Fake fur, also called fun fur or faux fur, is any material made of synthetic fibers designed to resemble fur, normally as part of a piece of clothing. It was first introduced in 1929^[1] and has been commercially available since the 1950s, but its increasing popularity has been credited to its promotion by animal rights and animal welfare organizations which claim that it is an animal-friendly alternative to traditional fur clothing.^[2]

Contents 1 Usage 2 Advantages and disadvantages 2.1 Advantages 2.2 Disadvantages 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Usage

Faux fur is not only used in clothing, but also for stuffed animals, fashion accessory and home decorations like pillows. It is also sometimes used for craft projects because it can be sewn on a sewing machine. Real fur is generally thicker and requires a special machine, hand sewing or an awl to sew it.^[3] Lately, fake fur has been increasingly used in the main stream teen fashion, for example the stores Abercrombie and Fitch^[4] and American Eagle^[5] use it for trapper hats and jackets. In the Soviet, and now Russian Army, fish fur is used as a slang term for the fake fur used on winter clothing and the ubiquitous ushanka hats. Similarly, fashion design labels such as Ralph Lauren have promoted the use of fake fur in their collections.^[6]

[edit] Advantages and disadvantages

[edit] Advantages

• The energy consumption for the production of one coat made out of fake fur was given with 120 MBtu in a study of the scientific research laboratory of the automobile manufacturer Ford in 1979, compared to 433 MBtu for trapped animals and 7,965 MBtu for animals raised in fur farms.^[7]
• The production of fake fur is cheaper than that of real fur of high quality.^[8]
• Fake fur and real fur may be equivalent in providing protection from cold, but since fake fur can be made in any thickness, fake fur garments can be constructed to be warmer than real fur.^[9].
• Fake fur does not require cold storage to prevent deterioration and is impervious to moths.^[10]

[edit] Disadvantages

• Fake fur is made from several materials including blends of acrylic and modacrylic polymers derived from coal, air, water petroleum and limestone.^[11]. Like other plastics, these materials do not break down easily, unlike real fur which will eventually dry out and begin to deteriorate.
• Fake fur, like real rabbit fur, may shed.^[9].
• Fake fur feels coarse and looks similar to fabric with neat rows.^[12]
• There are no fake furs that have been able to keep snow from melting and re-freezing on the fur's fibre filaments. ^[13]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• How fake fur is made

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