How to Care for Your Fox Coat

Fox fur is a beautiful, luxuriously plush type of fur that is both warm and comfortable to wear. It can make a truly amazing addition to any wardrobe, especially when kept in reserve for formal occasions.

Fox fur takes care of you, with regal style and unprecedented warmth, but you need to take care of it in turn. For those of you that own a fox coat or jacket, here are some high-level tips for keeping your fox fur in fighting shape.

1. Don’t sit on it, even while you’re wearing it

Real fox fur, whether silver fox, blue fox, or even a red fox fur coat, is a natural material. It is attached to a pelt, and like leather and other furs requires some special treatment to keep its shape and to prevent deformation and cracking.

You would obviously not sit on your coat after you’ve taken it off, but you also should avoid sitting it for prolonged periods of time, even while you’re wearing it. This can matt down the fur, alter the lay of the fur’s orientation, or damage the pelt or lining. When you’re sitting, your coat should be hanging somewhere to keep its form.

2. Keep it from getting wet

Naturally, a fox fur jacket or coat is an investment in keeping you warm in nasty weather. Sometimes, nasty weather is also wet, but the problem is that water and humidity are sworn enemies of fur (and wool and leather, for that matter).

If you’re wearing your fox coat in the rain or snow, and it gets a little wet, you can shake most of the loose moisture out and hang the coat to dry - but keep it away from heat and let it dry out naturally on its own. However, if it gets really wet, it’s time to visit the furrier.

Of course, you can prevent this by doing your best to keep the coats dry!

3. Shake out loose water or dirt, or use a specialized fur brush

If your coat only gets a little bit wet, you can just shake out most of the water from the fur and hang it to dry, as noted. It’s also important to remember to do this even if your coat only gets a little wet, but that’s not the only time you should clean it out. If you get dust, pollen, sand, or other particulate matter in your fur, shake it loose before you store it. You can also use a specialized fur brush to remove material from the fur before storage.

4. Hang it to store it in a cool location

When you do hang your coat, make sure you hang it in a cool, dry location and use a padded hanger so that the coat keeps its shape. Fox coats can be heavy, and a thin hanger can actually disrupt the form or lay of the jacket. Also, warm temperatures can damage the lining of the coat or the fur itself, so make sure your closet is cool and dry year round. If not, you should take it to a fur storage vault for long term storage.

5. Keep it away from light and humidity

Humid conditions and light are also natural enemies of fox fur, and wherever you store your fox fur coat, you must make sure that it is dark as well as dry. Light can be damaging to fur just as humidity can be, so it is important to protect fur from both of these conditions.

6. Transport it in a cloth bag

You should protect your fur coat in a garment bag when you transport it, but make sure you don’t transport it in a plastic bag. Plastic bags will not allow the garment to breathe and they will also trap in moisture which can damage the coat. By contrast, a cloth garment bag will allow the garment to breathe and will also afford better protection against the light.

7. Take it to a furrier every year

You should also get into the habit of taking your fox fur jacket to a furrier every year. An experienced furrier will give your coat a deep clean, use special cleaners and media to absorb fur and oils from the coat, and can even use special tools to realign each of the hairs on the pelt. After a professional treatment, your coat will not only be in better health but it will look newer as well.

Contact Us for Tips and Services

These are simply some high level tips for care of your favorite fox fur jacket, and they can be applied to most other fur garments as well. If you’d like some more in-depth information on fur care, or would like to learn more about our professional fur services, including storage, please contact us at 1-800-TLC-FURS or at info@maximilian.com.