Hat smell...

[Obsessed]

I can tell you a good way to rid your hat of some of that smell....buy some french vanilla coffee, put some in a paper cup like what you use for cup cakes...put you hat crown side down in what box you store it in...CAREFULLY place your cup with the coffee ground in the center of your hat with your hat in a hat box...and have the hat box someplace like a counter top or table so you can slide the box with the lid on it, into a large plastic trash bag and do not spill the coffee grounds...then close up with out moving the box around, close up the plastic bag with a twist tie. Let is sit for at least 24 hours...your hat will smell real nice...and the coffee will have absorbed any "stink". I do this to vintage hats that have that nasty strong musty smell.....it works every time for me and no complaints...just do not spell those coffee grounds in your hat or they will stain it badly!

I would go for Cindy's coffee-trick. It's been tried with very good results by several loungers. Crumpled newspaper pages packed around and inside the hat in a plastic bag also works on bad smells. You may try both - maybe with a few iterations over the processes. Hoping for a good result ...

Thanks. I'll give it a try.

If you want a serious answer. You could always use scotchguard to protect the hat from getting wet. If it can't get wet it won't smell.

I actually did use Scotchgard when I got the hat last year, at the suggestion of the hat store. I've never done that with an Akubra; I believe they are already treated with something, and in any event they seem pretty impervious to weather. I think the current version of Scotchgard isn't as effective as the original, but it's also apparently not as toxic. Seems like a fair tradeoff.

 

[johnnycanuck]

I have been treating my Tilley hats with Scotchguard for years. It is a spray and it does wear off. You are supposed to reapply every few months to keep it protected.
Johnny

 

[Obsessed]

I have been treating my Tilley hats with Scotchguard for years. It is a spray and it does wear off. You are supposed to reapply every few months to keep it protected.
Johnny

Yeah, I should apply it again.

 

[RJR]

I have been treating my Tilley hats with Scotchguard for years. It is a spray and it does wear off. You are supposed to reapply every few months to keep it protected.
Johnny

+1

 

[Dm101]

I have the same issue with a vintage hat I won on eBay recently. After steaming and shaping the hat tonight...its age has become flagrantly present. I think the headband is the worst culprit. My head smells like old now...ugh.

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[Dm101]

I do think the felt material itself is far different then your Akubra. And for sure how it is dyed may play some part in it. I can tell you a good way to rid your hat of some of that smell....buy some french vanilla coffee, put some in a paper cup like what you use for cup cakes...put you hat crown side down in what box you store it in...CAREFULLY place your cup with the coffee ground in the center of your hat with your hat in a hat box...and have the hat box someplace like a counter top or table so you can slide the box with the lid on it, into a large plastic trash bag and do not spill the coffee grounds...then close up with out moving the box around, close up the plastic bag with a twist tie. Let is sit for at least 24 hours...your hat will smell real nice...and the coffee will have absorbed any "stink". I do this to vintage hats that have that nasty strong musty smell.....it works every time for me and no complaints...just do not spell those coffee grounds in your hat or they will stain it badly!

Thank you! Trying this tomorrow.

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[Dm101]

Old sweat, time, cardboard and age...

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[Dm101]

I recently acquired a Stetson Twenty which required a good bit of steaming to get in shape to wear. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the previous owner must have been a pipe smoker, because the smell of pipe tobacco came up from the felt as soon as I began the process. I'm not a smoker and don't like the smell of cigarette or cigar smoke, but there's something very appealing to me about pipe tobacco.

I feel the same. I actually have a cologne that smells like that good old cherry tobacco. I love it.

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[UnclePete]

I use an Ozone machine on my new old hats. Just half hour and smells are gone.

 

[georgie girl]

I decided to bump this old thread to add that I had nice old 40's? hat that had this weird sickening sweet smell that I couldn't get rid of. I finally figured out that the smell was probably mothballs...Nasty! Crinkled up newspapers didn't help and neither did baking soda, I would have tried the coffee trick but didn't want to waste good coffee on it. I also gave it a naptha bath which helped a wee bit. Finally I gave the vodka treatment a go... it was suggested to me that I use a 1:1 ratio of vodka/H2O and spritz it. However, I decided to pick up a mini of some cheap vodka (since I'm not really a vodka drinker) and just use it straight. I put the vodka in an old lens cleaner sprayer and spritzed the entire hat inside and out after flipping the sweatband up, I ended up having to do this about 4x to finally get rid of the smell. Happily I can now wear my hat, and it's since become a favorite. I assume that if this will work on mothballs, it will probably work on most any kind of smell!

Cheers

 

[belfastboy]

I decided to bump this old thread to add that I had nice old 40's? hat that had this weird sickening sweet smell that I couldn't get rid of. I finally figured out that the smell was probably mothballs...Nasty! Crinkled up newspapers didn't help and neither did baking soda, I would have tried the coffee trick but didn't want to waste good coffee on it. I also gave it a naptha bath which helped a wee bit. Finally I gave the vodka treatment a go... it was suggested to me that I use a 1:1 ratio of vodka/H2O and spritz it. However, I decided to pick up a mini of some cheap vodka (since I'm not really a vodka drinker) and just use it straight. I put the vodka in an old lens cleaner sprayer and spritzed the entire hat inside and out after flipping the sweatband up, I ended up having to do this about 4x to finally get rid of the smell. Happily I can now wear my hat, and it's since become a favorite. I assume that if this will work on mothballs, it will probably work on most any kind of smell!

Cheers

I concur. I had a hat with a musty odour and I thought for certain a naptha bath would eliminate it......it helped but the smell lingered. Out came my cheap (for Canada) Alberta Vodka, full strength, spritzed generously and the smell is gone and I have some left over to mix with my morning OJ.

 

[Frunobulax]

Oh. I thought you were supposed to drink it to forget about how your hat smells.

 

[belfastboy]

Oh. I thought you were supposed to drink it to forget about how your hat smells.

Plan B!