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[belfastboy]

You took my Stetson No. 1 from a 7 to 7-1/2 LO with great results! That's almost five sizes.

I could not remember if it was a 7 or 7 1/8...so yeh, 4 sizes up. We didn't lose that much brim on it either. It was a wonderful felt to work with.

 

[belfastboy]

I could not remember if it was a 7 or 7 1/8...so yeh, 4 sizes up. We didn't lose that much brim on it either. It was a wonderful felt to work with.

I have nighmares about it now after I reblocked a really nice vintage Stetson....not even trying to upsize it and had it tear along the sweat band stitching line. The stitches were real close together and it was if the felt was a piece of paper that had been perforated. The sucker just popped and ran along the stitch line for a good 6 inches. Luckily it was for me not a client!

 

[T Jones]

I try to keep my inventory of new felts in line so stock only L & XL. I find that if I wet block them in hot hot water, lots of steam I can shrink them down in size & still make a hat for the ladies in the 6 7/8 - 7" range.

I'll have to give that a try. What I do to size mine down, is also to use very hot water for wet blocking, and then put it on the smaller block. I'll take my cord and tie the felt tight against the block, using a square knot. Starting from the top, I'll take my 'pusher downer' and slide the cord to the bottom of the block. It tightens the felt nicely right up against the block. I did this Stetson with that method. It started out as a 7 3/8 Stetson Longhair Western and sized it down to a 7 1/4.

 

[belfastboy]

I'll have to give that a try. What I do to size mine down, is also to use very hot water for wet blocking, and then put it on the smaller block. I'll take my cord and tie the felt tight against the block, using a square knot. Starting from the top, I'll take my 'pusher downer' and slide the cord to the bottom of the block. It tightens the felt nicely right up against the block. I did this Stetson with that method. It started out as a 7 3/8 Stetson Longhair Western and sized it down to a 7 1/4.

The worst case is the felt puckers a bit at the brim break. I learned from Art to wrap the felt in a wide (3 or 4") medical tensor bandage after ironing the heck out of it. That usually smooths out the puckers.

 

[Just Daniel]

Doctor Max knows the answer; we worked out a pretty good figure to estimate brim loss when sizing up, but I forgot the number! I am sure Doc still knows.

Is there a formula for how much brim width you loose when you block hats to larger sizes? It would be helpful to know that I’d loose ¼” of brim per size it goes up…or however the math works out. I’m fine with dealing with one variable and only changing the size and not the block shape or the crown height. Maybe @T Jones can share his extensive insights on this?

 

[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?