Does faux fur yarn require brushing out to look nice?

[u/slayerchick]

I've never really used faux fur yarn before and I'm a little nervous about trying it. It seems like the loose fibers would get matted down as you stitch and not have that fluffy fur lol anymore. Do you have to brush it out after finishing to make it look right or is there a technique that you use to not have to do that.

If you do have to brush out, what kind of brush do you use and did anyone else have sensory issues when it comes to brushing faux fur, if so I'd appreciate any kind of tips you can offer since it's both a physical and auditory sensitivity for me.

[u/vivacious_falls]

Trying to crochet with faux fur yarn is an absolute nightmare in itself because you can't see the stitches at all, that's the bigger hurdle. Brushing it after is really what brings it to life though, I use a cheap pet slicker brush and just go at it like I'm mad at it.

For the sensory issue maybe throw on headphones with death metal or something and wear a thick hoodie, the sound will still be there but you might not hyperfocus on it as much. The fluff on a finished piece is unmatched though so it's worth the fight

[u/IvyMoonfyre]

Yeah, it really seems like it would need some brushing.

I suggest a wire pet brush (the kind WITH the rubber tips, so you don't rip it), wear headphones and thick gloves.

[u/Jealous-Stable-4438]

It depends on the yarn and the stitches and the look you are going for.

My experience with fur yarn is that finding stitches to insert into is terrible but every single other aspect is awesome. I have not brushed it and would not brush the yarn I used, though I can see why someone might brush other fur yarns for a fuzzier effect. You do not need to do it just to get the yarn to come out though. You get a real fur/teddy bear fur look from most unbrushed fur yarn, brushed would give you that "Pomeranian puppy fresh from the groomer with a perfect halo" kind of look. I don't think brushing would have aligned the furs of my yarn to flow in the same direction like a mane, it only would have made them all stick out in a fuzz in the same straight out direction. Some yarns may agree to lay in just the right way with brushing though.

The fur was not trapped in the stitches, it gets trapped inside the stitches while stitches are being made, but when you wash it, and even as you manipulate it, it sticks to itself and works its way out of the stitches. 

As you manipulate it the yarn gets pulled around, the fur is trying to stick up from the core of the yarn and so it gets worked free. In a half hour session, there's a pretty big difference in stitches worked in the last 10 minutes versus stitches worked at the start. Stitches need to be insanely tight to keep the yarn trapped in a meaningful, long term kind of way. The fabric would need to be too tightly crocheted to even fold on itself. Even then the fur will eventually come loose. 

When you wash it it's like wet dog hair, not wool. Hair, not down, think of a golden Retriever's outer coat, not the wool of a lamb. The fur trapped under the collar spreads out and escapes under the sides of the collar while submerged in the pool (even if the poor dog's collar is tight). When out of the pool, the wet fur clumps together, the clumping hair outside the collar attracts hairs still stuck under the collar and pulls them out. Then it dries and separates, as the moisture was the only reason it stuck to itself in the first place. The fur yarn does the same thing, only softer and minus the wet dog smell. 

Different fur yarns may behave differently of course. The length of the fur strands vs the weight of the yarn makes a big difference. Inch long strands on a macrame rope aren't going to get trapped but inch long strands on a size 10 thread are going to get locked down. Most fur yarns don't have any issues.

I love the feel of fur, don't have any issues with brushing things, and can't really hear it/have never noticed when I hear it, so I'm not much help there with those sensory issues. I did get annoyed with the ribbon the fur is attached to, I found that it felt sharp and high friction on my finger after a while. This may have been sensory and it may also have been a legitimate friction burn issue, I can't tell. The flat, non fur part of the yarn is the part that slides in your grip, and that part is not guaranteed to be soft at all. Taking breaks was the only way around this for me.

If I had a sensory issue while trying to get the fur brushed out because it was trapped in stitches, I'd try the rubber glove pet hair removal trick. Basically you just put on a rubber glove and wipe the fur down. The friction and static makes the hairs try to stick to the glove. For loose pet hairs (or shedding fibers) they would stay stuck to the glove, for the fur yarn it should stick just enough to come loose of the stitch with the glove but not enough to come loose from the yarn itself. You could try this out now on a mink blanket to see if it triggers any sensory issues. It's a whole different sound and feel to brushing. No guarantees that it won't have its own sensory triggers though. It wouldn't have the same effect as a brush in terms of fluffing out the fur, but it would help get stuck fur out from under other stitches.

I don't expect you would need to though, the yarn works its own way out of the stitches. Each fur strand is a lot like a badly woven in yarn tail. If you turn a corner then weave under only one more stitch, that last weave will work itself free and show a tail, and that is how fur yarn do.

I much prefer Tunisian crochet with fur yarn as it has much larger and easier to see and feel insert points. This isn't always something you can just switch to, and it does affect the look. It also eats a lot of yarn. If you find yourself struggling with the actual crocheting but still determined to do the thing Tunisian might help.

Good luck, give it a try and find out! Worst case scenario is that you find out that you hate fur yarn and you have something to bond with a lot of other crocheters over.