How can you 'age' a hat? PLEASE Help....

[bennyboyca]

Hi guys, I have seen a real nice hat that I would like to buy, but generally (and I know a lot of you will think this is strange), I like old hats that look tatty, I just think they suit my style more and have more character (kind of like Johnny Depp's grey fedora)... Anyway, this hat is new, so can any of you guys suggest any ways to age a hat/ make it look worn? I want it to look subtle and natural so running over it with the car or leaving it outside for a few months arnt options..

A BIG thanks in advance for any help!!

Regards,
Ben.

 

[gtdean48]

Check with Major Moore at Buckaroo Hatters.
They have a way of adding sweat stains & trail dust/dirt to hats to make them look well-worn.
Some of the hatters that do Indy hats also apply dirt to get the hats to look exactly like certain scenes in the movies....

 

[LoveMyHats2]

Purchase a "hat jack" to keep your hat from shrinking up on you, then take it outside (if this is NOT a wool hat) leave the hat outside a week or so in all the weather, may give it some fade and worn look, then of course, you can always take the hat and place it on the road, walk on it a few dozen times, things like that could produce some sort of rapid worn look to a new hat. If you want a drastic measure you could always place a string with a safety pin to attach the hat to, and drag it behind an automobile for a few moments on a dusty dirt and gravel road.......

 

[splintercellsz]

place it on the ground, stomp on it, throw it into a small body of water (so you can retreive the hat), repeatedly mess with the pinch to wear the felt, put it in the su all day and toss dirt at it, give it to a dog to use as a snack (or moths in that case). Maybe take a lighter and burn it to a crisp. That should do the trick. Don't forget to put some paint splatters on it for good measure.

On a serious note, just wear the thing no matter the weather, or what you may be doing. Painting, walking, yard work, etc. That will wear on the hat. Things like that take time, they don't magically happen.

 

[Monte]

You could also buy a similar hat online that's already old which has some character...come to think of it, I recently saw a hat that really reminded me of Depp's holy lid. Didn't temp my trigger finger but you might find it cool.

Some serious things I'd like to add is that my black hats will always seem dressy to me. My light gray, old Portis will always be more of a casual hat. I don't think modern hats hold up as well as they used to so the idea of rapidly aging one is not hard to imagine.

Depp is an enigma because we all know he could afford a new hat that doesn't have holes.

 

[RBH]

Check with Major Moore at Buckaroo Hatters.
They have a way of adding sweat stains & trail dust/dirt to hats to make them look well-worn.
Some of the hatters that do Indy hats also apply dirt to get the hats to look exactly like certain scenes in the movies....

Yep Buckaroo Hatters is the way to go...
Here is an old Campdraft Rocky did for me.

 

[majormoore]

There are a few things I keep to my chest and aging a hat and making old is one of those things, I was emailed this morning and asked how to do this, I informed the sender to send to me, he stated that he lived in England and needed to have it done real fast.

There are a few things that I want to keep close to me.

Major Moore

Yep Buckaroo Hatters is the way to go...
Here is an old Campdraft Rocky did for me.

 

[John Galt]

Hi guys, I have seen a real nice hat that I would like to buy, but generally (and I know a lot of you will think this is strange), I like old hats that look tatty, I just think they suit my style more and have more character (kind of like Johnny Depp's grey fedora)... Anyway, this hat is new, so can any of you guys suggest any ways to age a hat/ make it look worn? I want it to look subtle and natural so running over it with the car or leaving it outside for a few months arnt options..

A BIG thanks in advance for any help!!

Regards,
Ben.

Ben:

To get an authentic look, it seems best to stick with what actually wears and stains real hats. I have no secrets but do have some thoughts to add, for what they are worth. Salt and oils from our sweat stain our hats. Saltwater leaves a white residue when it dries. Oil leaves a darkish stain. If I wanted to age a hat to make it look like it had been worn, I would mix up a solution of salt water with some sort of oil and spray it on the hat strategically with a fine mister until I achieved the desired effect. I might then add oil and/or coffee & other smudges strategically by hand, especially where an old hat would frequently be handled - crown and brim front.

My grandmother was a native artisan and used to stain bone beads with coffee or tea to get that aged native bone bead look. I've done the oil & coffee trick on paper to age it to make "pirate maps" for the kids, and it worked well when combined with creasing , crunching and drying in turns to accentuate the lines. I can't imagine why it wouldn't work on felt.

A little charcoal, graphite, or boot black can give you another layer of aging, and a little bleachy water solution applied here and there or throughout (or in a bucket with or without pebbles followed by drying) can create fading, as is done with blue jeans. My last suggestion is to throw it in the washing machine _before_ you do the above, to fray out the felt a bit. This last can be done repeatedly, and will create creases, folds & thin spots. You could even make a rip or tear before this step, and the action from the wash cycle will rapidly age the edge. I suggest removing the sweat first and replacing it later if you want it to fit well afterwards. That's all I've got, but I bet it will work. Please let me know.

 

[John Galt]

Hi guys, I have seen a real nice hat that I would like to buy, but generally (and I know a lot of you will think this is strange), I like old hats that look tatty, I just think they suit my style more and have more character (kind of like Johnny Depp's grey fedora)... Anyway, this hat is new, so can any of you guys suggest any ways to age a hat/ make it look worn? I want it to look subtle and natural so running over it with the car or leaving it outside for a few months arnt options..

A BIG thanks in advance for any help!!

Regards,
Ben.

Ben:

To get an authentic look, it seems best to stick with what actually wears and stains real hats. I have no secrets but do have some thoughts to add, for what they are worth. Salt and oils from our sweat stain our hats. Saltwater leaves a white residue when it dries. Oil leaves a darkish stain. If I wanted to age a hat to make it look like it had been worn, I would mix up a solution of salt water with some sort of oil and spray it on the hat strategically with a fine mister until I achieved the desired effect. I might then add oil and/or coffee & other smudges strategically by hand, especially where an old hat would frequently be handled - crown and brim front.

My grandmother was a native artisan and used to stain bone beads with coffee or tea to get that aged native bone bead look. I've done the oil & coffee trick on paper to age it to make "pirate maps" for the kids, and it worked well when combined with creasing , crunching and drying in turns to accentuate the lines. I can't imagine why it wouldn't work on felt.

A little charcoal, graphite, or boot black can give you another layer of aging, and a little bleachy water solution applied here and there or throughout (or in a bucket with or without pebbles followed by drying) can create fading, as is done with blue jeans. My last suggestion is to throw it in the washing machine _before_ you do the above, to fray out the felt a bit. This last can be done repeatedly, and will create creases, folds & thin spots. You could even make a rip or tear before this step, and the action from the wash cycle will rapidly age the edge. I suggest removing the sweat first and replacing it later if you want it to fit well afterwards. That's all I've got, but I bet it will work. Please let me know.

 

[Brian Niebuhr]

I would wet the felt with a spray bottle or even your shower and then take it on and off your head over and over grabbing hard at the crown to really set the crease. Do this now and then until the felt dries. This would also give the slightly off center and leaning front pinch. I've done this to a hat or two that didn't look good to me as "new". My daily work hats take a beating as it is so I usually don't have to do anything at all except wear them.

 

[BJC88]

I was in the same boat as you were about a year ago. I researched and added charcoal dust, etc... But I wasn't happy... A good hat, to me, is a hat that has a bit of a worn look due to natural use... Well I brushed off my fedora, and just wore the darn thing. That is my advice to you; if you like to artificially age something, that is fine. But I prefer natural wear.