How to remove odors from a hat?

[jeffconnors]

Put the hat is a box you can seal
fill that box with newspaper
seal the box
wait.....
Newspaper will suck the odor out of almost anything .. I have used this method on a wine fridge I xonverted into a humidor. The news paper sucked up the raunchy plasic smell.

And well ...to me tobacco and hats go super together.
A wing back chair, a roaring fire, a fine cigar and a well made hat... What more could you want.

 

[Aureliano]

Put the hat is a box you can seal
fill that box with newspaper
seal the box
wait.....
Newspaper will suck the odor out of almost anything .. I have used this method on a wine fridge I xonverted into a humidor. The news paper sucked up the raunchy plasic smell.

And well ...to me tobacco and hats go super together.
A wing back chair, a roaring fire, a fine cigar and a well made hat... What more could you want.

:arated: Rusty recommended the newspaper method to get rid of a really bad "vintage" smell from my Vagabond. It worked!

 

[bolthead]

:arated: Rusty recommended the newspaper method to get rid of a really bad "vintage" smell from my Vagabond. It worked!

cool

 

[suitedcboy]

The contained baking soda and newspaper methods have worked great for me. Fabreze method worked but the Fabreze fragrance that remains bugs me even 2 never-in-a-box years later.

 

[jeffconnors]

Funny, I still do.

And it's a shame I know. My hats came through the smoke-free '30s, '40s, '50s, et al only to be smoked around by me here in the 21st century!!

This thread is great. If I ever want to sell my hats, I'll try these methods to spruce 'em up first.

Thanks for the question and answers, folks.

lucky strikes un filtered, the king of fine American cigarettes , I get one carton a year(from family visiting the states) and boy do i nurse it. Your very lucky if you can head to a corner store and buy a carton, cause to me these babies are smoke-able gold

 

[gtdean48]

Put the hat is a box you can seal
fill that box with newspaper
seal the box
wait.....
Newspaper will suck the odor out of almost anything .. I have used this method on a wine fridge I xonverted into a humidor. The news paper sucked up the raunchy plasic smell.

And well ...to me tobacco and hats go super together.
A wing back chair, a roaring fire, a fine cigar and a well made hat... What more could you want.

I use a large trash bag, filled with crumpled up newspaper, put the hat in the middle of all that, twist tie the trash bag & let it set for a few days. Got rid of very bad pipe smoke smell in one vintage hat that way.

 

[HatfeathersVint]

You may want to test this on a beater hat, as I've not tried it on felt, but when there is pit stench in dress fabric that cannot be water washed, such as crepe or rayon, even after a good dry cleaning, you can mist vodka on the area of offense and the smell will evaporate with the liquor. Squirt for the dress, squirt for mama....

I have used the newspaper trick for de-funkifying several suitcases. Just change the papers every so often.

 

[Pilot99]

I use a large trash bag, filled with crumpled up newspaper, put the hat in the middle of all that, twist tie the trash bag & let it set for a few days. Got rid of very bad pipe smoke smell in one vintage hat that way.

A friend of mine is a big pipe smoker, had the same problem and method as dean has said, I can attest to it working like a charm.

 

[Florida_Marlin]

Cigarette Smoke--Baking Soda

I got a hat in 2008 that was spotless and showed little signs of wear. But, it had been stored in a house with cigarette smoke. It reeked. I bought some of the A&H baking soda that has a removable panel with a mesh insert. I stored it in a box for 3 weeks and changed the box out once a week. I would steam the hat in between the weeks. Now, it has no smell. It just takes pateince. Regards, F_M
Here's the hat.

 

[bolthead]

I gotta say, I just did the newspaper trick with those 2 lids my buddy gave me, the one's I wanna reblock.....well it worked wonderful, not a scent what so ever. Thanks guys. :eusa_clap

 

[Sam Craig]

Fur felt is incredible

You really can get it through a lot, as this thread illustrates

Thanks for all the great suggestions!

 

[new2hats]

removing antique smell from vintage hat

I just received a hat from Ebay. Its great. It does though have a smell like an antique store.

Any suggestions on how to reduce or eliminate the odor? One thought is to leave in the sun? Anything else I can do or put in the hat box?

 

[Old Buzzard]

I just received a hat from Ebay. Its great. It does though have a smell like an antique store.

Any suggestions on how to reduce or eliminate the odor? One thought is to leave in the sun? Anything else I can do or put in the hat box?

Sealing it a box with crumpled newspaper for a few days,
seems to work for me.

 

[gtdean48]

Sealing it a box with crumpled newspaper for a few days,
seems to work for me.

+1..I use a large trash bag instead of a box...

 

[danofarlington]

My strategy is to set the hat on a table, and three cut onions on a plate next to it. Pretty soon the onions will smell so much that you forget all about the odor on the hat.

 

[John in Covina]

Hanging up a hat outside for a few days can really knock down some oders, then a follow up with newspapers and or baking soda will help.

 

[Landman]

I know it has been awhile since anybody posted to this thread but I thought I would give it a bump.

I recently bought an old hat that had a very strong cigar smoke odor. I did the newspaper trick on it and it did a pretty good job. The smell was still a little noticeable so I threw a "Bounce" fabric softener in the hat box with it. After a few days the hat smells great. I don't think it just masked the odor but it seems it might have absorbed it. I used the "Fresh Linen" scent which is not an over powering scent. I might leave a sheet of it in all my hat boxes.

 

[dhermann1]

Please note the comment above that says not to let the fabric softener sheet touch the hat or it will leave a permanent stain.
I have a great Dobbs Gay Prince that I recently had refurbished by J & J Hatters here in NYC. They did a great job, but it smelled just as much like ten million Chesterfields afterwards as it did before. I'm gonna try the newspapers with baking soda route.

 

[-30-]

Sunshine, Lollypops, and Roses, or the Old Newspaper Trick!
(This will also remove "Hatbox odour" as well.)

What kind of cigarette do Real Men smoke?
(Filter/nonfilter.)

Any kind that they want!
(Export Plain in Canada, Camel Soft Pac in the US of A.)



Regards,
-30-

 

[Landman]

Please note the comment above that says not to let the fabric softener sheet touch the hat or it will leave a permanent stain.

Thanks for the heads up. I didn't notice the comment about the fabric softener causing a stain before I used the fabric softener sheet and actually put it on the top of the crown. Maybe I got lucky but it didn't cause any stain. Also, maybe they were referring to the powdered form of fabric softener. The post did mention putting it in a plastic bag.