidizing action.
Blueing.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 185

FUR DRESSING AND FUR DYEING