Muppet Fur

[CoOKiE]

What type of fur do they use to make characters like Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Grover, Elmo etc.? Is it afordable? Where can it be purchased?

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Most of it can't be bought anymore. My understanding is that they purchase fur in large quantities and then store it for future use. Much of the fur used on the classic characters has probably been out of production for over a decade. You can find close substitutes sometimes that usually cost anywhere from $40 - $150 per yard/metre.

Search the forum under "fur" or "puppet fur" and you'll turn up a lot of leads on where to find fur.

 

[psiomicron]

I found good type fur at a store called JoAnns. There is cookie, oscor, type fur. For my next project I'm gonna get white fur and dye it.

 

[ravagefrackle]

"I found good type fur at a store called JoAnns". "I'm gonna get white fur and dye it".

JoAnns Fabrics do sell good stuff, but the original muppet furs were made years ago, and many of the stuff they use now is custom made, (you need to order like 1000 yards/metere of that kind of stuff,

try CRSCRAFTS.com, they sell a great selection of affordable furs in many colors, not the best backings in the world, but they really good stuff is way expensive.

as for DYING FUR, all current fake furs are acrilyic based, or polyester, if you want to dye it you need to buy dye from ALGO, RIT dyes will not dye fur !!!!!!!!!

also be very careful about dyeing that stuff, you dont want to melt the fur in the pot while the water is boiling, and DO NOT PUT IT IN THE DRYER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it will burn the the fur, and shrink the fibers , rinse in a washing machine on cold , with some fabric softener, then spin dry, then hang it out to dry, you will then need to carefully restore the fur using a HAIDRYER , to blow the fabric pile out , and realse the kinkyness of it.

 

[gfarkwort]

If the Muppets fur was bought years ago how do you stop it from ageing and falling apart?

 

[ravagefrackle]

they are synthetics dude, not real fur, while it does degrade over time, if youy keep it out of the direct sunlight it will last for a long time,

cottons, and wools, are more likley to rot , that a manmade substance.

beside i all so said that they custum oreder furs as well.not that all of the stuff was over 20 years old, but many of the furs used on older puppets are no longer made, but they still have fur in stock, get it?

 

[gfarkwort]

Yep, I was just wondering because I have a Puppet with fake fur and the fur is thinning err....gettin thinner and its kept out of direct sunlight a lot of the time and is on a stand so its not smooshed. But ok I understand ...Thanks

 

[Jivepuppet]

I'd just like to take a moment and thank Ravagefrakle for all the info he's dished out to us on the puppet making forum here.
Ravage- you've been a huge help to many of us and thanks! And keep up the awesome work!

 

[ravagefrackle]

not a problem, that is a problem i always had a hadr time figuring out when i was a kid, long before the internet, lol,any way

to continue on the degrading problem, keep in mind, muppet puppets are always being rebuilt after a lot of hard use, the fozzie you see today is not the first , nor will it be the last fozzie ever built.same goes for all the other core characters

 

[itchekadoozy]

I've noticed that the fur on grover in newer productions (specifically a celebration of me! grover) is short, neat fur. Not the soft, nappy stuff we're used to. Just an observation.

As for acheiving that soft nappy look we're used to- I've noticed on some of my puppet's, that the short, neat fur I used has become soft and nappy over the past year or so.

So, maybe try leaving your fur around, using it as a blanky , etc.

Might not be so good for the thinning issue, but what can you do.

I'll probably get some flack from ravagefrackle for my lack of professionalism

PS. I'd love to hear some reactions to my puppet stuff (go to the link in my signature)