Hat Rescue with photos

[Magus]

Disclaimer(s)
I am not a professional.
Try this at your own risk.
No people or animals were harmed during the making of this production.

Step one: Obtain a suitably beaten hat.

Step two: Give it a thorough brushingl

Step three: After donning protective gear place hat in airtight container with the liner removed and pour naptha over hat till its submerged. Toss the liner in there an seal it up overnight or up to 24 hours

Step four: remove hat from soak and let air-dry for a good 6-8 hours

Step Four Five? errr...where am I? (or even sometime before step one): Drink enough margaritias to have these bottles empty and ready to use for reshaping the crown. Get water boiling in the teapot.

Step six: FLIP DOWN SWEATBAND! Then gently pass the hat thru the steam and reshape the crown to an open form with the bottles. Also reshape the brim by steaming and hand shaping (clean gloves help with this as the brim can be HOT.

Step Seven: once the hat had a smoothed open (round) crown Steam it a bit and reshape it to your desired bash.

Step Eight: Make more margaritas to celebrate another rescued hat!

 

[MrBern]

Wow, the green Hornet would be proud!

 

[Bull Moose]

Excellent write-up!

 

[tonyb]

Yep, that's the gist of turning a dirty, misshapen old beater into a presentable hat, with readily available tools and supplies. (Love the action shot, Magus. Really captures the motion of the brush. It's amazing, sometimes, what just brushing an old hat will do for it.)

 

[GentlemanFarmer]

Nicely done. I may put my felts through the naptha dip over the summer so they'll be ready for next fall.

 

[astaire]

well done, considering you had to finish those two bottles and open a third one during the final step

I must say, using glass bottle is a smart way to smooth the crown with steaming.

One question: how do i make a clean break where th brim meets the crown? I have a couple of hats where the side brim looks like it droops down. I'm trying to think of a DIY method without the approriate block and flange.

Thanks for sharing this one Magus.

 

[Slim Portly]

I especially *hic* liked the part about the margaritas.

 

[Art Fawcett]

I KNEW I was missing a step Magus!!! Can you give a tutorial on the Margaritia's?

 

[ScionPI2005]

Well done, Magus. Those are some great pictures of the process. I'll take a margarita.

 

[Magus]

well done, considering you had to finish those two bottles and open a third one during the final step

I must say, using glass bottle is a smart way to smooth the crown with steaming.

One question: how do i make a clean break where th brim meets the crown? I have a couple of hats where the side brim looks like it droops down. I'm trying to think of a DIY method without the approriate block and flange.

Thanks for sharing this one Magus.

Do all of this outside...or at least not in any enclosed area where there are ANY open flames (ie...if your water heater is in your garage)

When I first take the hat out of the naptha the felt is loose and pliable. I push up the crown to a basic round and set the whole thing on foil. I bend the foil to give the upsweep to the back and the sides. Using clean wood as weights and letting the front of the hat hang over the edge of the table I give the down sweep to the front. I find that setting clothes pins on the brim work well as I can link them at different angles and place the weight where I wish.

Any further brim shapeing can be done with steam and gloved hands.

Hope that helps a bit.

M

 

[Magus]

Margarita recipe

I KNEW I was missing a step Magus!!! Can you give a tutorial on the Margaritia's?

After extensive testing the margarita that best fist our palates goes as follows:

In a container of your choice mix.

6oz. of good quality tequilla (we like Casadores)
7oz. Jose Quervo margarita mix.
2oz. Cointreau (no substitutions on this step)

Shake it up a bit and pour it over whole ice in a glass of your choice. Then.

Twist a wedge of lime and toss it

Top the whole thing with a shot of Grand Marnier put in a swizzle stick or small straw and serve.

Makes 4 or so servings

(we don't like salted rims on our glass...but if you do that happens before the ice)

 

[rgraham]

After extensive testing the margarita that best fist our palates goes as follows:

In a container of your choice mix.

6oz. of good quality tequilla (we like Casadores)
7oz. Jose Quervo margarita mix.
2oz. Cointreau (no substitutions on this step)

Shake it up a bit and pour it over whole ice in a glass of your choice. Then.

Twist a wedge of lime and toss it

Top the whole thing with a shot of Grand Marnier put in a swizzle stick or small straw and serve.

Makes 4 or so servings

(we don't like salted rims on our glass...but if you do that happens before the ice)

That is exactly how I make them myself. I do add the juice of one lime, one orange and one lemon squeezed into the mix. It takes the edge off the margarita mix.

 

[RPeers]

Excellant tutorial, truely top notch but before I continue in my quest for a clean hat I have but these five questions. (Three Sire) Oh right three questions...

Question the First... Why... do you remove the liner and then add it back in too the napthta?

Question the Second...How... much napthta fuel should I buy, is one small container like the one you used normally enough to cover a hat or should I get two or three to be safe?

Question the Third...What...is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

 

[rmrdaddy]

African or European???

 

[Woodfluter]

Great Job Magus! Wonderful documentation.

Similar to what I've done, except:
- No naphtha soak for me...yet!
- Use a long aluminum foil cone on the teakettle spout to focus steam.
- Use smaller rounded bottles, glass or plastic, to smooth and shape after steaming.

Now for the alternative recipe, developed over years of intensive investigation.

Margarita for One (scale up as necessary):

> 1-3/4 oz inexpensive tequila (like Cuervo gold)...if I have good tequila, I'd drink it straight with lime and not waste it in a mixed drink!

> 3/4 oz Triple Sec - the real deal - everybody leaves this out and it makes a difference.

> 2 oz Whisky Sour mix (preferred) or Sweet and Sour mix (if not too sweet, if contains sugar rather than corn sweetener, etc). No Margarita mixes allowed!

> Juice of two freshly squeezed limes (~1+ oz). Critical item and no "ReaLime" concentrate substitutions allowed. Get some pulp in there.

Pour over cracked ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously for a long time until very foamy. Pour into the classic glass with salted rim - everything, including any remaining ice. There should be only a few little floating bits of ice if I've gauged it right, and the texture should be creamy.

Now you should all feel privileged - I've never made this public before!

- Bill

 

[Magus]

Thanks. I am glad you find it informative.

Question the First... Why... do you remove the liner and then add it back in too the napthta?

I remove the liner first for two reasons.
Frist is the cleaning process. If there is dirt or dust trapped between the liner and the crown it falls out when the liner is removed. Second as the naptha soaks the hat the grime is allowed free passage to come away from the crown without being held near it by an intact liner.

Secondly is the steaming and rebashing. A liner being made of satin, silk, and or a combonation of plastic-ish materials (that little patch in the top) at best can inhibit the reshaping of the crown, and at worst can shrink or becomed harmed by the steam.

Question the Second...How... much napthta fuel should I buy, is one small container like the one you used normally enough to cover a hat or should I get two or three to be safe?

A Gallon (like the one I used) is enouth to soak a hat. because the container is totally sealed I can flip it over mid-soak to be sure everything goes well. Additionally after thigs are all done and the hat is removed, I let the naptha settle for a day or so and then carefully strain the top 80% or so through several layers of cheesecloth back into the can to be used again.

Question the Third...What...is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

I don't kn....aiaiiiiiieeee..........

 

[retro50]

A liner being made of satin, silk, and or a combonation of plastic-ish materials (that little patch in the top)

And, in your experience, how has that plastic-ish patch in the top (the sweat cap) held up to the naptha soak?

 

[feltfan]

Tres Generaciones is almost too good for margaritas!

My question has always been, what do you do with the
leftover naptha? I don't want to burn my house down
after cleaning my hat.

 

[ADHD librarian]

My question has always been, what do you do with the
leftover naptha? I don't want to burn my house down
after cleaning my hat.

I use shellite not naptha, (might be the same thing just named differentlu in Aus?). Once I'm done I filter it through some cheesecloth and put it back to use again next time.

 

[shortbow]

Very interesting thread, hadda give up the booze so I don't know if this method will work for me.... However, I have a beater Akubra I'd like to try this on.

So, some newb questions from the peanut gallery:

Naptha? Do you mean camping fuel? Like that Coleman stuff? Can that be right?

Also, I was steaming my new Borsalino the other day, and it seems I cooked a section of the sweatband. I was turning it out today to have a better look inside and made a small rip where the heat had krinkled the leather a bit.:rage

In steaming a hat, how do you get the bit on the outside of the sweatband without this dastardly leather damage?

Finally, I read a post on Ebay by a guy selling hat stretchers, where he said the method is to spray the hat well, including the sweatband, before cranking the stretcher. This kinda makes sense to me, but I would be worried about the dye in the leather bleeding thru and staining a light colored hat. Any ideas there?

Signed,
Lotstalearn Yet