A hat observation...

[WEEGEE]

Hat brush

canucklehead,


A hat brush is certainly a good purchase. The availability of the Kiwi was

the key reason for recommendation. I still use the Kiwi and also a hat brush.

I keep the Kiwi in a zip lock bag in th car glove box and also do the same in

my travel toiletry bag. (the reason for sticking with the name brand are most non branded ones i have seen the hair tends to fall out of the brush...not so with the Kiwi)

 

[Fatdutchman]

See, I am good for something! Isn't this a fun thread?

I bought a hat brush from Noggintops. They had a deal of the brush and a hat stretcher, so I saved a few dollars.

Hat availability and cost are obviously factors today. 50-70 years ago, you could go to any department store and pick up a decent hat for probably not too awful much money. Why worry so much about something so mundane and inexpensive? Now you have to search long and hard for a hatter to make you a hat, and you can spend a hundred bucks and much more for one these days!

 

[undertaker]

I was able to find my hat brushes at a local western store, along with the stretchers, felt cleaners and stiffeners. The prices were comperable to those on the net and I didn't have to pay shipping and wait for days, I am not good at waiting .

Regards,
J.S.

 

[44forrest]

Any reason I couldn't buy a new shoe brush and use that on my hats?

That's all I use, got it as a secret santa gift at work. It works great.
I am more fussy about my boots being shined and my vest being clean than I am about my hat. I still wear my first new purchase Stetson cowboy hat that I bought in 77 and it has never been professionally cleaned reshaped. The most I have ever done to it is brush it. I might reshape a vintage hat but once it's shaped, all it ever gets is a brushing. My house is heated with wood and the dust is considerable, and I also have a dog that sheds like mad, and the hats hang on pegs in the entryway of the house. So they need a brusing once a month or so. For six years my everyday hat had a hole in the crown at the peak of the pinch you could stick you index finger through. I looked like Jed Clampet and loved the look. But I was a young long haired redneck then. Now I workd with Judges and lawyers all day and a hat with a big hole wouldn't be propper. So guess I have matured a little. But like I said, my boots are always clean and shined.

 

[GentlemanFarmer]

I also agree with Art. I'm shooting for "you Old Coot !!!". Picture Walter Brennan in those old John Wayne movies, except I really do plan on keeping my teeth.

Give me a pair of broken-in Wranglers, collared twill shirt, a comfortable pair of Justin Ropers and my Open Road and I'm set. If I want to dress up, I'll make sure they're starched so they can stand on their own. I'll still keep the dark suit for weddings/funerals and add my "good" OR for stylin'.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

As long as it's clean....

I'm not crazy about making it perfect. Mine are soft and pliable and the bash changes throughout the day, it seems. I've seen some 'perfect hats' while out and about and the look like props, not headgear. I think there is comfort and realism to an 'imperfect' lid. It makes it look like you've been wearing it regularly for years and it's standard gear - instead of a costume piece.

-dixon cannon

 

[jkingrph]

I found a cheap horsehair bench brush at Tractor Supply, and bought several. One I use only to brush off hats.

 

[Fatdutchman]

Any decent horsehair brush would work fine, I would imagine. An actual "hat brush" just has a convenient handle, that's all. A shoe brush would probably serve equally well...just don't get it confused with the one you actually use on your shoes!!!

 

[scotrace]

Hat brushes are pretty easy to find. Check David Morgan if nothing else comes to hand.

In CA on the Queen Mary, I admit I wanted to grab all those perfect hats and mash them a bit.
But making the point wasn't worth a deserved busted jaw!

I like them rumpled, fussed with, soft and lived in.

I like m'hats that way too!