Dyeing a Hat

[bond]

Thanks For that Z.

 

[zetwal]

Thanks For that Z.

No problem ... I hope you find what you're looking for.

 

[Ordinary Guy]

If all else fails you might want to give Bob Jesse a call at Black Sheep Hats, he dyes felt , and ribbon all the time and might have a suggestion for you.

 

[RBH]

Thanks for the links Zet, I merged them for easy search access.

 

[zetwal]

Thanks for the links Zet, I merged them for easy search access.

OK good ... :yo:

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Dyeing fur felt using hair dye redux:

I mentioned in The Conversion Corral that I would give this a go. Spoiler: It has not been a success (yet).

I followed in the footsteps of @J.TMarcus and used hair dyes to attempt to dye a fur felt hat.

The donor hat started life as a 3X Resistol in dark sand:

To start, I gave it a thorough cleaning, rinsed it very well, and reblocked it.

This is the first dye attempted:

I allowed it to set for two hours and then rinsed. The rinsing took a long time with lots of cold water. I eventually took to soaking it to get the excess color out:

The only thing that really took the dye well was my T-shirt.

I tried again with the same hat and a different dye:

This was in "black cherry." The results were about the same. Not one to give up, and having another $2.97 box of hair dye, I'm giving it one last try.

The hat is sopping wet with the dye and I'm letting it "cook" over night.

I have wondered if the new dyes that no longer use ammonia are as good at dyeing fur felt. I've looked around and it seems that ammonia has been phased out.

I'll post my final results soon. If the hat comes out wearable, I'll reblock it and sew in a new sweat and then give it to my wife for the ribbon and bow work. One interesting fact: the rubbing and rinsing has removed or broke down most of the shellac. It also caused some of the felt to ball up on the hat and it will need to be brushed off. The felt is now quite floppy and might need some stiffeners added, a first for me.



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[Mustang Mike's Hats]

I spent a fair amount of time on the phone with Winchester Hats one day discussing the felt dyeing process. Its a lot more complex and complicated than I would have thought and not something I personally would delve into, just sayin ...

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I spent a fair amount of time on the phone with Winchester Hats one day discussing the felt dyeing process. Its a lot more complex and complicated than I would have thought and not something I personally would delve into, just sayin ...

Oh I know. There are acid dyes and dyeing under pressure and lots of equipment and science involved. But if you have a hat body that is soiled or stained so it really isn't good for anything why not try it? Like J.T. All those years ago, I didn't have much to loose. I'll be happy with less than perfect results as long as it is wearable.

 

[belfastboy]

I purchased a new white Bailey 7X western on Ebay for $25 and dyed it using my wife's wool yarn dye and equipment. It worked out really well. Totally stripped the hat of sweat, ribbon and liner. I dyed it grey using a weakened black dye solution in almost boiling water. It was western weight to start and the hot water continued to felt the hat so the finished product was very dense. Stretched it onto my wooden hat block. The dye was even and quite nice. The problem arose when I went to cut down the brim only to discover that the dye had not penetrated completely through the brim so I was left with an oreo cookie affect.....grey on either side with a very white core. My solution was to send the hat down to Mike at NW Hats and had the brim curled and bound.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I purchased a new white Bailey 7X western on Ebay for $25 and dyed it using my wife's wool yarn dye and equipment. It worked out really well. Totally stripped the hat of sweat, ribbon and liner. I dyed it grey using a weakened black dye solution in almost boiling water. It was western weight to start and the hot water continued to felt the hat so the finished product was very dense. Stretched it onto my wooden hat block. The dye was even and quite nice. The problem arose when I went to cut down the brim only to discover that the dye had not penetrated completely through the brim so I was left with an oreo cookie affect.....grey on either side with a very white core. My solution was to send the hat down to Mike at NW Hats and had the brim curled and bound.

Any chance you have the specifics for the "wool yarn dye?" I have other hats I might give this a go on.

 

[belfastboy]

Any chance you have the specifics for the "wool yarn dye?" I have other hats I might give this a go on.

I will dig out the dye and post the particulars. It is a three stage process as I soaked the hat in a solution to strip out any grease or substance that would prevent colour absorption, the dye job itself and a final process to set the colour into the felt.

 

[belfastboy]

If you google...."using Maiwa dyes" the first link to come up is a pdf to the "Maiwa guide to using Natural dyes". It is a multi page (12 or so) guide to using dyes for natural fibres. I spoke with them and when they say wool you can use "felt' interchangeably. This is a great overview to the process.

 

[moehawk]

I have dyed fur felt using the iDye brand and setting it with citric acid instead of vinegar. I also didn't take the dye bath up to the full 150f recommended, more like 130. Worked well with minimal shrinkage.

 

[belfastboy]

I have dyed fur felt using the iDye brand and setting it with citric acid instead of vinegar. I also didn't take the dye bath up to the full 150f recommended, more like 130. Worked well with minimal shrinkage.

I used vinegar and every time I wore the hat I got hungry cuz I couldn't stop thinking of fish and chips. So yes, citric would be better.

 

[moehawk]

I used vinegar and every time I wore the hat I got hungry cuz I couldn't stop thinking of fish and chips. So yes, citric would be better.

I dyed a woolie back in my beginner days, used vinegar. Always smelled like salad dressing.

 

[belfastboy]

I dyed a woolie back in my beginner days, used vinegar. Always smelled like salad dressing.

You have a healthier imagination than I! Mine goes to the deep fried stuff.

 

[bond]

Too much heat can be a bad thing. I tried dying a big ol floppy brim Borsalino long ago in a hot dye bath and ended up with pasta felt!


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[deadlyhandsome]

After letting the hair dye set 24 hours, I gave the felt repeated rising until the water was almost clear. I let it drain for 6 hours and put it back on the block. Even though the dye was all some shade of dark red, the felt has a mostly brown color with red undertones. It’s too early to tell if the color is consistent enough to be worn, but this is the best it’s looked in all my attempts.

The dark areas are from the uneven drying (I hope):

I figure it has another three days on the block before I’ll reestablish the brim break and have to worry about the evenness of the brim width. I have a rounding jack (thanks again @humanshoes) but I’m concerned the dye did not penetrate the full thickness of the felt and any cuts will reveal this.



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[AbbaDatDeHat]

Hey Deadly et al:
Been following the dye progress and thinkin. Let’s put on our science hats for a moment. Problem: dye penetration. Assuming felt is less dense than dye solution and complete dye penetration of the felt. ie. EVERY micro air molecule on EVERY felt fiber displaced by a denser molecule of dye solution, thus total dye penetration. I’m thinking a sealable container/bucket with a few lbs of negative pressure would get er done. Just a thought. Never done it. Opinions welcome. Disregard at will.
Be well. Bowen

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Hey Deadly et al:
Been following the dye progress and thinkin. Let’s put on our science hats for a moment. Problem: dye penetration. Assuming felt is less dense than dye solution and complete dye penetration of the felt. ie. EVERY micro air molecule on EVERY felt fiber displaced by a denser molecule of dye solution, thus total dye penetration. I’m thinking a sealable container/bucket with a few lbs of negative pressure would get er done. Just a thought. Never done it. Opinions welcome. Disregard at will.
Be well. Bowen

I know there must be ways to do it better. I was looking for cheap and easy: often the enemies of quality. I was about to give up on this project. I started it three months ago and I still doubt that the felt will have a completely even color distribution. If I do this again I’m going with the hot dye/acid set method.