After the furs have gone through all the operations required by the processes of killing, mordanting, dyeing and washing, they are ready to be dried and finished. The procedure is quite similar to that employed in fur dressing. Sometimes the leather side of the skins is brushed with a strong salt solution before drying, in order to replace some of the salt which was extracted during the dyeing processes. In other instances, a light coat of some oily substance is brushed on, to render the leather soft and flexible after drying, where there is a possibility of the skins turning out otherwise. Great care must be exercised in the handling of the dyed skins to avoid the formation of stains or spots on the hair, which might ruin the dyeing. As little handling of the furs as is feasible will reduce any trouble from this source. In conveying the wet skins from one part of the plant to another it is desirable to use a device such as is shown in Fig. 22. For drying, the same machines as described under Fur Dressing can be used, and similar care must be taken to avoid overheating or irregularity of drying. Drum-cleaning constitutes a very important operation in the finishing of the skins, the hair receiving a polish, and the full lustre and brilliancy of the dye being thereby brought out. Then after caging to remove the sawdust or sand, the skins are passed over the staking knife, or are treated in a machine suited for the purpose, to stretch them and to render them thoroughly soft and flexible. And therewith is concluded the work of the fur dyer proper, and the skins are ready to return to the furrier, in whose hands they undergo the metamorphosis into the fur garments to be worn chiefly by the feminine portion of humanity. CHAPTER X FUR DYEING “KILLING” THE FURS If dressed furs are treated with a paste or solution of a dye properly prepared, and at the right temperature, the hair will show very little tendency to absorb the coloring matter. Even after prolonged treatment with the dye, only a small amount will be taken up by the hair, and in a very irregular fashion. Soft, woolly hair, like that of lambs and goats will be colored more easily than that of furs with harder hair, and the under-hair of a fur will generally have a greater affinity for the dye than the harder and stiffer top-hair. Moreover, in some parts of the same fur, the hair will absorb more color than in other parts. In other words, the hair of furs resists the action of dye materials to a greater or less degree, depending upon the character of the fur, and also upon the part of the pelt. In order to overcome this resistance of the hair, and to render it uniformly receptive to the coloring substances, the furs are treated with certain chemical agents, the process being known technically as “killing.”