Scotch Guard? Scout Felt Hat Protector?

Bamaboots · Sep 10, 2019

Genuine Classic Gangster said:
I have an Akubra Stylemaster in which the waterproofing treatment has broken down and now it can't hold up to rainfall any more.

Do you consistently wear fur felts until they are soaked through? How much time in the rain are you talking about. It takes a bit to soak through a stiff felt and softer ones won't soak through in a flash. At least in my experience. If so, you may need to consider different hat materials for whatever you're doing.

I recently left a NOS Bailey cowboy hat out in the rain for almost two days to rid the black hat of over dye. I regularly checked the hat and it took quite some time for it to soak through and it never lost most of the shape I put in it. I mention this only because I don't know how long my hat would stand up to that sort of (ab)use, but I know if I dried it carefully which I did, it would stand up for more.

Genuine Classic Gangster · Sep 10, 2019

M Brown said:
by it's very nature fur felt is water proof.

Then how come I've had rain wreck plenty of fur felt hats? And how come a reputable vendor of modern Borsalino hats even tells his customers not to wear them in the rain (which is actually very good advice, because if they do, they'll be wasting their money when their expensive new hat gets wrecked).

jlee562 · Sep 10, 2019

Genuine Classic Gangster said:
Then how come I've had rain wreck plenty of fur felt hats? And how come a reputable vendor of modern Borsalino hats even tells his customers not to wear them in the rain (which is actually very good advice, because if they do, they'll be wasting their money when their expensive new hat gets wrecked).

Repeatedly wearing your hats to the point where they get entirely soaked through is not good for any hat.

Modern borsos are not good hats.

deadlyhandsome · Sep 10, 2019

Genuine Classic Gangster said:
I have an Akubra Stylemaster in which the waterproofing treatment has broken down and now it can't hold up to rainfall any more.

What is the best way for me to re-waterproof it?

I've noticed that the Akubra company itself says to use "Scotchguard[emoji2400]" , but I have no idea what product that is referring to.

If I search Amazon for that product, I find products named with a different spelling, and many different versions of it too.

So rather than roll the dice, I want know the one precise product which the Akubra company is referring to, the one that won't wreck my hat. What would be an example of a link to that product?

Or if "Scotchguard[emoji2400]" is not the best way to re-waterproof my hat, then what would be the best way?

EDIT: Originally I made this post as its own thread, then a mod moved it into this thread, which I didn't know existed prior to my post having been moved into it.

I have subsequently read the posts in this thread, and based on my experience of 20+ years wearing fur felt hats, the assertions that many members are putting forward, that fur felts naturally stand up to rain just fine, are not accurate at all.

I've seen many different versions of my modern Biltmore hats get wrecked over the years due to rain. I used to have a buy a new one every 2 or 3 years for that reason. Having the hat cleaned and reblocked couldn't help, because they'd still look like trash even after I had that work done on them.

When I bought a modern Borsalino, it became wrecked beyond repair after just one season's worth of rain. And the vendor I bought it from even told me before I bought it that I shouldn't wear it in the rain because it's not going to hold up to rain at all. He sure was right about that! That Borsalino was even worse than my Biltmores.

Those kind of experiences made me get fed up with having to buy a new hat all the time, because rain kept wrecking them.

So I upgraded to a long-hair beaver felt Melusine from Optimo Hat Company. Yet I've still had rain soak it all the way through, to the degree that I could see green drops of water (from the rain washing some dye out of the hat) dripping off of it before I got home. When I got home, I set it down to dry on some paper towels, after which the green dye had stained them profusely. In addition, the green dye had also leaked into the liner of the hat.

And Optimo is considered among the best of the best, right? So if their hats can't stand up to rain in all circumstances, then IMO it stands to reason that no hat can.

I bought Akubra Stylemaster as a beater hat, based on the strong recommendations for that brand on this forum. It stood up to rain very well for about 2 years. But now that its waterproof treatment has broken down, it doesn't any more. It now performs similar to how my Biltmores did (i.e it gets soaked and loses its shape easily). I have no doubt that if I don't re-waterproof my Akubra, then it too will be wrecked beyond repair with another season or two of it taking rainfall, just like my Biltmores used to.

Why are you wearing fur felt hats as rain hats? Most do alright if you get caught in an unexpected rain, but umbrellas or dedicated rain hats (not felt) seem to be called for in your circumstances.

Optimo makes great hats, but their quality has nothing to do with water proofing. It’s like saying Ferrari doesn’t make a good car because it can’t town your 30’ boat.

Oilskin, waxed cotton, Gore-Tex, etc. seem to be more appropriate. You lose some style, but functionally should come first. I really think you’re asking fur felt to perform beyond its intended purposes. FYI: it shouldn’t be used for wetsuits either.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

bluesmandan · Sep 10, 2019

Genuine Classic Gangster said:
Thanks for the info. But that product is spelled differently than the one that Akubra names. So is it 100% for sure the same exact identical product that Akubra had in mind when they wrote that recommendation?

And why does it have a poison warning label on the container? That's pretty disturbing.

Another question: what does Akubra mean when they says the waterproofing could be re-applied by a hat renovator? What exactly would what hat renovator do it in order to re-apply the waterproofing?

And, couldn't I just buy the same exact substance that Akubra uses, and then bring it to a hatter and tell him to apply it? But I don't know what substance Akubra uses?

I’ve used scotchgard many times over the years. First experience was doing the cloth seats in my Mom’s minivan when I was a teen. It’s good stuff.

Follow the directions and it shouldn’t discolor your hat or whatever else you put it on. Keep the nozzle 8-12 inches from the surface, keep moving as you spray and do several thin layers. 2-3 times a year is all it should need I’d think. I’ve never done a hat, but I don’t have reservations about it. Just haven’t really needed to.

Scotchgard Fabric & Upholstery Protector, Repels Liquids, Blocks Stains, 14 Ounces https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M65L5Q3/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_S6aEDbXASEXMM

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BIGG SHOW · Feb 13, 2020

Hello,
I just recently bought my first felt fabric hats. Stetsons. A Chatham and a Roadster respectively. I’m looking for advice on what to spray them with, if at all? The salesman at DelMonico Hatter said I could “spray it” as the hat is “untreated”. Another fella at a local western store said to spray them with plain ol’ Scotch Guard... should I use Scotch Guard, Scout or nothing at all? I don’t plan to avoid inclement weather with my hats nor do I plan to seek it out. I simply want to get as much life out of them as possible. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers

deadlyhandsome · Feb 13, 2020

BIGG SHOW said:
Hello,
I just recently bought my first felt fabric hats. Stetsons. A Chatham and a Roadster respectively. I’m looking for advice on what to spray them with, if at all? The salesman at DelMonico Hatter said I could “spray it” as the hat is “untreated”. Another fella at a local western store said to spray them with plain ol’ Scotch Guard... should I use Scotch Guard, Scout or nothing at all? I don’t plan to avoid inclement weather with my hats nor do I plan to seek it out. I simply want to get as much life out of them as possible. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers

A lot of the old threads have lost their photos, but there’s still a lot of good information in them:

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/scotchguard.33891/

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/to-treat-or-not-to-treat.86571/

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/waterproofing-your-fur-felt.77947/page-5

[URL]https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/have-you-tried-this-on-your-hats.836/
[/URL]

1967Cougar390 · Feb 13, 2020

I’ve used Scotch Guard in the past on a Red Head hat. It worked very good. It was a lower end hat and it has seen plenty of rain. Besides it’s low price the hat with the help of Scotch Guard is still very good shape years later. I hope this helps.

Steven

dkstott · Feb 13, 2020

I own both of those hats. My Chatham is a Sovereign level and the Roadster is Royal Deluxe

Scotch Guard will help protect the Chatham, but my biggest issue with the Chatham hat is that the brim is not thick or sturdy. Combined with the lack of binding on the brim edge; it tends to get really floppy after getting wet. As a result, I don't wear that hat in any inclement weather.

My Stetson Roadster seems to handle weather just as well as my Akubra Stylemaster's without any protection at all. But it gets a quick steaming about every 45 days or so. Check out Kevin at JJ hat's YouTube video's for hat maintenance tips.

FWIW- go to the Roadster sub-forum here to see photo's of how my Roadster looks after removing the leather hatband and with a fabric hat band.

Dave

BIGG SHOW said:
Hello,
I just recently bought my first felt fabric hats. Stetsons. A Chatham and a Roadster respectively. I’m looking for advice on what to spray them with, if at all? The salesman at DelMonico Hatter said I could “spray it” as the hat is “untreated”. Another fella at a local western store said to spray them with plain ol’ Scotch Guard... should I use Scotch Guard, Scout or nothing at all? I don’t plan to avoid inclement weather with my hats nor do I plan to seek it out. I simply want to get as much life out of them as possible. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers

Frunobulax · Feb 13, 2020

I've never seen the need to treat a hat with anything. A good fur felt hat, by it's nature, should be pretty sturdy under inclement weather. This includes new Stetsons, Akubras, Customs, and Vintages as much as 70 years old.

The only thing I worry about getting wet is the sweatbands on vintage hats. That can toast them pretty effectively.

Scotch Guard? Scout Felt Hat Protector?

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