Cleaning spots, stains and soiling from felt hats

[Frunobulax]

We often call them "broads" in the States.

Skirts hate it when you call 'em broads.


Sent directly from my mind to yours.

 

[hatophile]

Skirts hate it when you call 'em broads.


Sent directly from my mind to yours.

I prefer "babes".

 

[Georgiepea]

So I have two Akubras, stored in a box. Come to find out that it was used as a nest. And the two hats have mouse urine stains on the brims, not thru the felt. I'm about to start with naphtha for touchup, and then immerse it in Woolight.

I searched this site, nothing bout mouse urine. Any experience out there?

 

[ruvort]

Here's a wonderful article from a 1917 edition of "The American Hatter." It explains how they cleaned felt hats back then.

Does anyone have copies of these images? I'd love to see them.

 

[buler]

Does anyone have copies of these images? I'd love to see them.

You can view that issue and many others of "The American Hatter" on googlebooks. Just do a search on that title. They are well worth the time to read.

B

 

[jonbuilder]

Kitty litter cleaning

I think several companies make it, but the one I have is made by scout. It's called a spot remover. It literally looks like kitty litter, but basically you put a little bit of it on the spot you want to remove and rub the granules in small circles and it takes the spot out. I pushed the crown in a little to form a dish and then put the granules in it and then rubbed them around and it did wonders to get rid of the old crease marks. It was shaped like a regular cowboy hat and I changed it to a front pinch. The old lines showed up pretty bad until I used the granules. They worked better than the Naptha. I found this product at a western store that had lotsa hats and other cleaning products.

Here's a pic. You can hardly tell they are there.

fedoralover

I had a stetson 7X clear beaver that looked just like your hat and it came in a green stetson box like your pictured. What grade is your hat

 

[Tom Loquet]

Hi all,

Today I was walking next to some water wearing my modern Stetson Stratoliner in Silverbelly when a gust of wind blew it off my head and into the water. I was luckily able to retrieve it before it floated away but it did sustain a few dirt smudges and the underside of the hat was quite wet. Would anyone be able to give me some advice on the best ways to clean dirt from a Stetson fur felt hat in Silverbelly? Also any advice on what I should do to avoid damage from the salt water would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Tom

 

[Lone Starr]

Sorry to hear about the Stratoliner. Not sure how dirty it is. you may want to post some images. I do have a Silverbelly 7 1/2. I'm not really using that I may sell, if you need an extra.

 

[jlee562]

Steam, brush, repeat.

If that doesn't work, get a hat sponge. Steam, sponge, brush.

if that doesn't work, get a treated hat sponge, and/or a light hat cleaner such as the one offered by Bickmore.

If that doesn't work, send it out.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Hi all,

Today I was walking next to some water wearing my modern Stetson Stratoliner in Silverbelly when a gust of wind blew it off my head and into the water. I was luckily able to retrieve it before it floated away but it did sustain a few dirt smudges and the underside of the hat was quite wet. Would anyone be able to give me some advice on the best ways to clean dirt from a Stetson fur felt hat in Silverbelly? Also any advice on what I should do to avoid damage from the salt water would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Tom

I’m not sure. I’d think that you would want to flush it with lots of clear pure water to remove the dissolved salt that is in the felt, leather, liner, and ribbon. After that you could have it reblocked. A professional’s hand is a comforting thing.

Knowing the cheap me, after I calmed down I’d remove the liner and clean it separately. For the felt, I’d rinse it thoroughly with a low flow garden hose and finish up with distilled water. For the leather sweatband, I’d mix water and distilled white vinegar 2:1 and blot the leather. Later, I’d condition the leather well and leaving the sweatband flipped down I’d let the whole hat dry naturally for a couple of days...open crown and upside down in a wire support ring I’ve made. It the felt showed salt staining I’d use the vinegar and water mix on the felt too. Make sure the brim is snapped up when it’s drying.

If it’s a Royal quality hat, it’s hard to spend $100 on a hatter and shipping (I don’t live close to a hatter). If it’s a higher grade hat, or a hat with sentimental value, it’s nice to send it to a professional who has the know-how and the tools to do it right.

Before doing it on my own, I’d probably give a trusted hatter a call and get some advice too. If the hatter isn’t willing to help you out with some free advice you know it’s not a hatter to send work to in the future.


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[jlee562]

Well...how wet is "quite wet?"

If the hat was not soaked through the the core, soaking it through to the core with a garden hose seems a bit much to me. I don't know that a modern hatco hat would come through looking so fresh after a treatment like that, especially if one does not have their own block.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Well...how wet is "quite wet?"

If the hat was not soaked through the the core, soaking it through to the core with a garden hose seems a bit much to me. I don't know that a modern hatco hat would come through looking so fresh after a treatment like that, especially if one does not have their own block.

That’s true. My post could well be a case of the cure being worse than the disease. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m lucky if half my attempts work out. I don’t know if brushing and steaming will get to job done either. I guess in my mind it was mostly submerged and already soaked through.


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[Tom Loquet]

It was mostly the underside of the hat that landed in the water. I gave the whole hat a spray with fresh water to prevent any salt water stains and I used a small brush to buff out most of the smudges. This seemed to work very well and there are only a few small marks on the underside of the hat so overall I was very lucky. Thanks for your help.

 

[DRB]

I agree with using fresh water/distilled water to clean the hat. I had an akubra get splashed with whale water (salt and urine) at Sea World. Only the top of the hat got splashed and showed salt water marks once dry. I cleaned it by submerging the hat (top only) in water and gently scrubbing with a hat sponge while it was under water. It worked.

 

[hatsRme]

I agree with using fresh water/distilled water to clean the hat. I had an akubra get splashed with whale water (salt and urine) at Sea World. Only the top of the hat got splashed and showed salt water marks once dry. I cleaned it by submerging the hat (top only) in water and gently scrubbing with a hat sponge while it was under water. It worked.

How do you know there was whale urine, and what was the ratio of water/urine, Dennis?

This begs the question, do whales (or fish) get thirsty?!

 

[Frunobulax]

How do you know there was whale urine, and what was the ratio of water/urine, Dennis?

This begs the question, do whales (or fish) get thirsty?!

The whale just had that look in his eye, Charlie.

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[ryan_289]

I pulled a hat out of the box that I haven't worn in well over a year. It appears to ha e mold browning in spots. What did I do that caused this? These hats stay in the box in my closet. How do I clean this up?

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[belfastboy]

Mould requires two things in order to grow. First is a food source and mould can feed on just about anything. Secondly is a source of water or at least moisture. Do you live in a high humidity area? Is your house overly humid? Does the hat smell mouldy/musty? My suggestion is to put it out on a sunny day even if cold to dry out the mould bloom. Then try to gently brush the mould away. The other thing to check that is even more important; check for areas of mould in your house. If this is mould then it is possible that the hat is not the only thing breeding the spores. Check in the attic or crawl space, check especially on the sheet rock walls.

 

[belfastboy]

I wasn't totally clear.....when you brush it please do it outdoors to avoid releasing the mold spores into your home. The mold can feed off the dye on older hats rather than the felt itself. Which is somewhat good news but the downside is that removing the mold can also leave unevenness in the colouration of the felt. Be gentle in the brushing ….brush in a counter clockwise direction except for the underside of the brim.....for that go clockwise.

 

[ryan_289]

I checked all my other hats and they were fine. This is our normal closet which is connected to the bathroom so there could be some humidity from that. No other mold issues as far as I can tell and all clothes in closet smell fresh? I'm wondering if I boxed it up after wearing last time and it was sweaty. I'm guessing I should take the liner out and soak it? It appears to have something on it as well.

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