Coffee Spill!!

[ufguy11]

Okay. This morning I was going to go browsing through antiques at a festival. Before I went I stopped by Einstein's Bagels and got coffee. Unaware of how stupid I was being, I put my beaver blend hat on the table. I was getting up to get some napkins and knocked my coffee over and spilled it all over the back of the hat. I couldn't do anything at the moment so I just got napkins and try to dry it off. Is there any way I can get this huge coffee stain off my hat?

Thanks
J.J.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Probably a Woolight bath, Naptha would only work an for oil based stain. Is it a light colored hat?

 

[Andykev]

Easy. Happens all the time

Terry cloth towel and Naptha. Have fun

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Here's the thread that talks about this subject some, seems that Marc C did not have luck cleaning coffe with Naptha.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=9794

 

[Bud-n-Texas]

age of stain may make the difference

What mark said was
"I've tried Naphtha to clean old liquid stains (coffee, gravy, soup) found on vintage ties (50+ years old). Tried dabbing, rubbing and even soaking. No luck. The stains were too set in.

The Naphtha didn't hurt the ties, but didn't help them either. Guess it depends on the stain."

 

[J. M. Stovall]

But this is what Pilgrim said:
"I would guess that naphtha would be most effective on oily (hair oil, finger marks) or petrochemical-based stains; probably wouldn't do much for water stains or other marks that didn't involve a substance soluble in naphtha."

 

[ufguy11]

This is the hat I spilled on.

http://webmail.bellsouth.net/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+mobmain?

J.J.

 

[Andykev]

Your link isn't working

and the failure above was with neckties....entirely different from FELT. I have never seen a felt tie.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Hey, maybe that could be the next big thing! Felt ties!

 

[Pilgrim]

Logic:

Water was the carrier that put the stain in there; water is probably the best solvent to attack it. Woolite sounds like a good bet to get the minerals out of the felt, but the essence is SPEED. I would be dampening that hat NOW. if nothing else, water should spread out the minerals and make them less noticeable...essentially an exercise in felt chromatography.

The worst that can heppen? Professional cleaning.

 

[ufguy11]

Here is the hat it spilled on. Sorry for the other link.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSAA:US:11&Item=180004493498

Thanks,

J.J.

 

[Pilgrim]

I'd say get water INTO it, and use towels to wick as much water OUT as possible. The Woolite idea still sounds good to me.

 

[thefedorastore]

Personally, I would let it dry and tackle it with a hat-sponge, aka hat eraser. I clean most hats without chemicals or solvents just using this tool, and it should surely work on a coffee stain. It's worked on much worse, and the felt is never saturated with anything. Just loosens the fibers and removes the stain. Then, applying steam to restore the finish.
Let me know if I can help.
Duane

 

[ufguy11]

Where can I get a hat sponge? And, this is another stupid question, how can I steam my hat back? I'm not very experienced at restoring hats.

Thanks,

J.J.

 

[Lieutenant]

Thats why I keep mine on my head and don't care what others may think. Its the safe place and when wearing a vintage hat its the only place to put it. Hope you can get the stain out.

 

[WideBrimm]

Hat Sponge

Try a store that specializes in western apparel / cowboy hats
Here's one online link http://www.sheplers.com/cat.cfm?TID=075025

I've tried a hat sponge recently for what looked like scuff marks. Worked very well. Just like an eraser.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

I have a mark on my grey Borsalino Homburg that doesn't respond to a hat sponge. I'm afraid it may be ballpoint ink. The hat's dingy and in need of a general cleaning and a reblock anyhow, I may just send it to Art or Duane.