Un-matting a Faux (Fake) Wolf Fur Lined Hoodie. Please Help! Details inside.

June 2, 2009 8:12 AM

Un-matting a Faux (Fake) Wolf Fur Lined Hoodie. Please Help! Details inside.

Last year I finally found the perfect sweatshirt from me. Here is the same one (Silver Strand Hollister Hoodie). So I wore it for quite a bit and then I got it extremely smokey and was forced to give it a thorough cleaning. The instruction inside say, "Do not dry clean. Wash cold - Tumble dry low." I followed the instructions EXACTLY and of course all the faux fur around the hood was matted together and hideous looking.

Does anyone know of a good way to unmat the hair? Any good solutions out there? I took it to the cleaners and they said there was nothing they could do. Brushing it out doesn't seem to work.

Anyone have this sweatshirt and looking to get rid of it?

I talked to Hollister representatives and told them that I followed their instructions exactly and it ruined my hoodie and they will not do a single thing for me at all.

Please help!

posted by xdeliriumx to clothing, beauty, & fashion (6 comments total)

I had a parka that had faux fur around the hood and I managed to make it look decent by using a comb and combing it out very carefully starting at one end and working my way around. It took a pretty long time (maybe an hour or so) and it didn't look as good as new. I think I brushed it after I got done unraveling it a bit at a time with the comb and that helped some.
posted by jefeweiss at 9:43 AM on June 2

consider having a tailor just replace the faux fur, they do this all the time. and next time don't trust instructions—either dry clean, or have the faux fur be removable so you can take it off and wash the sweatshirt without it.
posted by lia at 9:56 AM on June 2

I have a long white faux fur coat I worn at Burning Man years ago. It got severely matted. I took it to a dry cleaners and she made it better but certainly not 100%. Brushing it may eventually help but given the volume of fur on my coat I never bothered. This has put a huge crimp in my pimpin'. I will watch this thread for more ideas.
posted by chairface at 10:17 AM on June 2

I would considered that lia but one of my favorite things about this jacket is the type of faux fur they used (see the picture above). Is there a good place to find decent quality fur that looks good for an affordable price? Thanks guys!
posted by xdeliriumx at 10:59 AM on June 2

Conditioner (anything from the supermarket containing 25 kinds of silicone will do) and a wide tooth comb to get started on it. (You might need a finer comb after? It depends on how matted it is.)

It'll probably never be exactly the same, but I've done this with other sorts of things and had them return to at least a reasonable condition. Sometimes much better. Nothing has ever gotten worse though. :)

Following lia's advice will prevent this from ever happening again... Permanent fur is a massive design flaw!
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 11:06 AM on June 2

if you're in or near nyc i would check out mood fabrics (yes, of project runway fame). otherwise i would just call the fabric stores nearest you and see what they've got in stock.
posted by lia at 7:26 PM on June 2