What Is Faux Fur?

How is faux fur made?

Faux fur is made by setting a deep surface of fibres, called a pile, into a textile base. Britannica lists fake furs among the pile-surfaced fabrics produced by variations of the plain knit. Like velvet, it has fibres standing up from a ground fabric; in faux fur the pile is styled to resemble an animal’s coat.

Knitting builds fabric from a continuous yarn, or set of yarns, worked into a series of interlocking loops. Plain knit is the structure behind jersey fabric; in a knitted faux fur, those loops form the base that holds the pile.

The fibre in the pile varies, and the label is where you find it. Modacrylic is one documented choice: UGA Cooperative Extension, the University of Georgia’s textile advice service, describes fake fur rugs made of modacrylic fibre. In the EU, modacrylic is legally defined as more than 50 and under 85 per cent acrylonitrile by mass, and acrylic as at least 85 per cent.

What are the properties of faux fur?

Faux fur behaves like the fibre in its pile, so the fibre line tells you more than the look does. For modacrylic, UGA Cooperative Extension lists these traits:

• Warmth and handle. Warm and pleasing to the touch.
• Resilience. Strong and resilient, and resists wrinkling.
• Flame. Flame resistant.
• Heat. Extremely heat-sensitive: it melts at low heat, and wigs or fake fur rugs of modacrylic “frizz” near an oven, hair dryer, hot light bulb or electric heater.
• Static. Builds up static electricity.

If the fibre line names acrylic or polyester instead, the same UGA guide lists their weak points too. Acrylic is light and absorbs little moisture, but it pills, builds up static and melts if too hot. Polyester resists moths and mildew, but it may pill and attract lint and also melts if too hot.

How does faux fur appear on a clothing label?

On a label, faux fur appears only as the fibres it is made of: in the EU, a textile product must list the name and percentage by weight of every constituent fibre, using only the names in Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011. “Faux fur” is not one of those names.

In the EU

• Fibres are listed in descending order of weight, so the first fibre named is the main one.
• For velvet, plush and textiles resembling them, the composition is given for the whole product and may also be stated separately for the backing and the pile (the “use-surface”), each named, where they are of different fibres.
• “100 %”, “pure” or “all” may only be used when a product is made of a single fibre.
• A textile product that contains non-textile parts of animal origin, such as a real fur collar on a wool coat, must say “Contains non-textile parts of animal origin”.

In the US

• Real fur falls under the Fur Products Labeling Act of 1951. A “fur product” is any article of wearing apparel made in whole or in part of fur or used fur.
• The Truth in Fur Labeling Act of 2010 removed the Federal Trade Commission’s power to exempt garments because the fur in them was of relatively small quantity or value. The change took effect 90 days after the act was enacted on 18 December 2010.
• Skins that are to be made into leather, or that lose all their hair in processing, are not “fur” under the act.

How do you tell real fur from faux fur?

Look at what the fibres grow from: real fur is, in US legal terms, an animal skin with hair, fleece or fur fibres attached, while the pile of faux fur sits in a textile base. Use these checks in order.

1. Part the pile down to the base. Blow or brush the fibres apart until you can see where they are anchored. Skin means fur. A ground of interlocking knitted loops, or any other fabric, means faux fur. On an unlined collar or trim, turn it over and look at the back as well.
2. Read the label for the animal-origin phrase (EU). “Contains non-textile parts of animal origin” tells you the piece includes something from an animal. It can refer to a part other than the pile, so check which component it covers.
3. Do not judge by the size of the trim (US). Since the 2010 act, a small amount of fur is no longer grounds for an exemption, so a narrow trim of real fur on a hooded jacket still makes the jacket a fur product.
4. Treat second-hand pieces with care. US law calls fur that has been worn or used by a consumer “used fur”, and a garment made with it is still a fur product. This matters when buying vintage fashion, where original labels may be missing.

Red flags: skin at the roots of a piece sold as faux; the EU animal-origin phrase on a label that otherwise reads as all-synthetic.

How do you tell good faux fur from poor faux fur?

You judge faux fur by its fibre line and by checking the pile for the known weak points of its fibre: heat damage, pills and static.

1. Read the whole fibre line. The first fibre listed is the largest by weight. If an EU label splits backing and pile, read the pile line: that is the fibre you touch.
2. Look at the tips of the pile. Frizzed or fused tips on a modacrylic pile are signs of heat damage, the kind UGA describes from hair dryers and heaters.
3. Rub the surface and look for pills. If the pile is acrylic or polyester, check closely: acrylic pills, and polyester may pill and attract lint. Heavy pilling on a barely worn piece is a warning.
4. Listen for static. Crackling and clinging come from static build-up, which UGA lists for modacrylic as well as for acrylic and polyester.

How do you care for faux fur?

Keep faux fur away from heat and follow the care label, because modacrylic, one fibre used for it, is extremely heat-sensitive and melts at low heat.

• Heat. Keep it away from ovens, hair dryers, hot light bulbs and electric heaters, which make modacrylic pile frizz.
• Pressing. Fabrics containing modacrylic generally cannot be pressed.
• Cleaning. UGA notes that some modacrylic items need dry cleaning or fur cleaning because of their design or fabric construction. Follow the label.
• If the label says acrylic. Wash in lukewarm water; hot water may cause yellowing.

Is faux fur better for the environment than real fur?

Both have documented environmental costs, and the studies below measure different problems, so they cannot settle which is lower-impact overall.

The case against synthetic faux fur

Synthetic fibres shed in the wash. In a 2016 University of Plymouth study, an average 6 kg wash of acrylic fabric was estimated to release 728,789 fibres, against 496,030 for polyester and 137,951 for a polyester–cotton blend. The researchers said many of these fibres are likely to pass through sewage treatment into the environment. The study tested fabrics, not faux fur garments, so check whether your piece’s fibre line names acrylic or polyester.

The case against farmed fur

Mink farming has a documented pollution record in at least one region. A study in the Journal of Environmental Management modelled phosphorus sources for lakes in south-western Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1983, 2008 and 2017. It concluded that phosphorus from mink farms was the primary driver of human-caused eutrophication (nutrient over-enrichment) in the lakes studied.

For the wider debate, see sustainable fashion and slow fashion.

How long has faux fur been around?

Faux fur was in use by 1929, the date of the earliest dated example cited here: the V&A holds a theatre costume designed by Giorgio de Chirico for the Ballets Russes production of Le Bal, made that year, with a white fake fur collar. When faux fur was first made is not documented in these sources.

The US passed a labelling law for real fur, the Fur Products Labeling Act, in 1951, and tightened it in 2010, when the small-quantity exemption ended. Faux fur, as a textile, is labelled by its fibre content under rules such as the EU textile regulation. In clothing today it is used for whole coats as well as collars and trims, like the collar on the 1929 costume.