Interesting facts; {Wolverine, Weasel, Nutria, Mole, Guanaco, Chinchilla, Ostrich & Horsehair}
Wolverine fur has a durability rating of 100 so it lasts for years. But it is also heavy, so it is used primarily for trimmings, small jackets and small wraps. It is also used for the ruffs of parka hoods because it does not hold moisture and freeze against the face.
The dark brown fur of the
Siberian weasel (
Mustela sibirica), otherwise called Kolinsky or Kolinski, or yellow weasel, is found in parts of the Himalayas, Siberia and China. Historically it was marketed under a variety of other names, including China mink, Japanese mink, Siberian mink, yellow mink, red sable, and tatar sable. The hair of the males, in particular, is used in the finest paint brushes.
Nutria is a South American cousin of the beaver. It was introduced into swamps in the United States to reduce the muskrat population. It was also farmed, and, according to one story, a few breeding pairs escaped from a farm in Louisiana during a hurricane, only to find the marshes and swamps there ideal. Whatever the reason, since its introduction into the United States in the 1950s, nutria have thrived. If not trapped, they could become a pest in competition for the same land with muskrats and other wildlife.
Nutria has traditionally been plucked, sheared, and dyed a variety of colors from black, brown and beige to many others. Sheared nutria is soft and light in weight, making it ideal for use in vests, linings, and “indoor furs”, as well as luxury coats.
Mole is an example of how an animal considered to be a pest can turn out to have value. According to tradition, moles in Scotland were creating havoc among the farmers until Queen Alexandra, wife of Edward VII of England, ordered a garment made of mole – and started a new fashion. Mole, which comes from Europe, has a small, even tiny, pelt. The taupe gray pelts are sewn together and dyed for exotic, special “fantasy furs”. The leather is very soft, while the fur is short and delicate, resembling velvet in texture. All fur, with the exception of mole, grows from the head of the animal running back to the tail and should always be touched that way. Mole, on the other hand, has no “grain”; it feels the same whichever way it’s touched, making it unique among furs.
Guanaco is a South American relative of the camel. The pattern of the long-haired back in red or brown and white flanks, or sides, is sharp. The fur is thick and soft. Guanaco is used in coats and for trimmings and accessories. It needs a lot of care, since the thick, soft fur (there are no guard hairs) tends to curl when wet. If this happens, the fur should always be taken to a furrier for special ironing. Anyone who tries to repair a fur coat in any way runs the risk of ruining the fur.
The
chinchilla is a rodent, native to the high Andes of South America. The name comes from “Chincha”, the South American Indians who used the hair for cloth, as did the Incas who conquered the Chinchas and the early Spaniards who defeated the Incas. Later, the blue-gray, exquisitely soft fur became so popular in Europe that chinchillas were almost extinct by 1914. Nowadays, all chinchilla is ranched, as the result of a few breeding pairs imported to the US in 1924.
The fur is very soft, silky, and dense. In fact, chinchilla fur has the highest hair density of any animal, with more than 20,000 per square centimeter. (This makes it impossible for parasites such as fleas to inhabit chinchillas, as they would suffocate.) Where humans grow one hair from each follicle, a chinchilla has more than 50.
Color is silvery gray top hair and dark underfur. The best chinchilla has a slate blue color, often enhanced by brighteners, although mutation colors are now also produced.
http://www.fur.ca/FIC_library_reference.php#5
Ostrich Feathers & feather dusters;
The feather duster was patented in 1876 by Susan Hibbard
High quality dusters use feathers from the outer layers of an ostrich's feathers. Each has a quill (a hollow spine) near on edge of the feather and a fringe on the other side made up of barbs that lock together through a network of smaller barbs called barbules. These also interlock, making ostrich feathers highly desirable for dusters. The very fine, soft barbs will not scratch furniture, and when rubbed to build up static electricity they will capture and hold dust until shaken out.
Read more:
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-7/Feather-Duster.html#ixzz3QQUQ6Lxb
10 facts about the horsehair on a string player’s bow
Whenever you go to an orchestra concert,
you’re hearing and watching a wonderful mix of our current, modern world and
the old world. Even though there are modern-made instruments in the string
section being played in front of you, the design comes from the peak of violin
making dating back 400 years or more.
One aspect of the old world most people don’t think about, however, is that
all-important hair used for the bow.
It is stretched into a thin ribbon, applied with rosin (specially processed
tree resin), and drawn across the strings to set the strings in vibration.
Here are 10 things you didn't know about all that horsehair on stage at
Boettcher Concert Hall:
1. The hair comes from the tails of horses
in really cold climates such as Siberia, Mongolia and Canada. The cold climate causes the horses to produce hair that is thicker and
stronger than that produced by horses in warmer climates.
2. White hair is used almost exclusively by the upper string players, while
black hair is often used by the lower strings. Low string players will also sometimes use a salt-and-pepper mixture.
Black hair is more coarse, so it is able to “grab” the larger strings of
the lower instruments better. To be honest, some people say that this
distinction is minimal at best, but bass players who use black hair will tell
you otherwise.
3. White hair actually comes from white horses. Bleaching damages the hair, and professional players will never use it.
White hair ranges from white to light tan, and some hair has a color shift
through the length of the hair. This hair is less expensive, since hair with no
color shift is more highly prized.
4. Of all the hair in a horse's tail, only a small fraction is good enough
for use in bows. All the hair
is “dressed” multiple times, meaning that any imperfect hairs are removed, the
hair is cleaned and organized by length.
5. Most horse hair is harvested from the
slaughterhouse, not from living horses.
6. Even though there are millions of string instrument bows in the U.S.,
the hair used for them represents only a small fraction of the horsehair
industry. The vast majority of the hair from a
horse’s tail is used for other purposes, such as fine art paintbrushes,
fabrics, jewelry, pottery, fishing line and fly tying.
7. The choice a string player makes of who rehairs their bow is extremely
personal. It is a matter of trust: A string player
must trust his or her $8,000 (give or take) bow to a luthier who will “dress”
the hair a final time from the hank, and use only the very finest quality.
Then there are a host of details in rehairing a bow, from the thickness of
the ribbon which some players prefer thicker on one side of the bow, to the
kind of hair used, to the quality of workmanship in cutting new wedges that
hold the hair in place. Once a string player finds a person who rehairs a bow
just the way they like it, they may never have their bow rehaired by anyone
else. Ever.
8. Rehairing a bow is as much an art as it is a craft. Each luthier has his or her own way of tying knots to hold the ends
together or cutting the wedges to secure the hair. Each step and detail is a
matter of pride. This is to say nothing about the art of working with finicky
string players who will then spend 800 to 1,000 hours playing with that hair.
9. In Colorado's climate, a rehair job is necessary at least twice a year.
The temperature and humidity changes drastically from summer to winter.
Hot, muggy weather causes the hair to stretch, which may make it impossible to
tighten enough on the bow. In the winter, the hair dries and contracts,
sometimes making it impossible to loosen the hair of the bow enough to relax
the tension on the stick.
10. There are synthetic substitutes for horse hair. They are
awful. Truly awful.
Even beginners can tell the difference. Old-world horsehair is still
the very best material to use to get the very best modern sound out of all
those wonderful old-world instruments.
