WW2 Felt Slouch Hat

[Jrich]

Hi,
I have recently inherited my Grandfather’s felt slouch hat which he was issued in Burma during WW2. Not only did it serve several years in the war, but he wore it for the next 70 odd years after that too. It was stored near a radiator and single glazed window for the last decade or so. It’s not doing very well, and needs some attention to clean and reshape it.
Any advice? I have never done anything like this before, and with the significance of it to me I wouldn’t be comfortable doing anything which could damage it further. Any recommendations for a specialist cleaning and repair would be appreciated too (southeast UK).
Many thanks.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Welcome Jrich,

Congratulations on being the conservator of a family heirloom with known history. You didn't say in detail what you plan to do with the hat if you were to have it cleaned & repaired? Would you plan to wear it some; is it your size? Or just preserve it for the heirloom that it is? Unfortunately a decade or more by a radiator has probably caused the size to shrink & the sweatband, stitching, etc to dry out. More damage might be done in trying to repair it by anyone other than the most competent hatter or someone who specializes in conservatorship of museum-type pieces. If you could get ahold of Mark @M Hatman (he no longer posts) he may have better advice. He is in the dry cleaning business & has done museum quality restoration work.


At this point it might be best to just store & preserve it in an airtight Rubbermaid or Tupperware type plastic box exactly as he last wore it, & put together as much information about your grandfather & his service with the hat as you can.