Smart as a bag of hair

I love a clever idea.  As noted in my last post, although I was totally skeeved out by Bart Jansen's ghoulish Orvillecopter, ya just gotta hand it to the guy - he thought of it first.

Well, Danelle German has come up with a doozy.
 The South Carolina pet groomer routinely shears Persian cats, sheep-like, at the behest of her clients.  She also has three fur-bearing Keetains, Alpaca-like, of her own.  Said fur is then spun, Rumpelstilskin-like, into yarn. Said yarn is then knitted, Grandma-like, into Persian purses and kitty Coach bags.  These are snapped up by folks who gladly fork over $400 for one without feeling at all fleeced.

Dang.

That got me thinking.  Like Danelle, I have three cats.  They have fur.  I wouldn't have to shave them - they shed like the dickens.  Would they yield enough hair to make a sweet little clutch?  I had been living with Mark for five months and surely there was cat hair hidden everywhere.  I decided I had to know, and with cat brush, broom and vacuum, went to find out.

Some of it was not so hidden:

Before . . .

. . . and after

Pharmaceutical grade (left) and street (right)

Well, in the end the stuff filled two large sandwich-sized Ziploc bags.  One was pharmaceutical grade clean hair gleaned from brushing, picking up corner tumbleweeds, and using a lint brush on rugs and  furniture.  The other was street quality hair from the vacuum cleaner, containing lots of dust and dander, a few cobwebs, the occasional Senegal feather, and traces of nuts.

All this was from only one floor of a three-level house!  What to do with this bounty?




I could reference a tome for inspiring and useful ideas:

Since purses are already taken, I think I'll make a line of high-fashion hair shirts for all of the neo-flagellants out there who might want a change from camel.  I'll call it "Catschmere."

It could work.

Addendum:  Mark just bought a Dyson Animal.  That should glean enough hair to fill a small cargo van.