Two fur making skills inheritors run business "red like fire"

I am Ding Heping, 57 years old. Since childhood in Guyuan City Jingyuan County Dongxia Township Digou village three captain grew up, 11 years old began to follow his father Ding Linpu learn two fur making skills, now Yinchuan Xixia District Xingjing Town opened a fur factory.

Although I learned from my father to make two furs as a child, I did not want to do two furs at first, mainly because the process of ripening the skin was dirty and tiring. After graduating from high school, I went out to work and worked hard to earn 1.5 yuan a day. At that time I thought: when can I get rich by working like this? Father advised me to learn from him, but I still did not want to learn. Once, I accidentally made a sheepskin trading business, spent 10 yuan to buy a sheepskin, a resold sold 30 yuan, which the high profit made me change my mind, began to make up my mind to learn the fur business with my father.

In the past, the family was poor, my father stole fur clothes to Xi 'an to sell, for our six sisters to go to school, it was not easy. My father Ding Linpu learned the craft of fur making from his grandfather Ding Ming and Qing, and it has passed to me for the fourth generation. Now, my elder son Ding Jianguo and younger son Ding Jianjun are helping in the fur factory, the elder son is responsible for online sales, and the younger son is responsible for buying skins in the market and getting them into the customs. At present, the family has a fifth generation of successors: in addition to two sons, there are four apprentices.

The secret to a thriving fur business

After years of exploration, I have my own special tailoring skills, and the two fur products made have no odor, can still be restored after wet water, and can be washed at any time. At 3 o 'clock every morning, I got up and began to cut and sew with my own hands, and sent them to the garment factory to hang face and carry out post-packaging.

There are many types of authentic two-fur flowers, from the root to the tip are flowers, which is what we often say, "nine bends", which can earn foreign exchange and sell for 380 US dollars, which is produced by the authentic Ningxia Tan sheep; If the hair on a sheep's skin has thick roots, few flower patterns, and loose hair, such fur must come from the third generation of small-tail sheep sheep... . The texture of two pelts, we do this trade can be seen at a glance.

In the past, fur cutting, stitching all rely on hand, a garment generally takes three to five days to cut to complete, now, with the sewing machine, can sew 10 goods in a few minutes. From February to July each year, it is the season for ripe skins, and from August to December, it is mainly for sales and preparation of the next year's supply.

You see, when the skin is cooked, it must be salted. The skin that has been salted will not be insect-free and can guarantee the quality. After drying, the skin is washed with water, and then polished with a grinder to remove impurities. These processes used to be manual operations, and now there is a machine, which greatly improves the production efficiency.

Two fur production process pay attention to fine

Now people buy two fur, for wearing and decorating more, so my products are divided into high-end, mass, low grade, to meet the needs of all kinds of people.

The making of fur is a folk handicraft skill in the Hui area of Ningxia. It is popular among young men in rural areas. Its process up to more than 30, each process should be excellence, only in strict accordance with the operation of the two fur products, will not produce insects, deformation, fading.

In the whole process of making two pelts, selecting the skin is a technical task. About 30 days old beach lambs are slaughtered after the skin, after fine processing to produce is "two fur"; Lambs slaughtered within 7 days of birth is called "fetal skin", its hair is short, thick skin, do not drop floating hair, tough texture, light weight, known for "light fur". The best two hair fur spike color crystal, bending soft, such as undulating waves, there are "nine bends" praise. The leather plate vertical and horizontal upside down, let its natural droop, like a flat lake ripples; If you shake the skin gently, it looks like a hosta bean falling, pear flowers flying, light and moving. The key step in the process is the ripening. The following frame is on fire, the water tank above is boiling water, the temperature is about 50 ° C, if the technology is not passed, the leather will be finished.

Foreign customers and merchants from other provinces are also favored

The products of my family's fur factory were sold to the United States. Speaking of which, here's a quick story:

On May 16, 2010, American Aitao came to Yinchuan from the United States after seeing our products on Alibaba. After inquiring all the way, he found me in the mosque and greeted me when he saw one of my words: "Seomu". It turned out that he was also Hui, and said that his father wanted two furs for decoration. After seeing the goods, Aitao suddenly bought more than ten bedspreads, beds, etc., paved, covered, and hung on the wall, are 2 meters ×2 meters of large scale products. Eitao, who is a teacher in the United States, brought the fur back to China and said his father was happy with it. Later, through Eitao, I gradually sold a lot of fur to the United States.

On August 26 this year, a customer from Shandong came to Yinchuan and found my fur factory to order. Not long ago, the two fur production technology project represented Ningxia to participate in the intangible cultural heritage Expo in Beijing. At the exhibition, my family's two fur products sold at an unexpected high price: a vest 580 yuan, a scarf 480 yuan, a mattress 2,000 yuan, and a bed cover 6,000 yuan. This price is high in Ningxia. At that price, locals say it's a bargain. Our products first ensure the quality, the use of sufficient materials, all real leather; At the same time also provide good after-sales service, after the product is sold, if the customer has a small problem, we will repair and return for free. Therefore, there are many repeat customers, and it takes many years to establish a foothold in the market.

At present, my two fur factory has become a scale: annual production of 20,000 fur, output value of more than 3.8 million yuan, profit of more than 1 million yuan. The fur is made and cut by my own hands, and the design is requested by professionals. Sales channels mainly include participating in intangible cultural heritage exhibitions across the country to seek business opportunities; Through Alibaba's online platform; Individual initiative to go out and sell. At present, the products are sold to Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, Guangxi and other 10 provinces and cities.

This intangible heritage technique has been passed down

There are more than 100 district-level non-genetic inheritors in our district, but only four or five can really let intangible cultural heritage products enter the market and realize profits. In my opinion, making intangible cultural heritage products profitable guarantees the spread of intangible cultural heritage techniques.

I am very lucky that now the two fur making skills are not only valued by the government, but also many people are willing to learn. I passed this skill on to my eldest and youngest son early on, and took on four apprentices. Now, I'll teach anyone who volunteers. Now, I teach several apprentices, can be a side, one of them has made a fortune by this, annual income of more than 1 million yuan.

Now, the big problem I have encountered is that my fur factory has been included in the scope of demolition by the government, but the new factory site and demolition compensation have not been implemented, which affects the normal production of the fur factory. I hope it can be solved as soon as possible.