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[MarilynNoir]

Hello! I'm new here but I've lurked a long time. I thought I would post my question here before I make a whole new thread.

So I buy pre1960s hats whenever I see them. Because of my budget, I usually pick them up at thrift shops where they aren't in great condition and no one really knows or cares that they're vintage. Sometimes I will find ones in great condition, but for my latest finds, they are pretty dirty. Long story short: how do you clean vintage hats? Especially felt hats?

I've strip cleaned dresses before, but I really don't want to ruin the hats lol...

Thank you for your help!

 

[Bamaboots]

Long story short: how do you clean vintage hats?

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/basics-of-cleaning.51442/

This should get you started. Follow up with googling, "cleaning felt hats fedora lounge" and a number of threads on the subject will open up.

 

[belfastboy]

Hello! I'm new here but I've lurked a long time. I thought I would post my question here before I make a whole new thread.

So I buy pre1960s hats whenever I see them. Because of my budget, I usually pick them up at thrift shops where they aren't in great condition and no one really knows or cares that they're vintage. Sometimes I will find ones in great condition, but for my latest finds, they are pretty dirty. Long story short: how do you clean vintage hats? Especially felt hats?

I've strip cleaned dresses before, but I really don't want to ruin the hats lol...

Thank you for your help!

Felt is a wonderfully resilient fabric. It is hard to ruin it so don't feel you have to be precious with it. To fully clean a filthy hat it needs to be stripped down to just the felt. You can wash it in a low Ph cleaner like Orvis paste. Or give it a full naptha bath to get out the difficult grease stains.. But then rebuilding the hat requires hat making tools and that is where it gets complicated and pricey. For your needs a good hand held steamer and hat brush will help clean and refresh the hat. Caution: Don't hit the leather sweat directly with the steam....it will curl it like cheap bacon. Have fun with the process.

 

[MarilynNoir]

Tha k you so much for your help! I will definitely read that thread and go searching for others!

 

[Rmccamey]

I replaced the sweat on my No. 1 Quality and I'd like to glue the old size tag to the [inside of the] new sweat. Any recommendations on glue to use or not use?

 

[Bill Hughes]

I replaced the sweat on my No. 1 Quality and I'd like to glue the old size tag to the [inside of the] new sweat. Any recommendations on glue to use or not use?

What I've done in the past is use double sided tape.

 

[M Hatman]

What I've done in the past is use double sided tape.

Be sure to look for "Acid Free" or "PH Neutral".....

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Be sure to look for "Acid Free" or "PH Neutral".....

I always think of rubber cement because it can be easily removed with no damage done. Is it PH Neutral?

 

[Bamaboots]

I always think of rubber cement

It’s what boot makers use when they’re laying out patterns for inlay/overlay work.

 

[M Hatman]

I always think of rubber cement because it can be easily removed with no damage done. Is it PH Neutral?

Yes, they make that now....and I THINK even the regular Elmer's RC is now PH neutral....it all is a LOT easier to find anymore.

 

[tamz0r]

There’s a hat on ebay im interested in and i have a question about reshaping the brim. looks like the previous owner curled up the very ends of the brim on the sides and may or may not have removing the cupping/flange on the front and back.

if i were to get this hat, would i be able to modify the brim to its original state without any special tools… that is to say, remove the curls on the sides and give it back a flange all around? pictures attached. TIA!

 

[jlee562]

There’s a hat on ebay im interested in and i have a question about reshaping the brim. looks like the previous owner curled up the very ends of the brim on the sides and may or may not have removing the cupping/flange on the front and back.

if i were to get this hat, would i be able to modify the brim to its original state without any special tools… that is to say, remove the curls on the sides and give it back a flange all around? pictures attached. TIA!

I'm leaning towards no. I think you could probably manage to remove the upturns on the side, but I would be less confident that you could get it back to factory fresh without a flange....unless you want a flat brim. I've handled one or two of those 4x hats and they weren't great as far as shaping goes.

 

[Granville]

I've seen vintage hats being sold as "wool" but there's no wool symbol on the sweat. Can I trust it's really fur felt, or would a manufacturer in the sixties put the required wool "stamp" on a piece of paper (that has since disappeared)?

 

[Blare]

I've seen vintage hats being sold as "wool" but there's no wool symbol on the sweat. Can I trust it's really fur felt, or would a manufacturer in the sixties put the required wool "stamp" on a piece of paper (that has since disappeared)?

It has mostly been my experience with vintage and modern for that matter that wool hats in the US have wool indicated somewhere on the label, sweat or liner. I imagine mainly because of the requirements.

In A case where maybe a label was removed… you can often see other quality clues that may help. Usually you don’t see higher quality sweats and ribbon treatments On the usually cheaper wool hats.

 

[skylize]

Used a pretty thin oil in treating my sweatband, and it bled onto the ribbon.

Any good ideas for removing or evenly spreading the darkened coloration and the obviously-oily feel without removing the ribbon to wash/replace it?

 

[belfastboy]

Used a pretty thin oil in treating my sweatband, and it bled onto the ribbon.

Any good ideas for removing or evenly spreading the darkened coloration and the obviously-oily feel without removing the ribbon to wash/replace it?

Almost impossible. The oil has to go somewhere. You may be able to disburse it somewhat with a spritz of denatured alcohol. But stains on ribbons are hard to remove without removing them. If you try to spot clean most often you just keep chasing the stain around the ribbon. In order to clean it you need to wash it and flush the stain away....lots of water or alcohol/naptha for oily stains. I only use conditioners like Lexol and in very very small amounts and even then only on vintage leather that has seen better days. Unless your sweat is particularly acidic I don't find it is necessary.
If you detach the ribbon in a methodical way and note how it is sewn on it is not that difficult to take it off, clean it and resew. But with oil there is no guarantee it will clean up well.

 

[Edward]

Sorry if this has been asked before, can't find it, but.... Can someone describe 'antelope' furfelt finish to me, please? I can find photos, but other than comparisons made to 'suede', I can't quite figure it out. Is it rougher than 'standard' furfelt, or....?

 

[Steve1857]

Sorry if this has been asked before, can't find it, but.... Can someone describe 'antelope' furfelt finish to me, please? I can find photos, but other than comparisons made to 'suede', I can't quite figure it out. Is it rougher than 'standard' furfelt, or....?

Not rougher at all, Edward. On the contrary, it's one of the smoothest felts in my opinion.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Sorry if this has been asked before, can't find it, but.... Can someone describe 'antelope' furfelt finish to me, please? I can find photos, but other than comparisons made to 'suede', I can't quite figure it out. Is it rougher than 'standard' furfelt, or....?

It’s mostly called suede finish these days. It can be incredibly soft. The nap of the furs are longer than a bald finish, but not as long as a velour finish. You’ll also see it spelled “antilope.”

Steve @mayserwegener can answer detailed questions regarding production methods etc.

 

[mayserwegener]

Sorry if this has been asked before, can't find it, but.... Can someone describe 'antelope' furfelt finish to me, please? I can find photos, but other than comparisons made to 'suede', I can't quite figure it out. Is it rougher than 'standard' furfelt, or....?

This is a translation from "Der Hut", (2009) by Gustav Menschel who was Technical director of the Ebreichsdorfer Fur Felt Hat Factory (closed 1971) formerly S.&J. Fraenkel Wien, Ebreichsdorf, Lower Austria.

"The terms suede, antelope, moleskin, chamois and velo suede refer to felts with a peach skin finish. The surface, which consists of a short 0.1-0.3 mm long layer of hair, is produced on high-speed effect rubbing machines. Since the rubbing work penetrates deep into the stump - you lose about a quarter of the thickness of the felt - correspondingly high weights are necessary (a 25 cm stump (for a man's hat) ~ 145 g). The quality of the effect primarily depends on the rubbing, the hair mixture, fulling and coloring also play a role that should not be underestimated. Today's mixtures consist mainly of tame rabbits, sometimes with portions of wild rabbits, and hardly ever of pure wild rabbits and hare hair. Stumps that are firmly milled at the core result in a beautiful, even fabric appearance.

First you work the stiffened and shaped stump on the luster machine with coarse paper down to the core layer. The sandpaper tears fibers out of the felt, breaks them up, evens out any small bumps in the stump and thus prepares an even sanding base. Then the dust is removed and the stump shaped into a hat. The actual suede effect is created with P 220 quality sandpaper on effect rubbing machines. The processing starts at the bottom, continues at the top and finally extends to the head. Depending on the quality, this requires several such rubbing tours. The resulting friction dust is removed by vacuuming, brushing out on the touring stick or on the luster machine. To increase the shine, the brushes of the luster machine, which are covered with long-haired goat or horse hair, can be lightly greased. With accordingly Equipped automatic edge and head rubbing machines, antelope effects can be produced inexpensively."

If you want to see the machines mentioned I can post photos. I have a good amount information (production, historical) on such finishes.