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rlk

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,100
Location
Evanston, IL
Sools, Paris

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Like a couple of Thanksgiving Turkeys, these two came out of the freezer yesterday after their demothification quarantine. Crusty-dirty and mildewed, these photos are after aggressive vacuuming and scrubbing the sweatbands with flax soap. I suspect these are 30's hats but can't be certain. They are my size. The curved flaring of the brim flanging at the base of the crown seems to be common with French hats of the period.

Mossant
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?
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rlk

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,100
Location
Evanston, IL
Two questions, Robert. What is and where can I buy flax soap? And, what do you use to upload your pics? They have google links. I always have trouble with photobucket.

The picture site is Picasa from Google via Gmail.

Flax Soap is a vegetable oil based goo that is used primarily to clean finished wood(floors) and leathers and general cleaning. As always just a damp cloth to avoid soaking the leather. I wouldn't use it except these were really dirty, not just slightly used. More of a Hardware Store or Grocery item in the household cleaning products.

A vintage jar:
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Aureliano

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,753
Location
Macondo.
Thanks, Robert I have a couple of super filthy sweats, I might try the flax soap. . I have picasa but don't know what link to paste here, is there an img like in photobucket?
 

bond

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,535
Location
Third coast
Recent stetson Open Road circa 1950-60. The seller forgot to ad that the hat had been sunfaded and the top is off white silverbelly while the underside is obviously TAN! I like the hat alot and didnt have to dig too deep to pay for it so I let him off on that misstep.
I have been looking for this off white for a Yr. and this is only the second one that I have bought in that time,but now that I know how to get the desired color by letting it sit under the sun for 50 plus yrs. maybe Ill start working on one soon!
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AXL DEMOCRACY

One of the Regulars
Messages
105
Location
NYC
Very cool! I own a vintage tan Open Road that is in fantastic shape, except for the crown which seems to have been beat up a bit from not being properly stored. I've been trying to get a diamond crease going on it but it is very stubborn. I also am a real newbie at this and am definitely not an expert at re-shaping a hat. Living in NYC I might take it to one of the few hat shops we have left and see if I can get some help with it. I also LOVE and prefer hats with a stiff and straight brim which this OR has and hopefully if I get it re-shaped the brim doesn't get affected.
 

Iyor

One of the Regulars
Messages
200
Location
NYC
Just received a new rollable from Jwalls. I was looking for one for a while on ebay but never came across one with a nice big crown. The hat is everything I hoped it would be. John included a photo illustration how to fold it.

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pjt113

One of the Regulars
Messages
277
Location
Chicago
The picture site is Picasa from Google via Gmail.

Flax Soap is a vegetable oil based goo that is used primarily to clean finished wood(floors) and leathers and general cleaning. As always just a damp cloth to avoid soaking the leather. I wouldn't use it except these were really dirty, not just slightly used. More of a Hardware Store or Grocery item in the household cleaning products.

A vintage jar:
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Isn't Murpy's Oil Soap a variation of flax soap also?
 

bond

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,535
Location
Third coast
Thanks for your comments, I am still learning how to put a decent bash into a hat ,but I've had good luck using a clothes steamer, and of course I be have a good teacher at a local hat shop who knows the possibilities of shapes better than I .That coupled with patience is helpful.On this open road It took me a little longer cause I had to stretch it out a little and gently clean it , I didn't give it a naphtha bath because I wanted to keep some of the patina on the ribbons and the overall age of the hat intact . It still has a stubborn cattlemans crease mark left in crown that I am in process of coaxing out too. I don't care for liners so I cleaned it and left it out for now.
 
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