How to stop bleeding dye

[Jerekson]

I am becoming frustrated. I have a collection of Resistol Stagecoach westerns. The felt on these old hats is great - I have several - but the black one (and only the black one) insists on running dye whenever it gets stuck in the rain. The others can be soaked in rain or shower-reshaped at whim and leave no trace behind. But the black one has stained my clothes and anything else it drips on. I also put a bound edge on this particular hat, and the petersham is now seemingly permanently darker as the color has run through it, which is obnoxious.

I recently reblocked this particular hat and am looking forward to reshaping it from scratch, but before I do so, I want to get it to stop bleeding. Is this possible at all?

I have soaked it in a running shower for literally hours, thinking the color would stop eventually. And while the dye running down the drain seems to have lessened somewhat, it's still a coming. And I mean hours.

What else can I do? Wash it with detergent?

 

[belfastboy]

I am becoming frustrated. I have a collection of Resistol Stagecoach westerns. The felt on these old hats is great - I have several - but the black one (and only the black one) insists on running dye whenever it gets stuck in the rain. The others can be soaked in rain or shower-reshaped at whim and leave no trace behind. But the black one has stained my clothes and anything else it drips on. I also put a bound edge on this particular hat, and the petersham is now seemingly permanently darker as the color has run through it, which is obnoxious.

I recently reblocked this particular hat and am looking forward to reshaping it from scratch, but before I do so, I want to get it to stop bleeding. Is this possible at all?

I have soaked it in a running shower for literally hours, thinking the color would stop eventually. And while the dye running down the drain seems to have lessened somewhat, it's still a coming. And I mean hours.

What else can I do? Wash it with detergent?

I use old western hats as 'donor' felts and also restore vintage hats. Black felt is a bitch and I always end up throwing out the press cloths as they are usually stained beyond cleaning. I would try washing/soaking (hot water) using Orvis Paste, rinse and then soak in a dye fixative. The downside to this is you will need to tear the hat down, block and resew the hat after the soaking. The choice of a fixative is trial and error as you don't know what type of dye the manufacturer used. You may want to try just basic salt first as it is cheap and readily available. Or Dharma Dyes sell a fixative product.

 

[Jerekson]

Good advice Belfastboy. That method sounds like a pain but I am glad at least to hear it is something that works (?). I just might try it! Thank you for the reply.

 

[belfastboy]

Good advice Belfastboy. That method sounds like a pain but I am glad at least to hear it is something that works (?). I just might try it! Thank you for the reply.

It is an inexact endeavour as we don't know what type of dye that was used. Acid dyes by their very nature should not bleed at all...so the risk is you do all that work to no avail. Buy the dark colours....black & navy blue, dark greens are the ones that seem to bleed really badly when I clean them.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

^^^ I can’t imagine dealing with any of this much less trying to remedy such an issue no matter what hat it is.
Whether a beater fishing hat or a museum piece, dye dripping off on anything anytime and the hats gone.
Maybe i’m missing something but too much trouble is just that.
Sorry for your misery but hats are to easy to get to fight with them.
B

 

[M Hatman]

I have had success with a rain guard sprayed fairly heavily in multiple coats on wool and wool fur mix. This has always been a black dye problem when I have had one for some reason.

Now the rain guard WILL react with the sizing (stiffener) and make it harder. This will often have to be worked by hand to lessen the effect.

Admittedly I have not hat the dye issue with any fur felt as of yet but would try it before you tear the hat down.

Otherwise as Belfast Boy says, salt is a fixative........

 

[belfastboy]

I have had success with a rain guard sprayed fairly heavily in multiple coats on wool and wool fur mix. This has always been a black dye problem when I have had one for some reason.

Now the rain guard WILL react with the sizing (stiffener) and make it harder. This will often have to be worked by hand to lessen the effect.

Admittedly I have not hat the dye issue with any fur felt as of yet but would try it before you tear the hat down.

Otherwise as Belfast Boy says, salt is a fixative........

Many years ago my wife and I vacationed in Portugal. We camped and to save luggage space did not take bath towels. Bought blue ones at local outdoor market. Next day's shower, I used the towel and as I walked back to our camp site I looked down in the daylight and noticed my skin was blue. I was a BlueMan unintentionally. Had to go back to the shower and scrub like hell to get it off and return me to my normal pink state. Being frugal I refused to throw out my new towel and walked it to the beach, threw it in the surf to soak for a few hours. That worked and the blue dye stopped leaking onto my skin.

 

[Blackthorn]

The black Stetsons do the same thing. It's sad how far these hat companies have fallen.

 

[KyleLong1992]

I just got a brand new Sheridan Stetson and the hat doesn't even have to be wet for the dye to run. The roof of my girlfriends car now has a few black streaks in it.