Bleeding felt dye - help!

[Davidson]

I have fur felt hats (dark brown and black, and maybe others) that bleed dye when they get wet. I want to wear them in the rain. I want them to not dye whatever they touch when they are wet They also stain the hatband ribbon At first I thought it was just one cheap one, but now I see two more do it...

Shall I just throw the things in the washing machine on the long cycle? Rinse under water until the dye stops bleeding? What?

 

[Dinerman]

I don't know how to help this, but would you mind telling what hats these are?

 

[Davidson]

I don't know how to help this, but would you mind telling what hats these are?

I hesitate since these are just the hats I have, and people may start slagging off on specific brands. But anyway:
- 1 black western Bailey "5x" Razer model (new)
- 1 brown Stetson Temple (new)
- 1 brown Stetson Pinnacle (new)

For fun here's pics. I've been busy going Western to fedora, so I did the opposite, and turned the brown Temple in a cattleman's crown and curved brim:


And to try to get a smile from deanglen, I tried a campaign style on the brown Pinnacle I'm not satisfied with it yet, I can't get the crown to close yet, and the crown is too tapered to start with, I guess.


Messing with these is when I noticed the bleeding. Here's a snap:

 

[Art Fawcett]

Davidson, I'm sorry but this is why many retailers tell their customers not to wear the hats in the rain. I did a hat for a client last year who had his own bodies from Tonak ( Chech) and the minute I touched it with water the dye ran. This is why I only use the bodies I do, pure beaver. There really isn't a cure, just try to waterproof them after you are done and hope for the best.

 

[tonyb]

Man oh man oh man, Davidson, that's gotta be real disappointing. Look, I'm partial to vintage and custom hats, as are many of the people here, but until now I haven't deemed the modern off-the-shelf lids all THAT bad. They just aren't as good, is all. Or so I thought.
If the dye bleeds when the felt gets wet with rain, it's a defective hat, plain and simple. It would be a lousy deal if they gave it away.
If a buyer were to bring that obvious defect to the manufacturer's and/or retailer's attention, in the altogether reasonable expectation that he would be issued a refund, and was instead fed some variation on the "they all do that" theme, then those business people would effectively be acknowledging that they make and sell junk.
Geez, this is depressing. I hadn't realized just how low they had gone.

 

[deanglen]

The campaign style crown, I have decided, calls for a high crown and wide brim. but here's a c-crown, front pinch :fedora: smile for you Davidson! Put a couple of front side dents in that hat and I think you'll like it. Dye running seems pretty clearly a sign of poor manufacture. They just shouldn't do that.

dean

 

[J.B.]

...1 brown Stetson Pinnacle (new)...

...Dye running seems pretty clearly a sign of poor manufacture. They just shouldn't do that...

Gak!!! ...And it's especially distressing to see happening on that top-of-the-Stetson-dress-line Pinnacle!

 

[johnnycanuck]

Wow. That’s harsh. Before I bought my first fedora I found the lounge, so I got warned about that kind of thing right from the get go.

If you want to water proof it you can use Scotch Guard, that helps but beyond that I have no idea what to do.

The only real advise I can give, if you want a hat that can handle the elements, is buy an Akubra. Some come open crown so you can bash them any way you like.

My two cents worth.

Johnny.

 

[Rooster]

I've got an olive green stetson Soveriegn I bought new about 8 years ago. It's been out in the rain many times and still bleeds a little when it gets really soaked. The first few times it got real wet it bleed pretty bad. It's faded now too, a very pale olive compared to the way it was when it was new.
I havn't gotten any of my vintage fedoras soaked thru yet, so I have nothing to compare with. But, I suspect this bleeding is a new hat problem due to less than high quality materials.

 

[Joel Tunnah]

I find it hard to believe that Stetson would use a water soluble dye on their hats. Are you sure that this isn't the colored powder that they put on their felts?

And for the record, I have soaked two dark Akubras in my bathtub, with not one bit of color loss.

Joel

 

[MattC]

Has anybody tried Scotchguard?

Most of my hats are vintage, I have a few from Art and Graham, and running is never a problem. I bought one hat out of old stock which I suspect was made in the 80s, and the powder comes off on it all the time (this isn't a rain problem). Would scotchguard prevent it?

 

[Davidson]

I find it hard to believe that Stetson would use a water soluble dye on their hats. Are you sure that this isn't the colored powder that they put on their felts?

And for the record, I have soaked two dark Akubras in my bathtub, with not one bit of color loss.

Joel

Joel: There may be more going on than meets the eye here. I got it at the Stetson outlet store. It may have been dyed by a retailer at customer request or...who knows. So I can't blame Stetson, I don't know enough.

Bailey I can blame, I bought that one at a western store off the shelf as new. I've looked at a few other Bailey offerings also, and will not buy more of their product.

The felt doesn't look like it has powder, it doesn't give off powder puffs when brushed, and unlike powder it is easily dissolved in water. I don't know how to get powder out of a hat. I have read information from Stetson that they only put powder on their light color hats "to make them easier to clean". This one is dark brown. It's dye.

 

[Joel Tunnah]

Someone (Steve?) said that they use the powder to smooth out color variations on the felt. I'm not sure if this is limited to light colors only.

 

[Bogie]

I believe it might be so Joel, as I have worn my black Stetson Temple in the rain with no ill effects what so ever.
A far cry to the tragic fate of Davidson's hats. That really sucks.

 

[Davidson]

I believe it might be so Joel, as I have worn my black Stetson Temple in the rain with no ill effects what so ever.
A far cry to the tragic fate of Davidson's hats. That really sucks.

Joel: Maybe Stetson does use powder on dark hats. I have a light Stetson, and I know what the powder looks like and how it reacts to a hat brush. This wasn't powder. My guess is there was an aftermarket dye job somewhere before I got it. Looked great, too!

Bogie: I'm glad to hear it. I've got a black Temple too! Here's hoping

I couldn't stand the dye running, so I just rinsed and rinsed and rinsed - there's still some there, but it's a lot fainter. My main problem now is the hat looks like half a cantalope with a brim I don't have a hat block...

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Some of the newer hats made now the company's use the cheapest felts and dyes they can buy to produce the hats... Sad...

 

[Davidson]

ONE PROBLEM SOLVED!

The one that bled the worst - I'm making into a hat for my wife

 

[J.B.]

Millinery secrets revealed...

1. Remove sweatband and liner
2. Get scissors
3. Don't run with scissors
4. Fold up brim
5. Make diagonal cuts on brim...

...Voil?†!