The Art of Fur Spinning

Fess up! Who likes to pull those little tufts of fur that stick out of your rabbit when she's shedding? It’s really hard not to just pluck them out as soon as you see them, right? Some people pluck (some rabbits love it and some rabbits hate it). And, some people brush to keep their rabbits. However you groom your rabbit, you’ve probably gathered enough fur from her during shedding season that, well, you could create another rabbit.

So, we all know you can’t create another rabbit, but did you know you can spin your rabbit’s fur – ideally with the coarse hair from a sheep, a cat, or a dog – into a sweater?

In fact, there’s an entire cottage industry of individuals who spin pet fur then use the resulting fiber to knit sweaters, hats, and scarves and sell them online and at wool festivals that are popular in many parts of the United States.  

Meet Paula Marklow.

She’s a Registered Nurse (RN), currently managing an outpatient medical practice in California, who has spun sheep wool since the 1970s. The mom of one rabbit, five-year-old satin Coco, started thinking. If she could spin sheep’s wool, perhaps she could do the same with rabbit’s fur.

Paula began experimenting, trying to spin only the rabbit fur. Unfortunately, “it’s difficult to handle because it’s so fluffy,” she says.

To make the fur easier to work with, Paula recommends combining it with sheep’s wool, cat’s fur, or, if you don’t have access to that, the coarse hair from a dog breed like the Sheltie. (You only need as much secondary fur/hair as necessary to make the fur easy to work with.) Stop by your local groomer and ask if you can have any excess dog fur they have.

Getting a little bit ahead of ourselves? Let’s back up a bit and start with gathering the fur you’ll eventually spin. Use your regular brush to groom your rabbit to collect the fur. 

Once you’ve collected enough fur – start with a small paper bag – you’ll also have to brush it. Paula recommends brushing the fur with a metal tine brush, stressing that you really don’t need to wash the fur prior to spinning it.

“I didn’t wash the bunny fur for a couple of reasons. Coco’s in the house and she’s very clean. If you comb the fur out really good, you can get all of the hay out of it,” she says.

One problem with washing the fur, Paula notes, is that it then takes incredibly long to dry.  So, your best bet is to just comb it out.

If you discover that fur spinning is something you’d like to pursue, you can purchase tools – like a drum card and a spinning wheel – that can be quite pricey. However, when you’re first starting out, you may want to just brush the fur with a metal tine brush (rather than use the drum card) and use a hand spinner or spin the fur by hand instead of investing in a spinning wheel.

Combine some of the secondary fiber –sheep’s wool, dog fur, or cat hair – with the rabbit’s fur. Use only as much as is necessary to make it easy for you to work with your bun’s fur. Comb the secondary fiber and the rabbit’s fur together so that strands “flow one way much like when you comb your hair,” Paula says.

Finally, take the resulting fiber and spin it – using a spinner, a hand spinner, or even rolling it by hand.

Viola! Your rabbit fur has been transformed into a workable fiber. Paula prefers using the fiber for knitting.

Fur spinning is a great way to use your rabbit’s fur and to relax. “Spinning is very calming,” Paula says.

For Paula’s step-by-step instructions on how to spin pet fur, click here​. Paula also recommends taking a hand spinning or another spinning class to find out what tools you prefer to use.

Interested in finding vendors that sell products made from rabbit spun fur?  Click here for more information.