My Attempt At A Naptha Bath

[TomS]

Hi Folks:

I bought a vintage Open Road style fedora. When it arrived in the mail I quickly concluded the hat was a wreck. So, it has become my naptha experiment!

I've read a couple of posts on the subject here, and armed with that knowledge headed to the local hardware store. They had a buckets, and plenty of naptha. The appropriate purchases were made, and once everything was home I got started in the driveway...

.

.

I've been sloshing the hat around in the naptha for the last several hours. The juice has gone from a crystal clear color to a dingy grayish brown color, so *something* is going on in that bucket...lol. Tomorrow morning I'm going to let the hat dry in the sun. I'll have more photos and an update then! Wish me luck...

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[buler]

I've seen the "slosh around" method mentioned before. I would say this is just going to distribute the dirt that has settled to the bottom of the naptha all over the hat. When you soak a really dirty hat in naptha you'll see (if your'e using a clear container) a lot of dirt settling at the bottom of the naptha. If you periodically shake or swirl that naptha over the hat, where is all of that dirt going to go? My recommendation would be to soak it in enough naptha to cover the whole hat. Then using fresh naptha, brush/scrub the hat with naptha. If you don't want to use enough to cover the whole hat then skip to the step of brushing/scrubbing with naptha. Just make sure you dampen the whole hat with naptha to lessen the chance of lines forming where some felt stayed dry.

B

 

[randooch]

The grime tends to stay solidly on the bottom of the bucket, too. When I did this routine, I took the hat out after the first round, carefully poured the clean portion of gas into the other bucket, then put the hat in that one, added more gas, and did a second round. The amount of grime in the second bucket was far less, and I took this as a sign that the process was over.

 

[gtdean48]

Pour the naptha thru a large coffee filter to clean out the dirt particles.....

 

[TomS]

Thanks for the tips, fellas. I appreciate it!

 

[EggHead]

I found out that it is illegal (for stores) to sell naphtha in San Francisco.

 

[randooch]

I found out that it is illegal (for stores) to sell naphtha in San Francisco.

Coleman lighter fluid is a suitable substitute, no? That runs about 12 dollars per gallon.

 

[bond]

Tom, wear gloves that will protect your skin, eye wear too.!!!
This is not stuff you want to have splashed on your skin or in your eyes.

 

[-30-]

"This is not stuff you want to have splashed on your skin or in your eyes."
QUOTE: bond.

Nor on an asphalt driveway.


Regards,
-30-

 

[mando]

I tried this about a month ago. Was a complete waste of time and money. This needs to be removed from fedora lounge. I hope your sweatband is already in need of a replacement, because after the bath it will. The hat I did was in pretty good shape, the felt had a light yellowing along with the brim binding. Nothing came clean, except the sweatband dried out & cracked.

 

[buler]

I tried this about a month ago. Was a complete waste of time and money. This needs to be removed from fedora lounge. I hope your sweatband is already in need of a replacement, because after the bath it will. The hat I did was in pretty good shape, the felt had a light yellowing along with the brim binding. Nothing came clean, except the sweatband dried out & cracked.

Mando, sorry you had bad results. But that doesn't change the fact that many of us have done this with large amounts of hats with no problems.

B

 

[fedorafiend]

Mando, sorry you had bad results. But that doesn't change the fact that many of us have done this with large amounts of hats with no problems.

B

Ditto that statement. I used the very valuable tutorial on the naphta bath to clean several hats, very succesfully. The sweatband should be moisturized with leather softener immediately after complete drying.

 

[DavidJ]

I had fairly decent success with my naptha experiment. Sweatband came out fine, too. Just make sure to condition it afterwards.

 

[tonyb]

Sorry to hear about mando's bad experience. Our Rick Blaine had an even worse outcome some years ago. The naphtha bath not only destroyed the sweatband, it transferred something in that sweatband (dye, I'm guessing) to the felt. The result was one essentially ruined hat.

But balance that against all those hats that came through it with no ill effect. Hats home cleaned by the guys here count for at least hundreds of those positive outcomes, I'd wager.

I used to use VM&P naphtha (the kind you can buy at the hardware store in most locales), but I've since moved to other concoctions, some of which I prefer to keep to myself. Naphtha is nasty stuff -- it's toxic, it's flammable, and it smells like it'll give you cancer. None of that means you necessarily shouldn't use it, but only that you handle it with due caution. We've discussed this many times before, but if anything bears repeating, it's that. Every thread that mentions naphtha ought to carry that caveat.

 

[-30-]

"Every thread that mentions naphtha ought to carry that caveat."
QUOTE: tonyb.

Naptha is a "short" for Napha Gasoline and was the "original gasoline" that our grandparents used to fuel their early autos.

Modern gasoline fuel differs little from the above re it's flammability for cleaning use, but is not recommended due to colo(u)r*

and anti-knock products within the supply company's blend or menu.

Always: Outside in open fresh air. Gloves. No smoking. No electrical appliances unless explosion proof. No asphalt. Stand upwind.
No uninformed "vistors".

You will only have two chances; the first & The Last.

Common sense.

*American spelling:
color
Above the 49th:
colour.


Regards,
-30-

 

[Short Balding Guy]

I too have used White Gas, Coleman Gas, cleaning with great success. Please visit this link and see post #630, http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?8329-The-Stratoliner-Society-VINTAGE/page63 to see how the result worked with my vintage silverbelly Stratoliner.

The leather sweatband was treated with leather conditioner before and after the white gas bath. As mentioned I strain the liquid thru a filter to remove particulates. Safety first is certainly the axiom, but I have not seen extreme risk either with personal risk or outcome.

With well over a dozen hats bathed this method, I have yet to damage a hat. I am certain that that "hat" is coming, but my % of success (removing certain stains/dirt) has been the highest possible so far.

Best wishes, Eric -

 

[tonyb]

...

Naptha is a "short" for Napha Gasoline and was the "original gasoline" that our grandparents used to fuel their early autos. ...

Having next to no knowledge of chemistry, I'm in no position to dispute this, -30-, but I wonder if the VM&P (varnish maker's and painter's) naphtha found at Lowe's and Home Depot and the like is indeed the same stuff used to fuel early gas-burning automobiles. Sure doesn't smell like any gasoline I've ever encountered. For the same reason, I question how similar it is to white gas and Coleman camp fuel. Could be that for our purposes (whatever's in it that dissolves certain kinds of soiling) it is the same, but I wouldn't know.

 

[-30-]

More info from Jim Reid --- Coleman, Director of Public Relations:

http://www.gearreview.com/gearfaq/wgcoleman.asp


ZIPPO BLEND No 1: (Scroll down.)
https://www2.itap.purdue.edu/msds/index.cfm?letter=Z


The above MSDS will tell you the constituants of any/many products
with their brand names as an aside.


Regards,
-30-

 

[TomS]

Tom, wear gloves that will protect your skin, eye wear too.!!!
This is not stuff you want to have splashed on your skin or in your eyes.

Thanks, Bond...