K2R spot remover - first test

[Garrett]

I can chime in on that one, Mario.

Tried to spot treat three small stains on my crofut & knapp 20 and the results were poor. Thankfully, Art fixed what I had done.

I would stick to using this for darker felts [huh]

 

[buler]

I can chime in on that one, Mario.

Tried to spot treat three small stains on my crofut & knapp 20 and the results were poor. Thankfully, Art fixed what I had done.

I would stick to using this for darker felts [huh]

Garret, when you say poor, do you mean it didn't remove the stain, or it left a mark of its own?

B

 

[Garrett]

A little of both - the cleaning agent started to work but left the majority of the stain there along with its own residue.

 

[JimWagner]

For those fighting with left over residue, might vacuuming it off work?

Obviously, don't use your 20 gal shop vac for that [huh]

 

[Garrett]

The residue I'm referring to is a stain of its own as opposed to left over white powder flakes that could be brushed/vacuumed off.

 

[Mario]

Hmmm...I probably just decided to chicken out on the K2R...

 

[buler]

The residue I'm referring to is a stain of its own as opposed to left over white powder flakes that could be brushed/vacuumed off.

Do you have any photos of this? I'm just really curious because I haven't had any adverse affects using K2R. It doesn't always remove the stains, but its never added anything once the powder is brushed away.

B

 

[Garrett]

I did have photos that I sent to Art showing the stains but deleted them once I received the hat from cleaning.

In my opinion, cleaning & blocking is best left to the pros. If the hat means enough to its owner for a cleaning, it is worth the investment. This is based on my own experiences with naptha and K2R, though others have had success.

 

[CRH]

I used K2R to remove some stains on a light greyish blue lid. The K2R did leave it's own sort of stain. I brushed and brushed and brushed some more but couldn't get it to go away completely.

I rubbed in some talcum powder and brushed and brushed some more. I have a horsehair vacuum cleaner attachment that I only use on hats. This worked very well to remove the talc.

I brushed and brushed and brushed some more. The cows haven't come home but the stains are gone and the hat looks great!

 

[buler]

I used K2R to remove some stains on a light greyish blue lid. The K2R did leave it's own sort of stain. I brushed and brushed and brushed some more but couldn't get it to go away completely.

I rubbed in some talcum powder and brushed and brushed some more. I have a horsehair vacuum cleaner attachment that I only use on hats. This worked very well to remove the talc.

I brushed and brushed and brushed some more. The cows haven't come home but the stains are gone and the hat looks great!

CRH, was it like the naptha "rings" that are pictured in this thread?
NapthaRings


B

 

[Mario]

In my opinion, cleaning & blocking is best left to the pros. If the hat means enough to its owner for a cleaning, it is worth the investment.

Problem is, there are no real pros that I know of here in Germany (and I'm not just talking about Berlin). Sending my hats off to Art or Optimo from Germany would take me a whole lot of dough...

 

[Ephraim Tutt]

I just wanted to give this a *BUMP* and ask for further results with lighter colored hats. Buler? Eph?

Good to see some activity on this thread.

Mario, I've been reasonably impressed with the results I've had with K2r. For the most part it's removed spot stains from my hats - as well as ties and carpet stains (I'm always dropping stuff on my ties!). Apart from the difficulty removing residue from my hat ribbon (mentioned above), I've had no other problems and I've now almost used an entire can on various stains.

For the most part, it has removed or significantly reduced the stain. In some cases it has had no effect, though it has caused no damage. It has been equally effective on light and dark hats but, as I say, keep it to spot stains. If the staining is more widespread I leave it to a professional.

I'll be buying another can.

 

[CRH]

CRH, was it like the naptha "rings" that are pictured in this thread?
NapthaRings


B

Similar but not so bad. I just checked the hat. I can still see part of the ring line in the right light.

I should add that I gave it a workout with an orange sponge along with the numerous horsehair brushings.

On hindsight I should have just attacked the stain with the orange sponge in the first place - but I forgot that I had the two pack until I had already gone nuclear (nucular?) with the K2R.

shakeshead

 

[CRH]

...For the most part it's removed spot stains from my hats - as well as ties and carpet stains (I'm always dropping stuff on my ties!). ...

If you quit dropping your ties on the carpet that will be one less stain to deal with!

lol

 

[Mr. Paladin]

CRH, was it like the naptha "rings" that are pictured in this thread?
NapthaRings


B

Wish I had seen this thread on the rings before I tried to spot clean two of mine with naptha. They are on the way back from Optimo to get the rings out because I couldn't sponge or brush them out. I think my good hats will go off to them for work first, from now on.

 

[Pilot99]

Hmmm...I probably just decided to chicken out on the K2R...

lol I think I'm going to agree with you, I hate spending extra money, but I typically take after a few of my friends as they bring their hats in to Optimo. God bless all of you who are brave enough to get stains out of their own hats.

 

[Mario]

lol I think I'm going to agree with you, I hate spending extra money, but I typically take after a few of my friends as they bring their hats in to Optimo. God bless all of you who are brave enough to get stains out of their own hats.

Oh, I gave several of my hats a thorough Naptha treatment, but that included to dunk the entire hat in the solvent, not spot cleaning.

 

[mayserwegener]

Oh, I gave several of my hats a thorough Naptha treatment, but that included to dunk the entire hat in the solvent, not spot cleaning.

Have you noticed any liner stiffening (fabric and plastic if present)?

 

[Mario]

Have you noticed any liner stiffening (fabric and plastic if present)?

No. Not really. But then I take out the liner most of the time since I just ruined a Resistol liner not too long ago, but that wasn't even with Naptha, just water and some other cleaning agent. I never really had any problems with Naptha, but it might be a good idea to gently lexol the sweat after it has dried.

 

[mayserwegener]

No. Not really. But then I take out the liner most of the time since I just ruined a Resistol liner not too long ago, but that wasn't even with Naptha, just water and some other cleaning agent. I never really had any problems with Naptha, but it might be a good idea to gently lexol the sweat after it has dried.

I dunked one a couple a weeks ago and the liner became very stiff but other than that it was ok. A while back I had trouble with a sweatband with minor cracks that leaked dye into the felt.