Naptha spot cleaning rings - removal

[buler]

I've done a couple of naptha dunks on hats with no issues and decided to try spot cleaning. I successfully cleaned spots on a darker hat and then on a very light white/beige hat. All went well so I tried to clean some spots off my latest Stetson 100.

I noticed after a short time of drying in the sun on a breezy day that the outer edge of the dampened area was staying very dark. After a few hours it was still very dark and after drying over night I still had horrible looking rings on my otherwise mint Stetson 100.

My first thought was I was going to have to do a full naptha dunk on the hat and hope it dried evenly, but I wasn't too confident it was going to help. I started googling everything I could on stain removal and leftover rings. This led to one product that was supposed to be very good with this exact problem. But its not an easy to find product and it was expensive to buy/ship off the web. So after further searching I found the MSD (material safety data sheet) for a similiar product and the main ingredient turns out to just be talc powder.

Went to the local Target and browsed thru the various baby powders. Turns out the cheapest, generic one was all Talc with some fragrance thrown in. So I went home and doused the spots on the hat with powder and let it sit overnight. The next day I dumped the excess off and brushed the hat. WooHOO!!! Success. The spots had disappeared.

Hopefully a lesson learned and decided to share with everyone.

B

Before and after pics. The spots looked way worse in person than the pics show!

Before (not for the faint of heart):

After:

 

[gtdean48]

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap
Nice work, Bill!

 

[zetwal]

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing that discovery!

By the way, what were the original spots originally removed with naptha? I mean what sort of spots were they? Did you photogragh those as well?

 

[buler]

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing that discovery!

By the way, what were the original spots originally removed with naptha? I mean what sort of spots were they? Did you photogragh those as well?

There was some light yellow spots on the crown (you can just see them in this pic) and on the brim. I'm thinking since this hat was NOS sitting in its plastic wrap and in a box that it may have been mold? I don't know.

B

 

[Felt and Straw]

OK, let me get this straight...

All you did was put the talc on the already dried area, let it sit for a bit and brushed it off?

That easy?

I've been trying to figure out how to get the dirt lines out from the old cattleman crease in my 100 and this may be worth a try...Babys-r-us here I come.

 

[buler]

All you did was put the talc on the already dried area, let it sit for a bit and brushed it off?

That easy?

I've been trying to figure out how to get the dirt lines out from the old cattleman crease in my 100 and this may be worth a try...Babys-r-us here I come.

I'm not sure I know what your asking here. Just to be clear the talc didn't remove any dirt, it just dried up the felt where the naptha had been used. I would have thought the naptha would just dry on its own but I'm speculating that it reacted with the stiffener in the 100s felt.

B

 

[redhawks2]

Just to add my own experience...I have had a lot of success using diatomaceous earth as a cleaning agent. It's the stuff that is used in pool filters. It is extremely fine and soaks up anything. Brush it in dry, let it sit overnight and brush away, works great!

 

[Cigarband]

Just to add my own experience...I have had a lot of success using diatomaceous earth as a cleaning agent. It's the stuff that is used in pool filters. It is extremely fine and soaks up anything. Brush it in dry, let it sit overnight and brush away, works great!

Also known as "Fuller's Earth." Fullers were the original "Dry Cleaners."

 

[marvelgoose]

Available at Sears in the 25# bag for 24.99

or you can get "food grade" at most health food stores

Scout cleaner for white hats mentions "silica" as one ingredient which is basically the same thing.

The health food store claims it lowers cholesterol. When not cleaning your hat, you are advised to knock down a teaspoon of the stuff a day. It is also good as a flea powder for pets. I imagine it does a good job of keeping the fleas out of your digestive tract as well

 

[barrowjh]

The discussion here and in another thread about using dry powders to soak out stain rings is good information, and something I will have to try in the future. Up till now, to even out a naptha treatment to the crown (1), I use a paint brush to lightly paint a thin application of naptha all over the exterior of the hat, and that has worked to prevent stain circles. I will have to try the dry powder thing.

(1) this is where I have poured some naptha into the crown from the inside so that it pulls out the crease-grease as it drips out, but this is not a total hat naptha treatment, just pouring some naptha (usually warmed naptha) right along the crease lines on the inside of the crown while holding the hat upside down, allowing the naptha to drip out into a plastic basin. It migrates up through the felt towards the brim, but does not totally migrate to all of the felt. Typically, before doing a naptha treatment, I spot clean the crease with Scout's from the outside, thus, the naptha treatment also clears up any rings from the Scout's cleaner. Very few crease stains are so bad that they survive this double treatment.

btw, buler, the felt on that hat looks really nice.

 

[DRB]

I've done a couple of naptha dunks on hats with no issues and decided to try spot cleaning. I successfully cleaned spots on a darker hat and then on a very light white/beige hat. All went well so I tried to clean some spots off my latest Stetson 100.

I noticed after a short time of drying in the sun on a breezy day that the outer edge of the dampened area was staying very dark. After a few hours it was still very dark and after drying over night I still had horrible looking rings on my otherwise mint Stetson 100.

My first thought was I was going to have to do a full naptha dunk on the hat and hope it dried evenly, but I wasn't too confident it was going to help. I started googling everything I could on stain removal and leftover rings. This led to one product that was supposed to be very good with this exact problem. But its not an easy to find product and it was expensive to buy/ship off the web. So after further searching I found the MSD (material safety data sheet) for a similiar product and the main ingredient turns out to just be talc powder.

Went to the local Target and browsed thru the various baby powders. Turns out the cheapest, generic one was all Talc with some fragrance thrown in. So I went home and doused the spots on the hat with powder and let it sit overnight. The next day I dumped the excess off and brushed the hat. WooHOO!!! Success. The spots had disappeared.

Hopefully a lesson learned and decided to share with everyone.

B

Before and after pics. The spots looked way worse in person than the pics show!

Before (not for the faint of heart):

After:

Buler: thank you so much for this information! I thought it should be brought to light again so, here's a bump.

Question: is Naptha the only remedy for a brown hat with grease/oil stain?
Maybe someone could point me to the correct thread?

 

[buler]

Buler: thank you so much for this information! I thought it should be brought to light again so, here's a bump.

Question: is Naptha the only remedy for a brown hat with grease/oil stain?
Maybe someone could point me to the correct thread?

DRB, if it was me and the stain was grease/oil, I would try GOOP hand cleaner on it first.

B

 

[DRB]

and use a cotton ball or soft rag to brush, then rinse? Can the fur be brushed clockwise as well as counter-clockwise without hurting it at this point?

 

[buler]

and use a cotton ball or soft rag to brush, then rinse? Can the fur be brushed clockwise as well as counter-clockwise without hurting it at this point?

I guess it depends on how big the stain is. I'd use an old clean t-shirt and dab a little bit of goop on to see if the stain will come off. Then keep dabbing with different spots of the shirt/rag and goop. You can then dab most, if not all, of the goop off the felt with a dry shirt/rag. I wouldn't brush the felt until I the stain was removed and the felt dry.

B

 

[Canadian Cowboy]

I guess it depends on how big the stain is. I'd use an old clean t-shirt and dab a little bit of goop on to see if the stain will come off. Then keep dabbing with different spots of the shirt/rag and goop. You can then dab most, if not all, of the goop off the felt with a dry shirt/rag. I wouldn't brush the felt until I the stain was removed and the felt dry.

B

What do mean by using naptha?Is that like Ronsonal Lighter Fluiid as it contains naptha or are you referring to something totally different?Please let me know what you use.I am glad you removed the stain that is a very nice hat.
CC

 

[bolthead]

why not cornstarch instead?

 

[buler]

What do mean by using naptha?Is that like Ronsonal Lighter Fluiid as it contains naptha or are you referring to something totally different?Please let me know what you use.I am glad you removed the stain that is a very nice hat.
CC

I use VM & P Naptha. Usually its for a whole hat soak, but this thread was about spot treatment with naptha. When I did it, the stain came out but the "ring" was left behind.

B

 

[buler]

why not cornstarch instead?

Should work too. I used baby powder because it was an ingredient used in a cleaning product I was researching.

B

 

[Canadian Cowboy]

I use VM & P Naptha. Usually its for a whole hat soak, but this thread was about spot treatment with naptha. When I did it, the stain came out but the "ring" was left behind.

B

Thanks for the picture can you buy that at most stores?Do you use just everyday baby powder like Johnson&Johnson?Thanks for your world of Knowledge
CC

 

[Canadian Cowboy]

why not cornstarch instead?

Cornstarch can be used as well?Learn something new everyday Thanks
CC