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STEP BY STEP NAPTHA BATH

Messages
10,796
Location
vancouver, canada
I actually went back and looked at my previous posts and I see that I did use 3 gallons at least once. I recall buying 4 gallons because I saw a less expensive brand (Crown) at the store so I bought the last 4 gallons on the shelf. The Coleman fuel was quite a bit more expensive. But I recall using 3 gallons.

Filtering the gas back into the cans is the biggest pain in the entire process IMO.
Up here Coleman is $20 a gallon.
 

DaveProc

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,108
Location
Rhode Island
For your reading pleasure
The American Hatter July 1916
Cleaning Soft Hats, The Gasoline Bath for All Soiled Hats


"In working with gasoline there are several precautions you must bear in mind, ignorance or neglect of which has brought many a man into trouble.."
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Messages
10,796
Location
vancouver, canada

Peter_E

Familiar Face
Messages
61
Location
Oklahoma
This thread is a bit old now, but here’s my recent experience. I’ve read about cleaning hats using naptha, and I have also read that Coleman’s camp fuel is just naptha and is an acceptable substitute. Well, I just tried some on an old hat (because I had a gallon of Coleman’s fuel). It cleaned the hat, but days later the hat still reeks of the stuff. So, I went to Ace hardware and got a gallon of VM&P Naptha (for $18.99) and used it on another hat. A coupke of hours after I took the hat out of the naptha it was dry and smelled of nothing. So, based on my experience, if you do not want to smell like an oil refinery for the foreseeable future, DO NOT USE WHITE GAS CAMP FUEL. Get naptha (unless you’re in California, in which case you can’t).
 
This thread is a bit old now, but here’s my recent experience. I’ve read about cleaning hats using naptha, and I have also read that Coleman’s camp fuel is just naptha and is an acceptable substitute. Well, I just tried some on an old hat (because I had a gallon of Coleman’s fuel). It cleaned the hat, but days later the hat still reeks of the stuff. So, I went to Ace hardware and got a gallon of VM&P Naptha (for $18.99) and used it on another hat. A coupke of hours after I took the hat out of the naptha it was dry and smelled of nothing. So, based on my experience, if you do not want to smell like an oil refinery for the foreseeable future, DO NOT USE WHITE GAS CAMP FUEL. Get naptha (unless you’re in California, in which case you can’t).

I'll have to give this a try. I've used Crown brand camp fuel from Wal-Mart (@ $7.64 / gal.) and have had any odors related to the solvent dissipate in a short time (with a couple of exceptions that took much longer for reasons I can't explain). I've heard the Coleman fuel has other additives that might cause the issue you experienced, but if straight naphtha is available from Ace I might splurge. It could be worth it.
 

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