Did I ruin my hat?

[John Galt]

I agree that the nature & history of fur felt hats is such that you should expect to be able to steam & reshape one unless the seller advises otherwise.

If the seller won't credit for an exchange (Christy's should accept it from their vendor, you would think), then I'd try to re-block it.

 

[John Galt]

It's probably not worth the trouble in this case, but many are the lower-quality (but not necessarily low-priced) hats that have tapered (and dimpled, in some cases) after exposure to rain or snow or, in this case, a tad too much steam, which have been turned into once again presentable hats after a reblock. Typically, once those bodies have done their initial shrinking they're less prone to a repeat performance. Me, I like to leave a hat, a new one or a refurb, on the block for at least a couple of days, and to thoroughly iron it (using a cloth between the iron and the hat, in the case of refurbs; new hats get thoroughly pounced after ironing, so there's no need to protect the finish from a directly applied iron). The ironing gets the fibers to tighten up, but they tighten against the block, so that the crown retains its shape.
We've gone over the nature of fur felt hat bodies many a time here, so there's no need to rehash it all. But the gist of it is that felt often continues felting, tightening up and getting thicker but smaller in its other dimensions, given conditions conducive to felting. Heat and moisture (steam, anyone?) will do that.

+1

 

[ninman]

Did you use your hands only, ninman? If you used something at all abrasive -- a dish-scrubber, for instance -- you might well get some loose fuzz. But if just handling by hand shouldn't do that. Hmmm ...

I only used my hands.

 

[John Galt]

I have had modern hats (Resistol) lose felt (and bleed dye) just with moisture & handling.

 

[Mr.Astor]

Give it a shot! Just don't tell them you steamed it 6 times! Their blocking charge will most likely be the cost of the hat! Sometime's you have to accept responsibility for inexperience,it's like tuition to attend the college of life!! JMO!

 

[tonyb]

Give it a shot! Just don't tell them you steamed it 6 times! Their blocking charge will most likely be the cost of the hat! Sometime's you have to accept responsibility for inexperience,it's like tuition to attend the college of life!! JMO!

I doubt I'll hear a better piece of advice this day.

 

[tonyb]

I have had modern hats (Resistol) lose felt (and bleed dye) just with moisture & handling.

Even high-quality raw hat bodies will shed fiber when being put on a block, especially when they're wet-blocked, as I usually do it. You want that body on there TIGHT, and that sometimes involves working the material at the top of the crown with the palms of one's hands and moving it down the sides, just to make certain there is no space whatsoever between the hat body and the block. It's not at all unusual to raise a bit of fuzz that way. But we're talkin' fuzzy unpounced bodies here, with surface fibers kinda hangin' loose out there, relatively unattached to their neighbors. That's the first stuff to come off when you start the body finishing work. (It's debatable if that surface stuff ought to be called felt at all.)

I could see a finished hat of decent quality shed a very small amount of fuzz if it were handled quite vigorously, such as rubbing the hell out of it with one hand inside the crown to give the hand on the outside something to press against. But just a little steam and hand shaping shouldn't do that. But then, there's a bunch of things about most modern factory-made hats we could put on the "shouldn't do that" list.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

I have had modern hats (Resistol) lose felt (and bleed dye) just with moisture & handling.

My first 4x beaver Stetson (modern) bleed dye after some days of UK rain. It never had so much rain like those 2 weeks...

 

[ninman]

Give it a shot! Just don't tell them you steamed it 6 times! Their blocking charge will most likely be the cost of the hat! Sometime's you have to accept responsibility for inexperience,it's like tuition to attend the college of life!! JMO!

The impression I was given was that a little steam was good for the hat. I didn't put a lot of steam on it, only a few seconds worth, and I waited for it to dry before I did it again. It really wasn't a lot of steam.

 

[tonyb]

My first 4x beaver Stetson (modern) bleed dye after some days of UK rain. It never had so much rain like those 2 weeks...

The darker the hat, the likelier it is to bleed dye. Even high quality black hats might bleed a bit if they get soaked. The worst of it, usually, is that the band ribbon gets stained. So a black cowboy hat, say, with a black ribbon, might be little the worse for having gotten waterlogged. But a black homburg with a silver-grey band? Bring an umbrella.

 

[Fed in a Fedora]

Ok, but I'm British, so I would always choose a British hat maker over a foreign hat maker. Do you think I should ask for a refund?

Were there owner's instructions sent with the hat which advise against using steam to shape the hat? Failing that, my view is that steaming and/or wetting a shape into an open crown hat is pretty standard.

"Handmade in our Oxfordshire factory, the Adventurer is also fully lined with the Christys’ red satin and the Christys’ crest accompanied with a leather sweatband, to ensure a long lasting quality hat. The Fur Felt can cope admirably in all weather. A little steam and gentle brush can restore the fur fibres back to their normal state after a hard beating."

Hmm - looks like there is no steam warning there and beatings are okay as well...

Seriously, I have steamed many hats over the years to shape and reshape them, but never had the problem that you describe. (I do prefer wet over heat.)

But I do have to ask - did you only steam one side that it is so tilted?

I also get the whole jingoistic preference thing. But after buying several hats that were not quite thrilling, I finally just went to Akubra.

Fed

 

[John Galt]

The darker the hat, the likelier it is to bleed dye. Even high quality black hats might bleed a bit if they get soaked. The worst of it, usually, is that the band ribbon gets stained. So a black cowboy hat, say, with a black ribbon, might be little the worse for having gotten waterlogged. But a black homburg with a silver-grey band? Bring an umbrella.

Tonyb, I have not had this problem with vintage hats (I know, maybe they bled years ago) but have had some modern black and blue hats bleed a lot with re-blocking and wear. I had thought it was due to the use of powder "dye" to even out the color. Am I off base?

 

[tonyb]

Perhaps. But I've had darker colors bleed from new, high quality hat bodies. Not a lot, mind you, but some. And no powders are used on those babes.

I'm not distressed by the sight of a little bleeding when I soak a new black hat body in the sink. A LITTLE bleeding. And sometimes a little dye rubs off on one's hands as he's massaging that still-damp hat body onto a block. I've done refurbs on dark-colored mid-range Westerns that gave up WAAAAY too much dye in the cleaning process. It never rendered a hat body useless, as the dye loss was at least consistent so that the hat body remained all one color. But it was apparent to me that these hats were made more for rhinestone cowboys than anybody who might subject them to rough use. But then, for every "real" cowboy, there's gotta be at least a thousand of the dimestore variety.

I'm guessing that garments in general, when dyed dark colors, are likelier to bleed than their lighter colored counterparts. Or so all these decades of doing laundry would have me thinking.

 

[ninman]

Were there owner's instructions sent with the hat which advise against using steam to shape the hat? Failing that, my view is that steaming and/or wetting a shape into an open crown hat is pretty standard.

"Handmade in our Oxfordshire factory, the Adventurer is also fully lined with the Christys’ red satin and the Christys’ crest accompanied with a leather sweatband, to ensure a long lasting quality hat. The Fur Felt can cope admirably in all weather. A little steam and gentle brush can restore the fur fibres back to their normal state after a hard beating."

Hmm - looks like there is no steam warning there and beatings are okay as well...

Seriously, I have steamed many hats over the years to shape and reshape them, but never had the problem that you describe. (I do prefer wet over heat.)

But I do have to ask - did you only steam one side that it is so tilted?

I also get the whole jingoistic preference thing. But after buying several hats that were not quite thrilling, I finally just went to Akubra.

Fed

I steamed both sides, and no there were no instructions with the hat. Although the side that is tilted probably got a bit more steam than the straight side because it didn't seem to take the shape as well.

 

[Mr.Astor]

Perhaps. But I've had darker colors bleed from new, high quality hat bodies. Not a lot, mind you, but some. And no powders are used on those babes.

I'm not distressed by the sight of a little bleeding when I soak a new black hat body in the sink. A LITTLE bleeding. And sometimes a little dye rubs off on one's hands as he's massaging that still-damp hat body onto a block. I've done refurbs on dark-colored mid-range Westerns that gave up WAAAAY too much dye in the cleaning process. It never rendered a hat body useless, as the dye loss was at least consistent so that the hat body remained all one color. But it was apparent to me that these hats were made more for rhinestone cowboys than anybody who might subject them to rough use. But then, for every "real" cowboy, there's gotta be at least a thousand of the dimestore variety.

I'm guessing that garments in general, when dyed dark colors, are likelier to bleed than their lighter colored counterparts. Or so all these decades of doing laundry would have me thinking.

Tony I did a Stetson "5X Beaver" from the 70's that was a taupe color when I started, washed it and when it dried it was an off white to cream color it had to be loaded with powder dye! It turned out to be a very nice hat I liked the New color it attained. when I cut the brim it was like a sandwich of different colors. It's a one of a kind it get's compliments on the color no one has seen that color on a stetson. So your Rhinestone cowboy comment is spot on.

 

[frussell]

Tonyb - as usual, your observations are spot on. Reminds me of a hatter not far from Austin, TX who used to provide a UT service fraternity with black cowboy hats every year, between 20 and 30 hats a year. When you were a new member, your status was demonstrated by the shape of your hat - sort of a Stevie Ray Vaughan/bolero/Amish straight sided telescope crown deal. When you reached full membership, you went to the hatter and he shaped it into a "real" cowboy crown and brim shape. These were not cheap hats, mind you. Our first football game in our newly reshaped hats (always worn with a white shirt), and it began to rain fairly hard. Within minutes, all 25 or so of us had huge black streaks running down our faces, zebra-striped white shirts, and several black-stained girlfriends and dates. When approached about his quality control, the hatter would usually berate the complainer and tell them that this was absolutely normal, and that we just didn't know anything about hats. Interestingly, a few guys found out that day that their black hats were actually a very very dark midnight blue. Guy stayed in business, and continued to be the "hatter to the stars" for the Austin Area. Never got another penny from me though. Still have that monstrosity somewhere in my garage. Frank

 

[Edward]

Interesting Christy's are still considered "Made in Britain"... course, by law, that's broad enough to include "assembled", which the the best of my knowledge is what Christy's are now. I'm sure a lot of folks get great pleasure from "buying local".... personally, I'll buy from whereever does me the best product at the best price. Never had a problem like this with any of my Akubras. [huh]

 

[T Jones]

So I bought a new open crown Fedora about a week ago, and used a bit of steam to try and shape it. Unfortunately, I didn't realise that you should hold it a bit away from the kettle, and that too much steam can mess it up. So now my hat is shaped like this |\, i.e. the left side is tapered and the right side is straight. It's a Christys' adventurer, and I'm wondering if it's possible to fix it so that it's shaped like this || again. Thanks a lot.

I've heard that's a common trait with Christys'....

 

[T Jones]

I have had modern hats (Resistol) lose felt (and bleed dye) just with moisture & handling.

My Black Stagecoach bled out like crazy....all over the front of my shirt and stained my hands as well. It took a couple days for the black stain to wash off my hands.

 

[tonyb]

Tony I did a Stetson "5X Beaver" from the 70's that was a taupe color when I started, washed it and when it dried it was an off white to cream color it had to be loaded with powder dye! It turned out to be a very nice hat I liked the New color it attained. when I cut the brim it was like a sandwich of different colors. It's a one of a kind it get's compliments on the color no one has seen that color on a stetson. So your Rhinestone cowboy comment is spot on.

I've had even high-quality vintage hat bodies come through the cleaning process in a different color than they were at the start. I believe there's more than one reason for this, but in some cases it appeared that the felt itself had a sort of surface oxidation that came off in the cleaning. In other cases so much dirt and dye got washed away that the hat bodies came out noticeably lighter than they were.