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Hat care tools??

Cigarband

A-List Customer
Hat Brush or Tape...That is the Question

To quote from Joseph Freeman,
"Forget the hat brush, I recently bought a nice short brimmed rabbit fur brown hat in a gallery mall in Brazil. I already have many fedoras and black hats; I drilled the guy about caring for the hat. He says forget the brush, use tape.

He pulls out a three inch wide boxing tape, the clear kind, and pulls out a six inch strip (doesn't rip it off) and folds it backwards on the roll, so the entire roll has facing up tape. He then begins to roll the tape over the hat, and it picks up all the dust and impurities.

I was amazed, I've always use horsehair brushes, and it definitely wears down the had after a while. The guy says the the tape methods will not wear it down. He pointed to the hat he was wearing and said he's been using this one for five years, and it look great!"

What say you, fellow Loungers?
 

anon`

One Too Many
I use both. Tape is nice when you let a cat get too close to your hat, or it sits out and collects dust all winter long.

A certain Mr Fawcett also once advised me that a vacuum cleaner worked very well on dust, also. It does.
 

FurFeltFedora

A-List Customer
Messages
320
Location
Great White North
I use a lint roller maybe once a week or if there's a lot of dog hair in the air (two huskies) and I give a quick brush after most days of wearing. I couldn't get a proper hat brush, but I've been using a high end natural bristle paint brush and it's worked great.
 

Tomasso

Incurably Addicted
Messages
13,719
Location
USA
I use both brush and lint roller. BTW, lint rollers are made for use on fabrics whereas some types of tape could have a deleterious effect.
 

feltfan

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,190
Location
Oakland, CA, USA
As Tomasso implies, I'd be worried about building up tape
adhesive on the hat. I'd use care with tape in any event.
I have never had to use tape, but I can see where it would
help with dog hair.

The brush is certainly kinder to the felt. But don't forget
that for a lot of felt hats, there is a second purpose for
the brush. It's removing dust and such, but it's also
realigning the felt, counter-clockwise.

I'd never use tape on velour or furry hats!
 

jpbales

Practically Family
Messages
507
Location
Georga, USA
I always used a lint roller before picking up a real hat brush from a local Western store a little while ago. The only thing about the lint roller or tape is that it's hard to get around the crevices (like where the brim meets the crown) while a brush's bristles can get down in there.
 

Mike in Seattle

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,027
Location
Renton (Seattle), WA
Besides the tape possibly leaving a residue which would then attract even more dust, wouldn't it also have a tendency to also raise the nap of the felt and perhaps lessen it's life or give it a more "fuzzy" appearance?
 

ScottF

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,755
Mike in Seattle said:
Besides the tape possibly leaving a residue which would then attract even more dust, wouldn't it also have a tendency to also raise the nap of the felt and perhaps lessen it's life or give it a more "fuzzy" appearance?

I took my hat into Byrnie Utz's the other day, and the owner wrapped a piece of clear tape around his hand and went to work. When I buy new hats from him, he uses a hat brush on it. He's been around a long time, so I suspect he knows what he's doing - certainly they are not shy about telling me their opinions, so I'll stop by and ask this week.
 

bendingoak

Vendor
Messages
613
Location
www.Penmanhats.com
Mike in Seattle said:
Besides the tape possibly leaving a residue which would then attract even more dust, wouldn't it also have a tendency to also raise the nap of the felt and perhaps lessen it's life or give it a more "fuzzy" appearance?


You are correct sir.
 

Inusuit

A-List Customer
Messages
356
Location
Wyoming
ScottF said:
I took my hat into Byrnie Utz's the other day, and the owner wrapped a piece of clear tape around his hand and went to work. When I buy new hats from him, he uses a hat brush on it. He's been around a long time, so I suspect he knows what he's doing - certainly they are not shy about telling me their opinions, so I'll stop by and ask this week.

Maybe he wants to sell you a new hat? I vote for the hat brush. I share concerns that tape will eventually, if not right away, raise the nap of the felt.
 

Chinaski

One Too Many
Messages
1,045
Location
Orange County, CA
A question on hat brushes. I bought a light bristled one and a dark bristled one at a western store. They are shaped a bit like a question mark - ?, but the curve is not that extreme. Does anyone know the reason for the curve in the brush? It's not apparent to me.
 

HarpPlayerGene

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,682
Location
North Central Florida
Chinaski said:
A question on hat brushes. I bought a light bristled one and a dark bristled one at a western store. They are shaped a bit like a question mark - ?, but the curve is not that extreme. Does anyone know the reason for the curve in the brush? It's not apparent to me.

That shape just naturally helps to work on the top of the brim as you go around the oval shape of the crown. Also, it was probably particularly useful back in the day when kettle curled and pencil curled brims were more common.
 

ScottF

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,755
kabuto said:
Tape is great for grosgrain, where a brush is ineffective.

Brushes do alter the felt, softening it and making it fuzzier. Depending on the hat, you may want that or not. I usually like the effect.

lanolin baby wipes also work great on grosgrain, as long as you're not trying to get stains out.
 

matei

One Too Many
Messages
1,022
Location
England
Brush query

Hi all,

Regarding hat brushes... I read somewhere once that one should have a light coloured brush for light coloured hats, and vice versa for dark coloured hats. Does it really make a difference?

I need to sort out a new hat brush (had the aforementioned set but they were lost during a recent move) and was just curious if one would do the job of two...
 

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