Aging felt--Are there real benefits?

[AlanC]

I came across this Borsalino ad dating from 1961. Note the claim about aging the felt for four years.

Now there's no actual claim about the advantage to this. However, Adventurebilt uses an in-house technique to 'age' the felt before the hats are made. Steve talks about killing the felt, which he thinks helps stabilize the felting process and minimizes taper.

Was Borsalino's use of aged felt done by anyone else? Does anyone do it today (I can't imagine they do)? Was there any real benefit to it?

Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[indycop]

I also wonder if where the felt is sourced from makes any difference. Such as Akubra getting their felt from England now I believe or winchester getting it from the US, ABD from Portagul.

 

[Lefty]

Maybe it's just part of the live vs. dead felt question. Perhaps the conditions of aging have something to do with killing the felt.
see here

and here. (this one is full of black eyes and broken noses)

 

[HATCO]

Who is ABD?

I also wonder if where the felt is sourced from makes any difference. Such as Akubra getting their felt from England now I believe or winchester getting it from the US, ABD from Portagul.

 

[indycop]

Advenrturebilt Deluxe. I believe Marc gets his felt from portugal.Maybe he can confirm this.

 

[duggap]

In a similiar discussion some time ago, I think I remember one of our experts saying that felt will continue to shrink some until it ages. When it is dead it stops any futher changes. [huh]

 

[feltfan]

Maybe it's just part of the live vs. dead felt question. Perhaps the conditions of aging have something to do with killing the felt.
see here

and here. (this one is full of black eyes and broken noses)

Actually, they both were full of black eyes and broken noses.

In a total fact vacuum, I think we should let this one drop.

I do recall from my trip to Morocco that rugs made of
wool from dead sheep are not as good as those made from
live sheered sheep. That, I believe, is the origin of the "dead" vs. "alive"
terminology. How that relates to fur felt I do not know.

 

[Lefty]

Stetson aged its fur prior to felting. I don't know if this has any significant affect on the felt that's produced.
This is from 1929. [scroll down to read the separate pages]

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

"Dead felt" means felt that has spent years sort of knitting up to itself. Not to do with alive or dead animal fur harvesting, to my knowledge.

Recently, at the walking tour of Winchester Hat Company, in Tennessee, where they are the only source for hat bodies outside of Hatco's operation, the owner admitted that vintage felt is indeed better than modern felt if only for the reason of aging. Art Fawcett has also advanced this observation.

Go ahead, break my nose. Maybe you'll knock me good lookin'. lol

 

[yoonie]

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Archives/CA_Show_Article/0,2322,556,00.html

In this article they talk about keeping the felt in a humid environment for 2 years. I assume this helps, as others said, to settle the felt, the way that modern jeans come prewashed, for example.

 

[Lefty]

That article has been around for a long, long time on the Lounge. It's a fluff piece that credits Cervo as the greatest fedora - a brand that was so bad at the time of the article, that Bencraft hats wouldn't even carry it. The author is the owner of Worth & Worth, another classic NYC hat shop that sells Cervo.

Incidentally, the article says that the FUR is stored for two years, while the FELT is stored for "several months" after dying.

 

[Brad Bowers]

I have a Crofut & Knapp source from 1924 that talks about how they store their rough hat bodies for at least six months before doing any finishing to them, since the felt is "improved by age." No discussion of the nature of this improvement, but I think we know exactly what they're talking about.

Brad

 

[Wil Tam]

vintage rocks! wins hands down

so I take it that vintage felt -- old felt -- is aged felt ... so the better quality lid you have that is vintage the better it feels ... I have several quality vintage Borsalinos and the felt feels incredible much nicer than my modern Borsalinos which IMHO the felt is inferior.

----------------
Now playing: Everclear - Our Lips Are Sealed
via FoxyTunes

 

[Chrome]

Well, vintage is old could it be one reason that these hats are so great? Hairs have learned their place among peers long time ago

Could it be that now vintage hats were bit different when those were new and survivors are grown to be perfect.

Is it truth that Akubra uses british rabbits? don't they have rabbits so plentiful that they are getting real troublesome.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbits_in_Australia

 

[Brad Bowers]

Don't confuse age with quality.

Felt that was aged, whether back then, or today, is going to be more stable. Differences in quality are going to be related to the manufacturing process. Things might be done differently today to save money and for expediency. The chemicals used may be different (as in the case of mercury nitrates) and may have an effect. Also, the finishing techniques between today and years past may be different, which will also reflect in the felt. So there are many, many factors to consider, and age of the felt is only one of them.

Brad