Real Faux Fur

Although fluffy pom pom’s and furry shoes have become a fashion statement, we’ve been shocked at the recent findings that some of the faux fur accessories being sold to consumers, are in fact real fur.

Understandably this is concerning for shoppers, not just those who have purchased these articles but also those who are passionate about animal welfare, and organisations like ourselves – who are passionate about faux fur.

It can be difficult to tell the difference between real and faux furs, especially as faux furs are so realistic.

Unfortunately many of the real furs are a by-product of the meat industry (particularly rabbit) so skins can be sold at rock bottom prices – very often cheaper than faux.

Award winning milliner Beverley Edmondson explains that there may have always been issues with incorrect labeling, and that being able to tell faux from real fur easily, is down to the matter of having a trained eye; ‘I personally find it easy to tell faux and real apart, and have been aware that lots of things on the high street were real fur before this scandal broke, but I know from our customers that not everyone can see the difference.’

                                                                      Faux Fur Roller Hat by Beverley Edmondson

Beverley added ‘We have had customers refuse to buy anything from us and told us we were lying when they looked at our faux fur'.

Validating to a customer that a product is faux and not real however is an issue that occurs often. Daisy, owner of Frank and Grace explains ‘I’ve had one incident at a fair. Two ladies who assumed I was selling real fur walked into the room and walked straight out, on finding out from others that it was actually faux fur that I was selling they came back to have a look. The faux fur we use is of such a high quality it does look like real fur, most people are shocked to find out it’s faux’.

Burgundy Mink Faux Fur Snood Hood from Frank and Grace

Faux fur has become so sophisticated and realistic in recent years it’s understandable that vigilant pro-faux shoppers need a lot of convincing and proof. Kate at Pink Whiskers has told us ‘I am constantly being asked if my products are 'real' I generally have to turn them over to prove it.’

The Chatsworth Buttoned Bed with Faux Fur Cushion from Pink Whiskers

Here are some tips to distinguish real fur vs faux  fur

1. Part the fibres

If the fabric is real fur you’ll see the animals’ skin at the base of the fur, faux fur will have a woven or knitted ‘holey’ texture.

The woven base of faux fur

2. Texture
   If you feel real fur (especially tails and pom poms) you can often feel the skin is much stiffer and almost hard to the touch whereas faux is much more ‘bendy’, faux fur is knitted or woven like other fabrics

Backing of faux fur fabric

3. Examine the tips
   Real fur tapers to a point (if it hasn’t been shaved) and faux fur will ususally always have a blunt end

Blunt tips of faux fur

4. The Burn Test (an absolute last resort and not recommended!) Real fur will singe like human hair, faux fur will melt down as it’s acrylic.

It’s important to understand why this scandal may have happened in the first place.

Arnaud, owner of The Faux Fur Institute in Paris notes that ‘There has been such an over production of animal fur in the last five years, that nowadays a fashion manufacturer can source real fur at a very cheap price. For example I’ve seen mink or foxes skins available at less than $30 or even $20. On the other hand, high quality faux fur can be more costly to produce because it requires sophisticated machines and technologies.’

Hopefully this issue will encourage companies to become more vigilant when dealing with certain fabrics and products. Arnaud states ‘When an international fashion brand source a fabric they have to be sure they work with serious and trustful suppliers’.

This is seconded by Daisy who explains that ‘We as consumers trust that the products we buy are what they say there are. In some cases consumers have purchased real fur unknowingly, this is why I believe that by buying from small UK based companies like ourselves you can trace where your garments have come from and have full trace-ability of your purchase.’

Here at the Throw Company we have our Faux Furs tested officially.  We can absolutely guarantee and assure ALL our products are 100% FAUX.  Our faux fur comes to us in 20/30m rolls, it is woven or knitted in the same way as all other fabrics, and we see every single inch of the back and front of the faux fur. We make everything here in our UK Design Studio to be sure it’s FAUX (Acrylic and Polyester)! Our faux furs are made from a combination of acrylic and mod-acrylic fibres, which these results reflected – we’re more than happy to send our customers copies of the certificates, just send us an email!

We wanted to take this opportunity to reassure our customers that we are 100% Faux!

                                                   Fake for Animal’s Sake!