How to fix 'lighter' spots of felt hat

[Gentleman Warthog]

Hi All,
I recently acquired an older Lamson Hubbard Brown felt fedora. Unfortunately, there are some lighter spots on it, like someone dripped solvent, or cleaner, on it. (See pics) I did try a light sanding, but this did not help. Any ideas on how to darken the spots? (Short of using a brown sharpie.)
I'd like to fix the spots before I ty to stretch it, as it is a little tight 7 1/2.

Thanks
Dennis.

 

[Short Balding Guy]

G.Warthog; Good day sir. I hesitate to be the first respondent as I have not had success changing sun bleached spots on hats. I chalk the hats up to having patina, put them on a short list of work hats or put them aside for hat restore (turning the felt inside out). Not an answer to fix, but an answer of adapting to the effects of sunlight.

In general sunlight has UV and oxygen radicals. These can react with the dyes used in felt or clothing. I am more familiar with the fading mid crown, where the leather sweat stops and the felt begins. I have vintage models with this characteristic.

Extreme, IMO: You could sun bleach the entire hat. Stripped of liner, sweat the hat could be sun-bleached . The entire hat will be a new hue. Even color throughout would be a gamble. In an extreme - a commercial color re-vitalizer could be used. I have used Oxygen Bleach on vintage clothing to whiten it up. It is a paste that you add water to and smear it on. The Oxygen bleach would have to be applied to the entire hat.

If the lighter spot was caused by a "spill," you will need to clean the felt to assure the "fading" does continue. "Spill" and resultant stain stability really depends on the re-acitve agents involved.

My hat rack has vintage hats with "spots and fading." My feelings - No worries mate, just wear them.

This is not the answer I suspect that you wished to hear. I hope some of the forums experienced restorers and hatters can add more. I will watch this thread for tendrils of hope and resolution to this issue.


Cheers in your wearing of hats, Eric -

 

[Gentleman Warthog]

Thanks for your input Eric. I am hoping that someone will have an idea on how to darken the light spots. I don't want to try lightening the whole hat! But until then, I'll stretch the hat a bit and just wear it.
Dennis

 

[wsmontana]

Hi All,
I recently acquired an older Lamson Hubbard Brown felt fedora. Unfortunately, there are some lighter spots on it, like someone dripped solvent, or cleaner, on it. (See pics) I did try a light sanding, but this did not help. Any ideas on how to darken the spots? (Short of using a brown sharpie.)
I'd like to fix the spots before I ty to stretch it, as it is a little tight 7 1/2.

Thanks
Dennis. View attachment 733423 View attachment 733424 View attachment 733425 View attachment 733426 View attachment 733427

I’ve had some success with dye projects to improve color consistency of the felt. Here are a couple of projects I posted to the lounge:

Post in thread 'What Hat Are You Working On Today?'

Post in thread 'What Hat Are You Working On Today?'

Bill

 

[Gentleman Warthog]

I’ve had some success with dye projects to improve color consistency of the felt. Here are a couple of projects I posted to the lounge:

Post in thread 'What Hat Are You Working On Today?'

Post in thread 'What Hat Are You Working On Today?'

Bill

Thanks for the info