Fur garments should be cleaned and conditioned every year to keep them looking their best. If you really don't wear your fur more than three or five times each winter, clean it at least every other year. With the possible exception of shearlings and chinchillas (see Special Attention), furs love the professional furrier cleaning method, and there's no reason not to do it. Your coat is at the furrier's anyway, and cleaning is not expensive (see section on prices), so just do it. Your fur will repay you by making you look fabulous. Typically furs go through an eight-step process: 1. They are examined for age and condition, to see if there are any rips or tears that need repairing and to see if they are strong enough to go into the fur-cleaning drum. 2. Linings are hand-cleaned, and spots are removed from the fur. 3. Coats are placed in a large drum with sawdust and tumble treated with an environmentally safe cleaning solution. Sometimes instead of sawdust, walnut shells or pumice are used. 4. They're placed in a cage with a vacuum attached, to tumble the furs and remove the sawdust. 5. They're removed from the cage and hand-steamed to remove further sawdust from hems and other hiding places. 6. They go through a process called ironing, glazing or electrifying. They are placed by hand into a machine that irons it with rollers. Instead of flattening the fur, as it would appear to, the hairs are lifted, separated and returned to a uniform direction. Think of what static electricity does to your own hair. 7. Finishers examine the coat, checking it yet again for any problem spots, which are repaired. 8. Coats are steamed and linings checked one more time before they're handed over to their owners.