Fur felt and rain

[Nick Charles]

I wanted to know if there is a proper way to dry a wet hat, I got caught in the rain yesterday and my felt western hats I always just let air dry on a peg.

Thats what I did with the fedora but I don't know if that is correct since it has the softer felt and snap brim.

 

[Matt Deckard]

For a soft felt I suggest flipping the brim up and sitting it on a towell on the table. Putting it on a rack sometimes leaves a bump in the back where the pressure is.

I don't suggest turning the sweatband out like many companies say you should because with a soft hat it can make the brim sag.

The hat dries in the shape you leave it. Fipping the brim up if it is wet preserves that snap.

 

[Molorom]

When my hats get wet,
I keep them on my head untill they are dry. Then I take it off
and set it upsidown on the crown. I also take the hat off
my head and put it on my hat block when it gets wet. It helps
in keeping the hats shape.
Adam

 

[Matt Deckard]

One more thing, If you set a soft hat upside down you risk having a flattened top when it dries. that is why I suggest sitting it on it's brim on a towell with the brim flipped up.

If it is a stiff hat like a western, you can do the same thing with the towell over the arm of a chair and the parts of the hat that are ment to droop hanging over the arm.

Just watch out for color running.

 

[Engr-Chas]

When my hats get wet, I have one of those little cagey hat stand thingy's that the hat sits on (right side up). It is elevated off the surface a couple of inches to allow air to circulate. Also, I always flip the brim up. Hope that helps.

Chas

 

[BD Jones]

I use a stand like the one in this thread. It rest the hat upside down so the top doesn't get flat. The rim of the openning desn't touch enough of the brim to effect the shape or cause bumps. I highly recommend it. I give it

.

 

[Engr-Chas]

Here is a link to the drying rack that I am talking about Hat Drying Rack

 

[Hambone87]

Is there anything that I need to do to protect my fur felt hat in the rain?

 

[Bushman]

Not usually. Fur felt handles weather pretty well most of the time.

 

[moontheloon]

it really all depends on the hat ... a good number of modern hats don't take kindly to elements due to the fact that they are made of garbage

with a quality hat you are fine in a light rain or snow ... just let the hat dry hanging and not near a heat source ... some recommend resting on the crown to dry ... not a fan of that method myself at all

for heavy down pours use an umbrella

 

[Hambone87]

it really all depends on the hat ... a good number of modern hats don't take kindly to elements due to the fact that they are made of garbage

with a quality hat you are fine in a light rain or snow ... just let the hat dry hanging and not near a heat source ... some recommend resting on the crown to dry ... not a fan of that method myself at all

for heavy down pours use an umbrella

Thanks for the insight. I have a styrofoam head it is drying on

 

[moontheloon]

Thanks for the insight. I have a styrofoam head it is drying on

does the hat fit the styrofoam head ? ....meaning , is the only part of the hat contacting the head the sweatband ?

if not the hat will dry in the whatever shape the head is molding it to and the hat will need to be recreased

 

[Frunobulax]

On older hats, it's the sweat you have to worry about. If it gets soaked through, take care to allow it to dry slowly and evenly or it could be toast.


Sent directly from my mind to yours.

 

[moontheloon]

On older hats, it's the sweat you have to worry about. If it gets soaked through, take care to allow it to dry slowly and evenly or it could be toast.


Sent directly from my mind to yours.

^^^ this indeed

 

[Willybob]

With the exception of my nice vintage ones, I wear mine in what ever comes my way and hang dry if soaked. My experience is that all fur will keep felting and the hat will shrink some and get some taper over time. I just tear em down and re block when they go too far. I recently was told about "dead felt" which, if I heard this right, is felt that has shrunk and been blocked so many times the fibers have no where to go and it has no more room to shrink. I'm currently putting an Akubra to the test to see if the shrink slows or stops after repeated rain exposure and reblocking with the hot iron. I have an old 50s Stetson OR beater I wear til soaked and have reblocked twice and it never shrinks. We'll see.

 

[Bird Lives]

does the hat fit the styrofoam head ? ....meaning , is the only part of the hat contacting the head the sweatband ?

if not the hat will dry in the whatever shape the head is molding it to and the hat will need to be recreased

This advice from "Moon" is a very astute observation, and seldom mentioned but extremly important! No matter what you hang or place the hat on to dry...if the top of the crown is the contact point, it will change the shape of the hat...and the heavier the hat, the more distortion!

Thanks "Moon" for bringing this up...I've never seen this addressed before, but I have suffered the consequences!

 

[belfastboy]

With the exception of my nice vintage ones, I wear mine in what ever comes my way and hang dry if soaked. My experience is that all fur will keep felting and the hat will shrink some and get some taper over time. I just tear em down and re block when they go too far. I recently was told about "dead felt" which, if I heard this right, is felt that has shrunk and been blocked so many times the fibers have no where to go and it has no more room to shrink. I'm currently putting an Akubra to the test to see if the shrink slows or stops after repeated rain exposure and reblocking with the hot iron. I have an old 50s Stetson OR beater I wear til soaked and have reblocked twice and it never shrinks. We'll see.

I have a Bailey 8x beaver that I redyed in hot water. It was heavier western weight to start with and through the dyeing process it felted up even more. It is now super dense and I think approaches being bulletproof. I am curious to see if it continues to felt through getting soaked in the rain. I am hoping it is done felting and it will be my rain hat.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I had to hustle through heavier rain than I expected last Friday night. Fortunately I'd worn my Knox OR clone. It got wet, but not through to the sweatband. When I got home I set it crown up on a flat surface, the arm of my mission chair, with the forebrim swooping down, and let it be. It was fine in the morning, and I'm wearing it today (we expect more of the wet stuff).

 

[Bird Lives]

I got caught in, not a down pour, but one of those really get you wet quickly rains walking in downtown Seattle Yesterday...

I hung it up when I got home, and had to leave again a couple hours later...picked it up, thinking it would still be wet, but it was dry and ready to go back out...

Ohh, this was my Lock & Co. Sandown...a modern hat, but I couldn't be happier! A very dense and very light fur felt...fits better than any hat I've ever worn. I constantly forget I have it on...

A perfect argument for the "There are still some very good hats being made today" claim.