kiltie
Practically Family
- Messages
- 732
- Location
- lone star state
Got a little something related to this thread - http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?28066-Removing-stains-from-felt - if you're feeling adventurous, but that's not the main thrust of this post.
To tell the truth, with hat prices getting up where they are, I was, and still am, a little reluctant to post this. My favorite body style, like so many others, is the Open Road/Stratoliner/Marathon, etc... Now on ebay, I'm starting to see every incarnation of that body style running up into the $150-$200 range in all sizes and conditions. It's crazy.
Anyway, I scored this hat offa ebay about a year ago. It's not an Open Road, but a similar style Stetson, probably from the 70s. It started with a 3-ish inch bound brim and the chunkier, ribbed thin ribbon that lays like a cavalry hatband - you know the one I'm talking about. It was filthy, but otherwise the felt was in really good shape, so I took a shot for twenty-five bones. When it arrived, it looked...well...less than inspiring. So there it sat, high on the cabinets, for a year.
Last week, knowing I needed a new sweat band in my favorite hat, I took this one with me and explained:
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 inch brim and a brown 1 inch ribbon.
I picked it up the day before yesterday and -
I couldn't be happier. From unwearable to a really, really good looking hat for next to nothing.
On to cleaning - Figuring I had very little to lose, I decided to experiment with home dry cleaning sheets, like you use in the dryer. However, just as I was about to make the application, another idea hit me. One where I could evenly clean the hat all at one. Carpet/fabric cleaner.
BAM!
Now, granted, this is a sorta 'natural' body ( not silverbelly, if your monitor shows it that way ), so there wasn't really any color to ruin. But it sure tended to, I'd say, 50 to 75 per cent of all the dinginess for a fifteen minute time investment. The only thing that didn't come away was a particularly severe line where the original band once lay, but even that was lightened.
So there's my hat story and my first post in a while. I don't know if there's a similar thread, and if there is, mods - feel free to merge. If there's not: folks, please share your stories of "unwearable to awesome".
To tell the truth, with hat prices getting up where they are, I was, and still am, a little reluctant to post this. My favorite body style, like so many others, is the Open Road/Stratoliner/Marathon, etc... Now on ebay, I'm starting to see every incarnation of that body style running up into the $150-$200 range in all sizes and conditions. It's crazy.
Anyway, I scored this hat offa ebay about a year ago. It's not an Open Road, but a similar style Stetson, probably from the 70s. It started with a 3-ish inch bound brim and the chunkier, ribbed thin ribbon that lays like a cavalry hatband - you know the one I'm talking about. It was filthy, but otherwise the felt was in really good shape, so I took a shot for twenty-five bones. When it arrived, it looked...well...less than inspiring. So there it sat, high on the cabinets, for a year.
Last week, knowing I needed a new sweat band in my favorite hat, I took this one with me and explained:
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 inch brim and a brown 1 inch ribbon.
I picked it up the day before yesterday and -
I couldn't be happier. From unwearable to a really, really good looking hat for next to nothing.
On to cleaning - Figuring I had very little to lose, I decided to experiment with home dry cleaning sheets, like you use in the dryer. However, just as I was about to make the application, another idea hit me. One where I could evenly clean the hat all at one. Carpet/fabric cleaner.
BAM!
Now, granted, this is a sorta 'natural' body ( not silverbelly, if your monitor shows it that way ), so there wasn't really any color to ruin. But it sure tended to, I'd say, 50 to 75 per cent of all the dinginess for a fifteen minute time investment. The only thing that didn't come away was a particularly severe line where the original band once lay, but even that was lightened.
So there's my hat story and my first post in a while. I don't know if there's a similar thread, and if there is, mods - feel free to merge. If there's not: folks, please share your stories of "unwearable to awesome".
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