Panama Hat Thread

Oh my, that's horrible. I feel for you ... I ruined one once (but only after many years of really heavy use). That's painful ...

danofarlington said:

Oh, my my my. I am sad on your behalf. Was the hat from PB? If so, what was the weave count, or how would you describe the quality? It looks like a fine quality. I have some experience like that--my nice Borsalino $900 Montecristi hat, also very fino fino, was crushed by someone in my house, no one ever confessed. No stains, but I had to have it re-blocked, and the result was not as wonderful as the original. I still use it but it's not as magnetic as when new. I guess every really nice thing has a lifetime.

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Yes it was from PB and he spent months tracking it down for me, it was truly a gift considering what I paid for it versus what similar hats regularly retail for. It was 625 wpi and had exceptionally consistant weaving. Art then blocked it and fabricated a gorgeous band in Burgundy from vintage material. The problem is that the stains are right on the front and in full sight which really makes it useless to wear in public. It will simply become my gardening hat now.

Wine Guy, you have my condolences sir.....

I know of no other words to say ..............

Ordinary Guy said:

Wine Guy, you have my condolences sir.....

I know of no other words to say ..............

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Thanks!

Feelings are with your Sir on this sad occurence...

daizawaguy said:

Feelings are with your Sir on this sad occurence...

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Much appreciated!

My condolences!

WineGuy said:

Yes it was from PB and he spent months tracking it down for me, it was truly a gift considering what I paid for it versus what similar hats regularly retail for. It was 625 wpi and had exceptionally consistant weaving. Art then blocked it and fabricated a gorgeous band in Burgundy from vintage material. The problem is that the stains are right on the front and in full sight which really makes it useless to wear in public. It will simply become my gardening hat now.

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I'm very sorry to hear your news. I, too, am a fountain pen lover and will take your story as a cautionary tale for when I get my MC.

As for the stain, have you tried Amodex? It has done wonders when I have gotten ink on shirts (even silk Aloha shirts). As long as you weren't using Noodler's bulletproof ink, you might still have a chance. Ordinary hair shampoo has also been known to be effective (it definitely helps get ink off the fingers).

Hope either of those ideas are useful!

C-C

Hopefully I can lift your spirits

Wineguy, I'm sorry to hear about your loss, and hopefully my new panamas can bring a slight smile to everyones faces. I received today a Cuenca llano 3/4 grade from PanamaBob, as well as a mediofino Montecristi with a navy ribbon. Here's the pics
Cuenca first

Montecristi(tell me if you think I should iron down the front to make it more Fedoraish)

Thanks for the tips ccajackson, I'll try to find the Amodex, and I'll try the others as well but I think the hat is a lost cause.

I like the simi-colado dwebber18, could have used one the last few days here in New York!

Does anyone know where PB is? I emailed him, PM'ed him AND left him a phone message and no reply. Is he in Ecuador?

Wow! just got my Panama Cabelero brisa Fino. Real nice. post pics later. cheers

Does anyone know where PB is? I emailed him, PM'ed him AND left him a phone message and no reply. Is he in Ecuador?

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Nope, just had to work today. Will review things later. Can't answer the phone at work! My condolences.

Chainsaw said:

Wow! just got my Panama Cabelero brisa Fino. Real nice. post pics later. cheers

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I can't wait to see your shots; I am trying to decide on either the Caballero or Rio Plata in a brisa fino. I am also curious as to how open the weave is (i.e. Is it a 'breezy' hat?) in your opinion.

Cheers!

C-C

Buddy, except for the rim being a little out of joint, it's a awesome "tight" weave hat. Get two. You can use them, and throw them away, no problem. It's ignorant how nice the hat is for that price. Panama BoB is the King. Cheers man.

dwebber18 said:

Montecristi(tell me if you think I should iron down the front to make it more Fedoraish)

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No need to iron. Just wet the front with enough water and you can start molding it to flip down. (And yes, I think you should do that.)

Well I did take the iron to it, but only to steam the brim, and it worked out quite well. Too bad its going to rain here all day, it stinks having a new hat only to have to leave it at home.

Here's The Panama Cabelero brisa Fino

http://i808.photobucket.com/albums/zz7/Familyfotos321/FL Album/Picture004.jpg

http://i808.photobucket.com/albums/zz7/Familyfotos321/FL Album/Picture001.jpg

Nice hat chainsaw. Just placed an order for a semi-calado with multi patterned geometric weave on the crown 2 3/8" brim through Panama Bob...received a quick reply as always...Thanks Bob

WineGuy said:

...

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Bummer.

Try cleaning with rubbing alcohol. If that doesn't work try acetone.

Here's some tips.

I've had success removing ink stains from a shirt using rubbing alcohol.

CRH said:

Bummer.

Try cleaning with rubbing alcohol. If that doesn't work try acetone.

Here's some tips.

I've had success removing ink stains from a shirt using rubbing alcohol.

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Wine Guy,

If any of these different techniques work, please let us know!

C-C

ccajackson said:

Wine Guy,

If any of these different techniques work, please let us know!

C-C

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You know ccajackson, that's not a bad idea. Here's my experience so far:

Immediately after the ink splattered on the hat I rinsed it in cold water which took the pitch black stains down to a charcoal/blue color...but still very pronounced staining top and bottom.

Next I soaked the forward brim in Clorox bleach(undiluted) for about 10 minutes and did not see any pigment leach out at all.

I then tried scrubbing the stained areas with a thin paste made of Oxi-Clean and nothing more came out to my surprise either. At this point I cold water washed the brim again to get the soaps out and let it air dry overnight. I wanted to see if I did and damage to the integrity of the straw. Remarkably, the fine straw appears to have held up very well against the repeated cleaning.

Then next morning I soaked the forward brim in hydrogen peroxide 3% for 12 hours. Now I got some results, the dark grey blue stains were faded significantly to lavender/light purple color(see pic). I also liked the fact that the non ink stained straw cleaned up as well since the hat had picked up a patina from sun, handling, and dust. The area soaked is now a nice soft ivory color with only the pale stains left.

Next I purchased several various spot stain removers and tried each on on a different zone of stain, here's the results:

Folex Carpet Spot Remover - USELESS despite stating on front label in bold type "REMOVES Ink, Red Wine, Blood, Coffee etc"

Krud Kutter Concentrated - USELESS despite stating on front label "REMOVES grease, grime, oil, tar & wax.

Goo Gone - USELESS despite stating on front label REMOVES grease, tar, crayon etc.

Also USELESS as mentioned above: Bleach, Oxi-Clean.

I'm going to try rubbing alcohol as per CRH tonight and then tomorrow I'm going to remove the leather sweat band and give the entire hat another hydrogen peroxide soak to hopefully clean up the entire hat and fade the ink stain a little more. Once completed, and assuming the hat has not melted from all these treatments, I'm going to send it back to Art for reblocking and a new hat/sweat band. When it comes back I'm gong to give it to my daughter, who is a very talented artist who hand paints canvas shoes as a little business sideline, to paint some sort of grapevine motif on the brim to mask the remaining stains.

After the 1st hydrogen peroxide treatment. The stain is actually a lot lighter than it appears in the photo, my iPhone adds contrast.


This is how it looked right after the spill and first wash.