Questions about trimming and distressing fur

[Bear Man]

When you look closely at puppets like Fozzie, you can see that the length of fur varies - the fur on his face is much shorter than on his chin, his fingers and palms of his hands have shorter fur than the bulk of his arms, etc.

Can anyone tell me what the main/best method for trimming fur is? Scissors? Hair clippers? Clippers definitely seem like they'd be more reliable in terms of keeping length consistent, but is faux fur going to be trimmed by hair clippers?

And if you're planning on boiling the fur, should you boil first then trim? Or trim then boil?

 

[Muppetlab]

Hey, hows tricks
I always use scissors. Only because ive not found a hair clippers that are up for the job.
Im sure everyone has their favorite methods tho.

 

[Bear Man]

Going well mate!

Thanks for the advice - I tried out a section of fur with clippers, I think they work ok

 

[Hobblesnitch]

Going well mate!

Thanks for the advice - I tried out a section of fur with clippers, I think they work ok

After I sewed the material I trimmed the fur with old hair clippers. I then soaked it in hot water for about 3min and put it in spin dry.
Once it was dry I did some touch up with my scissors. This was my first attempt at Fozzie but it seems to be working well so far.

 

[Bear Man]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I ended up sewing, trimming with clippers, turning it inside out and then putting in boiling water for 20 seconds, and I'm happy with the results - if you're using clippers I'd definitely recommend trimming before boiling because trying to run clippers through matted fur wouldn't be good for either clippers or fur!.

Interestingly, the bigger the volume of fur that I boiled, the more rough and matted the result (e.g. the arms, when put in boiling water for 20 seconds were more distressed than the head, which in turn was more distressed than the ears). I would have thought that more material would have meant that there was proportionally less water coming into contact with it, and therefore less distressing of the fur, but it seems the opposite is true.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I don't usually do much trimming or shaving of fur, but I keep a pair of hair stylist shears (scissors) in my kit in case I ever need to. They are just a cheap pair I have had for years, but I have them professionally sharpened once and awhile so they cut really well.

I also have electric clippers from a dog grooming kit with attachments so I can trim fur to different lengths and thicknesses. Generally, you'll find dog grooming clippers work better than those designed for human hair if you are working with faux fur.

 

[Bear Man]

I don't usually do much trimming or shaving of fur, but I keep a pair of hair stylist shears (scissors) in my kit in case I ever need to. They are just a cheap pair I have had for years, but I have them professionally sharpened once and awhile so they cut really well.

I also have electric clippers from a dog grooming kit with attachments so I can trim fur to different lengths and thicknesses. Generally, you'll find dog grooming clippers work better than those designed for human hair if you are working with faux fur.

Thanks, Buck-Beaver. It was that process of trimming fur to different lengths/thicknesses that i was wondering about. An old pair of human hair clippers ended up doing the job of shaping his face, getting his palms and fingers working right, etc quite well.