Naptha

[funneman]

Well I'm sure this has come up before, I apologize for bringing it up again.

My lot of Marathon hats has arrived, the light brown, Open Road style is a little nasty. The sewn in lining is so heavily stained that I had to remove it.

There is also what appears to be a sweat stain right in the front of the ribbon.

I tried a little cold water but that only seemed to make the stain spread to a larger area of the ribbon. The felt appears to intact.

The question is, will soaking the hat in Naptha make the stains go away?

If so, where do I get Naptha? Do I just dump the whole hat, lining, ribbon, sweatband and all in the stuff?

Thanks, Gents.

 

[Feraud]

I do not know much about using naptha but know it was discussed here in detail.
Use the search option. You should find the answer.

 

[tonyb]

You're right, funneman, we have thoroughly chewed this over before, but it's among my favorite topics, so I'm kinda glad you reintroduced it.
Yes, you can immerse the entire hat -- ribbon, sweatband, liner and all -- in naptha. If the stuff does any damage to any of the parts, I've yet to see evidence of it, and I've cleaned several hats of my own.
You can get naptha for about 10 bucks a gallon at most home-improvement warehouse stores (you know, what we used to call "hardware stores"). The kind I get is called VM&P Naptha. That stands for "varnish makers' and painters'."
Brush the hat thoroughly before soaking it in naptha. Leave the hat in the naptha bath for several hours. (Leaving it overnight is probably a good idea.)
EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION. Naptha is toxic and highly flammable. So don't poison yourself or burn your house down.
Use one batch of naptha for light-colored hats and another for darker hats. You'll lose some naptha to spillage and evaporation, but you can recover most of it for reuse by running it through a coffee filter in a metal funnel.
Allow your naptha-cleaned hat to dry in a well-ventilated place. Once the naptha has evaportated it leaves absolutely no odor behind.
Other compounds may be more effective for removing certain types of stains. You've already removed the lining from that Marathon you alluded to, so you may as well try soaking it (the liner only) in Woolite. I've never tried that method, but others here have and they report good results. I've also heard that white vinegar eats some kinds of stains better than naptha does, but I've yet to try it. Perhaps someone else here can weigh in on that.
I find it satisfying to make a funky old hat look nearly good as new again, and I'm always in search of new knowledge. There's no shortage of products out there -- some marketed specifically for hat cleaning (Scout brand granules and foam cleaner, for instance), and some that make no mention of their hat-cleaning uses whatsoever. I wouldn't try any of them before first searching this site. Always better to learn from others' mistakes.

 

[ledsled]

bath container

ToniB - Thanks for reviewing the Naptha directions for us Newbies. One question: when you say to leave the hat in the Naptha bath overnight, what kind of a container do you use? I assume the container needs to be covered or the Naptha would evaporate and/or stink up the house.

Sorry if you covered this and I missed these details in your post.

 

[J.B.]

Click on these for a re-visit to Magus' naphtha experiences...

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=9748

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=9771

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=9794

Good Luck!:fedora:

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

My quick and dirty method for dealing with a sweat-stained ribbon is simply to wet down the entire ribbon with my handy squirt bottle. It seems to remove the little watermarks. I'm sure it doesn't really get rid of the stain, but it evens out the color.

 

[riccardo]

Good morning,
in Italian naphta means "nafta" the diesel fuel.
What do you means with naphta?
I think it could be what we call "acquaragia". It is an items that you use to dilute the varnish,and to clean - after - the brush.
Anyone could post a pics of the bottle (metal) with its label?

Many thanks.
Riccardo.

 

[Bud-n-Texas]

Good morning,
in Italian naphta means "nafta" the diesel fuel.
What do you means with naphta?
I think it could be what we call "acquaragia". It is an items that you use to dilute the varnish,and to clean - after - the brush.
Anyone could post a pics of the bottle (metal) with its label?

Many thanks.
Riccardo.

 

[funneman]

Thanks everyone. And thanks Bud-in-Texas for the photo of the can.

J.B. thanks for the links.

Now about that sealed container....what do you guys suggest?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

A large plastic "paint canister". They're sold at Home Depot, etc.

.

 

[tonyb]

ToniB - Thanks for reviewing the Naptha directions for us Newbies. One question: when you say to leave the hat in the Naptha bath overnight, what kind of a container do you use? I assume the container needs to be covered or the Naptha would evaporate and/or stink up the house.

Sorry if you covered this and I missed these details in your post.

Chevalier beat me to it, ledsled. (I use a very large Pyrex bowl, but Marc's method is probably better.) But I'll add this: I wouldn't use naptha in the house at all, unless I could find a way to totally isolate the air in one room from the rest of the structure and I had a fire-suppression system in place. Best to use a detached shed, to keep the odors out of the living space and to prevent an accident from becoming a disaster.

 

[Bud-n-Texas]

Good morning,
in Italian naphta means "nafta" the diesel fuel.
What do you means with naphta?
I think it could be what we call "acquaragia". It is an items that you use to dilute the varnish,and to clean - after - the brush.
Anyone could post a pics of the bottle (metal) with its label?

Many thanks.
Riccardo.

fftopic:
Just a side note, diesel fuel is used for many purposes around here on the ranch. We use it to clean and lubricate the cutter on the haybind, hinges on the gates, cleaning hands, even poured over a cut or abraision until we get home and can clean it better. "Diesel, its not just for motors anymore" hahalol

 

[feltfan]

Use one batch of naptha for light-colored hats and another for darker hats. You'll lose some naptha to spillage and evaporation, but you can recover most of it for reuse by running it through a coffee filter in a metal funnel.

As long as one filters the naptha after each use,
why bother keeping separate naptha for dark and light hats?
That's a lot of naptha to keep around and eventually to
dispose of. Is it really necessary? Thanks.

 

[skillbilly]

So what you saying is....

So the naptha really won't harm the leather band in the hat?

I just came across a really light colored Borasalino that needs a good stain removal, but didn't want to hurt the leather band or liner.

 

[riccardo]

Many thanks, Bud in Texas.
Many thanks to all.

Do you know that diesel motors could work with peanuts oil??
But don't try to clean your hats with it.

Enjoy.
Riccardo.

 

[SinatraStyle]

Naptha on Straw?

My straw hat has a few stains on the ribbon (from the double-sided tape used to hold the ribbon in place). It was mentioned that Naptha can be used on felt hats...can it also be used on straws? I would prefer not to remove the ribbon for cleaning, and I wouldn't mind cleaning the whole hat anyway, but I don't want to risk ruining the straw.

Any advice you could offer is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[tonyb]

As long as one filters the naptha after each use,
why bother keeping separate naptha for dark and light hats?
That's a lot of naptha to keep around and eventually to
dispose of. Is it really necessary? Thanks.

Cuz even after being run through a filter the naptha retains a bit of the color of the hats it cleaned.
This is strictly anecodotal, and based on quite limited experience, but I've noticed that my dark brown hats in particular leave considerably more color in the bottom of my hat-cleaning bowl than the lighter ones do. I don't think that's just because the darker color is more visible, although that could be part of it. Rather, it seems that more "dead" dye gets washed out of the brown hats. Another factor could be that because dark brown hides dirt better than lighter colors do, those particular hats may have never before been cleaned and once they were they gave up a whole lotta dirt.
Whatever the reason(s), most of the dirt and/or dye settles to the bottom, although a noticeable amount remains in suspension and doesn't filter out. I wouldn't clean a light-colored hat with naptha that has already been used with darker hats, although I suppose doing it the other way around might not present a problem.
And I wouldn't clean a hat in naptha just for the heck of it, just as I don't subject my clothes to drycleaning until they really need it. Losing a bit of the dye seems inevitable.

 

[tonyb]

My straw hat has a few stains on the ribbon (from the double-sided tape used to hold the ribbon in place). It was mentioned that Naptha can be used on felt hats...can it also be used on straws? I would prefer not to remove the ribbon for cleaning, and I wouldn't mind cleaning the whole hat anyway, but I don't want to risk ruining the straw.

Any advice you could offer is appreciated. Thank you.

Can't say that I've ever tried it, but I certainly would NOT use naptha on a straw hat, unless it was one I wouldn't mind throwing away. Straw hats can indeed be cleaned, but the techniques I've read about seem a bit beyond what I'd be comfortable trying myself.

 

[SinatraStyle]

Wishful thinking I guess

Thank you. I'm hesitant to clean the whole hat in naptha; it was inexpensive but it is my only straw. I just don't want to remove/re-attach the ribbon if I can get around it. It is sewn on very nicely right now so I hate to take it off. However, I could remove it if I have to.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

A thought occurs and I could be way off base - but could naphtha be used to clean a grease stain off a tie. Not a vintage tie, thank goodness. I just wondered if that might work in lieu of the dry cleaners. I thought the $7.50 the cleaners wanted seemed a little steep (since a whole suit's $12.50).