Cleaning and Reblocking

[RHY]

I have several hats that are in need of a good cleaning and reblocking. I know that Optimo and Catalena can refurbish hats, but I was wondering who can just clean up a moderately soiled felt and take the oil and dirt stains out of the liner.

RHY

 

[kaosharper1]

Baron Hats in LA does it for $45 a hat.

 

[scotrace]

Or you can. There are plenty of threads on it here.

 

[scottyrocks]

I did my liner in oxy-clean. Cut the liner threads, or carefully pull it off the glue (if thats how its attached), and soak it for about 30 minutes in the solution, then rinse. OC leaves no residue, its great stuff.

After it dries, touch it up with an iron on a medium to high setting, depending on the iron.

Although top quality (and vintage) hats' liners are secured with stitching, most modern mass-produced hats' liners seem to be glued in (Im sure someone will correct me if Im wrong).

I decided, on the Dobbs I just rebuilt, to secure the liner with double-sided 'Scotch' tape. Although its only been in there about a week so far, its holding well, considering that it is in a low-stress environment. Liners dont need much to keep thim in place. Some people (here) just place the liners into the hat, tuck them into the sweat, and thats that.

I didnt want to reglue it in because I have pulled liners out of hats that had been glued in, and if you dont want to tear the liner, a little of the inner felt gets pulled away, and I want to avoid that if I ever have to pull the liner out again (although I cant imagine I would, considering that some of my hats are 50 years old with beautiful interiors).

 

[RHY]

Appreciation

Thanks for the comments up to now. Unfortunately, doing it my self is really not an option, since these hats are vintage and I don't want to take the chance of damaging them. For my knock around hats, I don't mind taking the chance on my own cleaning efforts, but not my precious Stetsons from the 1940s.

 

[scotrace]

Thanks for the comments up to now. Unfortunately, doing it my self is really not an option, since these hats are vintage and I don't want to take the chance of damaging them. For my knock around hats, I don't mind taking the chance on my own cleaning efforts, but not my precious Stetsons from the 1940s.

Then off to Optimo with it. Excellent work, no chances, reasonable tariff, fast turnaround. A clean and block is $30 or so.

 

[Kangfish]

I did my liner in oxy-clean. Cut the liner threads, or carefully pull it off the glue (if thats how its attached), and soak it for about 30 minutes in the solution, then rinse. OC leaves no residue, its great stuff.

After it dries, touch it up with an iron on a medium to high setting, depending on the iron.

Although top quality (and vintage) hats' liners are secured with stitching, most modern mass-produced hats' liners seem to be glued in (Im sure someone will correct me if Im wrong).

I decided, on the Dobbs I just rebuilt, to secure the liner with double-sided 'Scotch' tape. Although its only been in there about a week so far, its holding well, considering that it is in a low-stress environment. Liners dont need much to keep thim in place. Some people (here) just place the liners into the hat, tuck them into the sweat, and thats that.

I didnt want to reglue it in because I have pulled liners out of hats that had been glued in, and if you dont want to tear the liner, a little of the inner felt gets pulled away, and I want to avoid that if I ever have to pull the liner out again (although I cant imagine I would, considering that some of my hats are 50 years old with beautiful interiors).

As for removing the liners every one I've taken out ( a Dobbs, couple of Stetsons, a SCALA and an Akubra) were all glued in but a little water and a couple minutes wait and the glue softend up and made removing the liners not so scarey

 

[ScottF]

As for removing the liners every one I've taken out ( a Dobbs, couple of Stetsons, a SCALA and an Akubra) were all glued in but a little water and a couple minutes wait and the glue softend up and made removing the liners not so scarey

Most of mine have been sewn in. I almost always remove and clean using Wool-ite (it cleans well, but doesn't always get out all the spots). Then I air-dry, don't bother with ironing, push out the crown and re-insert the liner carefully, then re-crease. Even though I don't iron or glue/tape/sew back in, the liner looks great and stays in place.

Only exception to this was a near-mint Wormser that had the lining glued in - I hated to mess with it, so I sprayed denatured alcohol in using a mister, then let it dry (leaves no residue).

 

[Stoney]

Optimo!

You can't beat their prices for the quality of work that you will receive.
Unless you intend do do a lot of cleaning and re-blocking yourself, you should send it out.

 

[Cigarband]

Mike The Hatter?

Has anyone had any cleaning work done by Mike The Hatter in Cleveland Ohio? Satisfied?

 

[Lefty]

Yes.

No.

see mannyspaghetti's posts for the same results.

 

[RHY]

Optimo/Baron Hats

Funny everyone comments about Optimo, but rarely anyone else. I sent an email to them last week Friday and have not head back from them. This was the message that was emailed to Optimo:

"I have a Vienna brand hat that I would want to clean up. The sweatband is still supple and the liner needs cleaning. I would prefer to not to replace the original liner and sweatband in order to keep it in its original condition. The felt appears to be in good condition, but needs to be cleaned. The hat came to me with the hat stored without any form or bash to it, so I would prefer it to be in a classic fedora bash like a old Stetson Whippet. Thank you for taking the time to review my request."

As for Baron Hats in Burbank, I tried to contact them last December, but they took three weeks to get back to me and I was out of town by then.

 

[Lefty]

Optimo and Gary White don't do business by email. Call either one and you'll get results. MattJH has also written very favorably about the price and quality of a shop in Philly (South Street Hats?).

 

[RHY]

Lefty

Thanks for the heads up with Optimo. Who is Gary White? Is he with Optimo?

 

[Lefty]

click here, scroll down - Optimo is on page 1 of the same thread.

Note: I've never used Gary's cleaning and blocking services.

 

[Cigarband]

Hey Lefty!

[huh] As a fellow Northeast Ohioan, who would you recommend for good hat services in the area?

 

[Lefty]

No one in the area is worthwhile, based upon the places in the area that I know (Mike the Hatter, that trashy place nearly next door to Mike [if it's still there], and the Hattery in Akron - and I'm not sure that they offer any services). Spare the postage to Optimo and have the job done right.

 

[Cigarband]

I'll take your advice and Opt for Optimo!
Thanks.