HELP! Moths attacked my long-hair!

[Wolfmanjack]

I have a long-hair cowboy hat that I got very cheap on eBay. The color is a beautiful slate gray and the "hair" is quite long, over 5mm, so it has a very soft appearance and a very luxurious hand to it. My plan was to convert it into a fedora by trimming the brim and re-blocking the cattleman crown into a center-dent.

I have never undertaken this project because the hat has a couple of very prominent bare spots, where the 'hair' has been nibbled away by moths before I acquired it. The body of the felt is still intact in these places, but the hair has been eaten down to the "scalp", so it is completely bald. If I could fix these spots where the moth larvae have been grazing, it would be a beautiful hat.

Anyone have a thought on how one might repair these bare spots? I'm open to experimentation, because I have less than $20 invested in the hat.

Because the felt is very thick, as is typical of cowboy hats, I have even considered scrubbing the bare spots with a wire brush to see if I can raise some 'hair'. I've got nothing to lose, because the hat is simply not wearable as is.

Advice please?

 

[RBH]

I have a long-hair cowboy hat that I got very cheap on eBay. The color is a beautiful slate gray and the "hair" is quite long, over 5mm, so it has a very soft appearance and a very luxurious hand to it. My plan was to convert it into a fedora by trimming the brim and re-blocking the cattleman crown into a center-dent.

I have never undertaken this project because the hat has a couple of very prominent bare spots, where the 'hair' has been nibbled away by moths before I acquired it. The body of the felt is still intact in these places, but the hair has been eaten down to the "scalp", so it is completely bald. If I could fix these spots where the moth larvae have been grazing, it would be a beautiful hat.

Anyone have a thought on how one might repair these bare spots? I'm open to experimentation, because I have less than $20 invested in the hat.

Because the felt is very thick, as is typical of cowboy hats, I have even considered scrubbing the bare spots with a wire brush to see if I can raise some 'hair'. I've got nothing to lose, because the hat is simply not wearable as is.

Advice please?

You know David Allan Coe said ''Long hair just cant cover up my red neck'' !

Kidding aside .. drop Mike Moore a note and see what he might say. One of the other western hatters may also have an answer but since I deal with Mike, he is the first I think of.

By the way good luck and please post some photos of the process if you can.