# Water repellant coatings on faux fur?



## Mr-Awesome1942 (Oct 11, 2013)

Hey y'all,

I am messing around with a few projects at the moment, one of them being a faux fur hoodie. This is just for fun, maybe to be worn on cold dry days, but then I came up with an odd idea.

Would it be possible to apply a hydrophobic coating to faux fur and have it still look and feel right? Something like Scotch Guard or NeverWet. I have messed with these coatings for boots before and it seems like there should be no huge problem with it. From what I can see, there would be three problems with it. It would be hard to get an even and complete coating on the fur. Secondly, since every nap I have seen before is attached to a medium to loose weave, the fabric would still be permeable. Finally, the added layer of oils/whatever-it-is have the possibility of making it a bit hotter to wear than usual.

That being said, this would be for a fur hoodie. The goal would be to repel light rain and keep it clean-ish so you can wear it in the cold and snow. What do you think?


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## Umbra.Exe (Oct 12, 2013)

I don't see why you couldn't try, at least. Get a swatch of the fabric, spray that stuff on, and see how it works.
Also check to see if the fur's texture changes, that may be important to some.


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## Mr-Awesome1942 (Oct 12, 2013)

Umbra.Exe said:


> I don't see why you couldn't try, at least. Get a swatch of the fabric, spray that stuff on, and see how it works.
> Also check to see if the fur's texture changes, that may be important to some.



I think I will since I have some swatches laying around. I will post my findings!


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## LadySerpent (Oct 18, 2013)

Interested to see what you find!  I considered something similar for a future project of outdoor 'fur-wear', not necessarily furry related but a bit more like a sweet tribal outfit to go running around the woods in.  (Y'know, like crazy people.)  Havn't looked too much into it yet, though, as there are lots of other projects on the go.


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## Batty Krueger (Oct 18, 2013)

If this ends up working I'd wanna try it on my foot paws.


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## Mr-Awesome1942 (Oct 20, 2013)

The experiments have started! I am using white, long pile fur from Distinctive Fabrics as my test swatches. http://www.distinctivefabric.com/fabric.php?product=SLDLGHRFUR1

The coatings being tested right now are Scotchguard Outdoor Exterior and NeverWet Multisurface. I meant to try Scotchguard Restorative Water Repellent, but I used all 12 ounces I ordered fixing up my trench coat (which worked great by the way).

They are drying right now on my porch, I will post results soon.


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## Mr-Awesome1942 (Oct 21, 2013)

I have returned with results!

The pictures are pretty self explanatory, but I will add some notes with them anyway. I cut my sample up and applied the coatings as noted. They were applied in aerosol form in a single coat and brushed in. No further treatments or cleanings have taken place.

The test was done by spraying the samples with a spray bottle set on mist.






The Never Wet coat is pretty terrible looking. Severe matting that can not be brushed out. Scotch Guard has relatively little impact on appearance, its just not as fluffy.





All of the samples act the same with a light misting, this was not too surprising since the faux fur is just a form of plastic.





The untreated same is now soaked, and there is heavy beading on the two treated ones.





I wrung them by hand and waved them around a little. The untreated sample is soaked and matted and the Scotch Guard sample is pretty much dry now.
It turns out the NeverWet did not penetrate far enough; the bottom layers are soaked.





A bit of brushing to get out the matting. The untreated sample is still fairly wet but the Scotch Guard sample is almost dry. The Never Wet sample can not be brushed.

Overall I would say the Scotch Guard sample did the best here. I would not want to be caught in the rain in the untreated fur and I would not want to be caught anywhere in the NeverWet fur.

As for fumes, the samples did smell a bit while drying, but after a day of drying I could not detect any scents.


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## Kellan Meig'h (Oct 22, 2013)

Very good testing and reporting! Bravo!

*Bows to Mr-Awesome1942*

One other waterproofer out there is by NikWax. I have some that I purchased for my Columbia 3 in 1 jacket/coat combo. When I do that, I'll try out some fur and see what happens. The stuff says to put it in with water in the wash, then run the garment(s) through the dryer to set it. I'll just have to allow it to dry naturally, so I don't know if it will set properly.

Once again, thanks for the information. Maybe this could be stickied?

Kel


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## Umbra.Exe (Oct 22, 2013)

Wow, interesting! Thanks for posting your findings. Looks like Scotch Guard is the way to go here. But oh my, does the the NeverWet look pitiful. ^^:
Do these coatings do anything for dirt/mud, or is it mainly just to repel water?


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## Mr-Awesome1942 (Oct 22, 2013)

Thanks for the comments guys. 

I am still going to try a few more  coatings to see if I can find one that works perfectly. I am even  thinking of posting images of these under a microscope to see what is  really going on at the filament level.




Umbra.Exe said:


> Wow, interesting! Thanks for posting your findings. Looks like Scotch Guard is the way to go here. But oh my, does the the NeverWet look pitiful. ^^:
> Do these coatings do anything for dirt/mud, or is it mainly just to repel water?



Hydrophobic coatings should work on most liquids. It is also oilphobic and such, since it is actually a micro structure that increases the angle of contact the liquid can maintain. To test this further, I am going to apply another coat or two  and drip India Ink on it. If any sticks, we will know.


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