Costs of standard clean and block

[Ephraim Tutt]

What's it costing you folk in your various parts of the globe for a standard clean and block.

My local hat guy in Brisbane charges $15 Aussie bucks for a standard service that includes a naptha bath, stiffener if required, steam, stretch if needed, blocking in the bash of choice (and a rebash if I don't like it), stain removal etc.

I've taken some pretty dusty, dirty hats to him and they always come back looking like new. Generally I leave them with him for a week or so and he gets to them when he's able.

$15 well spent I reckon.

What are you paying in your neck of the woods and what do you get for your money?

 

[majormoore]

You better tip him real good, no where near that in the states for a complete redo.

Major Moore

 

[Ephraim Tutt]

You better tip him real good, no where near that in the states for a complete redo.

Major Moore

We don't tip in Australia, Major Moore - but I do give him lots of business and buy a few new lids from him too (he's the major Akubra retailer and repairer in Brisbane).

I haven't yet had him to a complete redo - no replacement of liners or sweats, for example - so I don't know what he'd charge me for that.

What do you charge for a basic clean and block?

 

[billysmom]

Here's what Peters Bros here in Fort Worth charges for a complete re-do:

Felt Hat Renovation
Your Hat is stripped of sweat band, liner and outside trim. Washed in a chemical bath. Put on a wooden block that is the correct size height and taper. Washed again with a soapy solution. Stiffener is applied if desired. When dry it is removed from the block and flanged in a special machine which presses the brim flat. A new Leather sweat band, satin lining and outside trimmings are carefully fitted by hand. Your Hat may be left "open and flat" for you to shape yourself or expertly creased to one of many styles.
Click here to see hat styles
Photos to the right are the same hat.



85.00 + 20.00 S&H in US, International 45.00
Add 8.25% Sales Tax in TEXAS.

SHIP YOUR HATS WITH CHECK, MONEY
ORDER OR CREDIT CARD INFORMATION.

TO:
PETERS BROS HATS
909 HOUSTON ST.
FORT WORTH TEXAS 76102

ESTIMATED TIME =4 TO 6 WEEKS

 

[Ephraim Tutt]

Here's what Peters Bros here in Fort Worth charges for a complete re-do:

Felt Hat Renovation
Your Hat is stripped of sweat band, liner and outside trim. Washed in a chemical bath. Put on a wooden block that is the correct size height and taper. Washed again with a soapy solution. Stiffener is applied if desired. When dry it is removed from the block and flanged in a special machine which presses the brim flat. A new Leather sweat band, satin lining and outside trimmings are carefully fitted by hand. Your Hat may be left "open and flat" for you to shape yourself or expertly creased to one of many styles.
Click here to see hat styles
Photos to the right are the same hat.



85.00 + 20.00 S&H in US, International 45.00
Add 8.25% Sales Tax in TEXAS.

SHIP YOUR HATS WITH CHECK, MONEY
ORDER OR CREDIT CARD INFORMATION.

TO:
PETERS BROS HATS
909 HOUSTON ST.
FORT WORTH TEXAS 76102

ESTIMATED TIME =4 TO 6 WEEKS

Hells bells, Billysmum..oops...mom!

That's a lot more than I pay for the hats! Nonetheless, they're doing a lot more work than I ask my hattery to do. He doesn't dismantle the hat at all - just cleans it up and reshapes it mostly. He'd do more if I needed him to but so far the hats I've bought haven't needed serious surgery.

$15 is looking pretty sweet.

 

[tonyb]

Yup, that IS a good deal.

I'm reminded of what our friend tortswon tells us about the dirt-cheap services offered at South Street Hats in his town, Philadelphia. I can't imagine that a hatter could afford to do what some might deem a "proper" clean and block for anything substantially less than what Peters Bros. charges. Not that there's anything at all wrong with a less involved spiffing up of a hat. Indeed, I think of it as a solid value, especially if the customer can just drop off his hat locally and spare himself the shipping charges. And if it comes out looking good as new, or nearly so, what's not to like?

Still, I've encountered many an old hat that needed a whole lot more than 15 bucks worth of work to be made decent looking once again. I speculate that back half a century and more ago, when so many men wore hats, some economies of scale may well have been realized. Still, taking a hat apart, cleaning and blocking and flanging it, and putting it back together again, can be quite a bit of work. And as long as you're going to all that trouble, not replacing the sweatband and ribbon and perhaps even the liner would seem a waste of effort.

 

[daizawaguy]

""My local hat guy in Brisbane charges $15 Aussie bucks for a standard service that includes a naptha bath, stiffener if required, steam, stretch if needed, blocking in the bash of choice (and a rebash if I don't like it), stain removal etc.""

Name and address please (if you don`t mind), and does he have a web page?:eusa_clap

 

[Tomasso]

the dirt-cheap services offered at South Street Hats in his town, Philadelphia.

I talked to them and it turns out that they have very limited services. [huh]

 

[Lefty]

Optimo's prices about a year and a half ago

Gary White's prices this past Spring

 

[tonyb]

I talked to them and it turns out that they have very limited services. [huh]

So did you get a sense of what all he actually does for that low, low price? I'm assuming, based on reports from a fellow who is something of a hat aficionado, that the work is certainly satisfactory.

Frankly, I'd like to learn some less-involved hat-cleaning tricks, provided they resulted in a presentable hat. I figure a person could soak a hat, intact, in a cleaning solvent and then block it, intact, and then flange it and brush it up to kinda restore the nap. And I can imagine circumstances under which that might be all you really have to do. (A very lightly soiled but thoroughly crumpled hat could be made dramatically better looking with no more than that, I'd think.) But even then, 15 bucks is less than I'd want for it. I mean, those solvents are nasty, man. And pricey.

 

[Tomasso]

I'd pay up. Trying to shave a buck here and there most often proves to be fruitless. [huh]

 

[tonyb]

I'd pay up. Trying to shave a buck here and there most often proves to be fruitless. [huh]

No argument here. But it's understandable that a person wouldn't want to pay something approaching the price of, say, a new Akubra just to clean up an old Akubra.

Now, if instead of that we're talking a nice vintage piece of felt, with perhaps a Cav edge (just to sweeten this hypothetical hat of ours), then making it look like new would be well worth a C-note, or even a couple of them.

 

[Tomasso]

would be well worth a C-note, or even a couple of them.

How bout 20 or 30 bucks like back in the day? Wouldn't that be a dream.....

 

[Ephraim Tutt]

""My local hat guy in Brisbane charges $15 Aussie bucks for a standard service that includes a naptha bath, stiffener if required, steam, stretch if needed, blocking in the bash of choice (and a rebash if I don't like it), stain removal etc.""

Name and address please (if you don`t mind), and does he have a web page?:eusa_clap

My hatter is Keith at Distinctive Accessories
Shop 14, 1st Floor
Anzac Square Arcade
Cnr Adelaide & Edward Streets
Brisbane
Tel: 07 3221 0104

As I say, all I ask him to do is a basic clean and block and my hats always come back looking brand new. For $15, that's all I could want. They're primarily a retail outlet and their website doesn't say much about cleaning & repairs, but the site address is here:

http://www.dahats.com.au/default.asp

 

[Spats McGee]

My hatter is Keith at Distinctive Accessories
Shop 14, 1st Floor
Anzac Square Arcade
Cnr Adelaide & Edward Streets
Brisbane
Tel: 07 3221 0104

As I say, all I ask him to do is a basic clean and block and my hats always come back looking brand new. For $15, that's all I could want. They're primarily a retail outlet and their website doesn't say much about cleaning & repairs, but the site address is here:

$15 is a great deal on a clean & block, but by the time I paid the postage both ways, . . . I would say that if your hat just needs the basic clean & block, you're in good shape, ET.

 

[Ephraim Tutt]

Yessir, Brother McGee! Keith looks after me and my lids very well for the price I pay. He's my hat mechanic and I gotta say that a naptha bath, stiffener, steam clean and block in my bash of choice is a great deal for $15.
Does a first rate job too.

I'm gonna buy an Akubra Balmoral (hemp straw hat) from him shortly. Great hat - we don't hear much about Akubra straws on here. I'll post some pics when I get it (or more correctly my kids get it for dad's birthday in a couple of weeks!).

Anyways, it's grand to have a great hatter close by.

 

[Ephraim Tutt]

Bump