Felt question for Art

Art, if a vintage fedora has some moth nibbles that are not too deep, can they be buffed, or sanded out?

regards fedoralover

I know that one

NO. The moths EAT the felt..and it's not really moths. Usually it's silverfish.

You can "shave" the surrounding felt and glue the fuzz in the hole, or you can recraft the hat by removing all the liner, sweatband, ribbon. Turn the hat inside out and reblock it and start from scratch.

That is why I have said in my post re: Ebay purchases, ALWAYS ASK about moth or insect damage. You can't fix it. Everything else can be replaced, the liner can be cleaned, sweat band replaced, ....... but you can't plug the "bullet" holes. Felt can't be "rewoven" like suits and coats. During the felting process, you end up with a hat body which has to pass quality inspection. All "thin spots" or uneven felts are discarded. So, you see, once the felt is eaten, you have to live with the damage.

The final issue is this: how bad a bite. I have some vintage hats with TINY nibbles that you have to get real close to see. I also received a hat with 17 bites, 7 of which were completely thru the felt (actual holes vs. dimples).


If you have a minor nibble that can be covered up with replacing the ribbon to a wider one, or if the damage is on the underside...then it's ok. Nobody will notice.

We all have pristine hats, and then lesser ones in our collections. It's the name of the game.

Fedoralover,
What Andy is saying is mostly true, however, there are some other methods to try to save the hat. First, if the bite isn't too bad, you can pick some of the felt from the lower layers of felt in the bite. Take a needle, clean with alcohol, then gently pull some of the fiber up to the surface and beyond, while not breaking the felt integrity. Pull as much as you comfortably can up. then iron the felt, sand it, etc. I have seen repairs in hats that ,from the outside, you could not tell there was damage. When pulling the liner to clean & block you sometimes find cloth tape on the inside where a master has repaired the hat while never letting it show. Now, I haven't been able to make the first method completely disappear, but failry close. At least close enough to wear the hat without feeling like everyone is looking at you!!
The other method like Andy said is to shave the felt, back the hole with tape, then start gently gluing in the felt that you shaved. when totally packed, then iron, sand, etc.

I forgot

Thanks Art. I did fix a small moth nibble in a hat by taking a needle and picking the felt fibers up to "fluff up" the remaining "material" in the damaged area to be level with the surface of the felt. You could tell there was a "spot" on the hat, but it at least didn't look like a "hole". I guess sanding and using powder on the hat (Art can I borrow some of your vintage hat powders...?) will lessen the "repair" but you still have the damage.

Hey, kind of like door dings on a new car..at what point do you go to the body shop?

I have a technique that works as long as the nibbles are shallow. I fluff the felt up by using nothing more than thumb and fingers of both hands, on either side of the damage. With a vigorous back and forth motion the felt fluffs up big time. The area where the nibbles were is less noticable at this point, but still there. I then used the brim trimmings that I had just removed, and fluff this up too. I then take part of the fluffed up trimming and work it into the fluffed up nibble area, using the same back and forth rubbing motion that I originally used to fluff the felt up. For some reason it will adhere to the hat body, although loosely. I then wet this area and work it some more. It is sticking better now. Out comes the steam iron, set on the wool setting and I iron this area out, pressing hard on the damaged spot. I then sand this area after the hat cools. I then dab just a drop or two of stiffener on the spot. I have tried this twice and you can't tell where the nibbles were unless you really look hard. The untrained eye would miss them. The only thing that I can't vouch for is how long this sort of repair would hold. It looks as if it is permanent though. Time will tell. regards, Fedora

Man!!! The things one can learn just reading some posts! You guys are impressive....

I thought this would be a good subject to cover as so many are buying vintage hats now. Some of my nicest hats have a few small nibbles. I don't worry about them, as 3 feet away you can't see them. But it's good to know of some techniques that one can do to help alleviate some minor problems.

thanks for everyones input. fedoralover

I only have a few.

I only have a few hats with nibbles. One of my favorite "daily wear" hats is a dove grey 1930's Dobbs...with the Cavanagh edge and a very wide black ribbon band.
It's one of my very favorite hats due to the "balance" ...really looks good, tall crown. It works for me!

In normal room lighting, you can not see the moth nibbles...hence I have kept this hat. Any hat I have gotten with visible damage, I reject. I am particular about my personal collection for wear.

And yes, I also have "finger nailed" around and over a very shallow "divot" of a moth bite....it works! Just remember, sanding the felt thins it, so it's like sanding a scratch out of a table..you are reducing the material to even out the damaged spot. I'm sure someone out there has a good trick, but you sounded like you were doing "mini felting" with your steam and iron.

I have hats with a few moth nibbles. I've gotten lucky in that, of my hats with nibbles, most are on the underside of the brim and are not visible from far away.

However, I did buy a supposedly all-beaver vinatge hat recently, and in the descrption (after inquiring about holes) it said this:

AFTER A VERY CLOSE INSPECTION I FOUND 2 VERY TINY SOPTS ON THE INSIDE OF THE HAT RIM, THEY ARE NOT HOLES.THERE IS A LITTLE BOW ALSO INSIDE.. COLOR IS DARK REDISH BROWN.

When I got the hat, I could see daylight through the mothhole in the brim. The other moth damage wasn't all the way through the hat - but it was kind of obvious. Ah, well...another "stunt" hat for me, I guess...

(the hat's color was gorgeous!)