Reblocking and Naptha question

[havershaw]

I need a little assistance...I have a Dobbs Forty on the block right now. Now, when I got this hat, it was grey but was covered with some sort of chalky residue, making the hat very splotchy. Almost looked like it was in chalk mine or something (is there such a thing?!?). To my amazement, when I took the ribbon off, I discovered the hat was actually brown underneath! I tell you, the residue on the hat, although splotchy in some spots, made the hat look like it was a nice shade of grey!

Anyway, I soaked in the Woolite. Fedora, you recommended three hours, but I felt it in there for twenty-four hours, changing the solution about every six hours because the water had turned deep brown.

So I pulled the hat out, and you how deceiving color can be when the felt is wet, so I didn't get too concerned about the color (plus, it was night and I didn't have great lighting). this morning, I too a look at it on the block - still looks grey-ish, although there are a few places where it threatens to be brown again.

Sounds like a job for Naptha, which I have never tried but do own. The hat is still wet on the block, or at least damp. Is it safe to clean it with Naptha while it's on the block? Should I wait for it to be finished and then clean? How exactly do I clean it (I mean, I don't soak it in a tub of Naptha or anything, do I?)

The felt is really nice and dense, and it has a great Cavanagh edge on it, so I really want to save it. I used my trusty Fedora block, but I was thinking about reblocking it again on a vintage block I recently got but haven't tried yet. Fedora's block is still my favorite, but on narrower crown hats, you lose a lot of crown height in straightening those sides. My vintage crown is just as straight, but is a little narrower and not as tall.

Anyway...I need some advisement...the easiest thing for me to do is to clean it with Naptha while it's still on the block...but the felt is still pretty damp. Thoughts?

 

[Andykev]

Well

I can only say what I just did to a hat off of Ebay. It is a BEAUTIFUL very very light dove gray Dunlap hat from the 40's. It is sharp. But it had very dirty black (large) area on crown, like it rubbed against the sidewall of a tire. Light color hats are the hardest to clean.

I got the can of Naptha, and poured it all over the crown, and then put the hat on a hat block of the correct size. Rubbed counter clockwise on the stain, just like it was a spot on the carpet. The dirt stain vanished!!

Hat stunk like solvent - DUH!

Let is dry OUTISDE overnight. The next morn' the hat was AS NEW. Problem: I did not completely soak the hat, so the brim had "receeding or ebb tide" marks from the solvent, that is, like the waves on the beach leave lines in the sand. I hadn't wet the brim enough. SO here I go, and soaked the brim this time, and rub again, overnite air dry....

This hat is perfect. Looks new, no solvent smell.

I recommend if it is a good hat, send it out. If it is not worth $35 + $10 ship then do it yourself. It's good experience. Places like Art and Optimo have hat spinners to remove the slovent and dirt by spinning the hat completely, and they remove the liner (I didn't ), but I did not rub hard on the top of the crown where the seam is on the inside liner.

In a full clean and block, you MUST remove the liner, or you will mark the felt witht he seam from the liner thur the top of the crown.

As for using woolite on felt hats...I have no experience, and prefer the solvent. I have read that you can clean straw with woolite as it is gentle.

 

[Art Fawcett]

Nothing more to say after Andy's post Havershaw!! Let it dry, then completely soak the hat in Naptha, yes, SOAK it, then let it air dry. If the hat doesn't come clean from this, then the discoloration is most likely fading of the dye in the hat. When you looked insided the hat was it the original brown under the liner?

 

[havershaw]

Now that it's dry, I have a better idea of what I'm dealing with. It's the damndest thing...kind of a dark grey-brown where the ribbon used to be, and inside the hat...powder grey everywhere else. It's weird. The hat doesn't have the powdery texture it used to, but it still looks splotchy. Here:

I guess I'll hit it with the Naptha...hopefully that'll help. If not...I guess I need to find a ribbon the same size as the old one...! The felt's really nice, so I definitely want to salvage the hat.

 

[Kentucky Blues]

You crazy guy you...that hats hopeless...you should just send it to me Okay, obviously that's not gonna work.....Well...I think you should try wearing it ribbonless for a while...it looks pretty good

 

[Art Fawcett]

Havershaw, thats the fading that i was afraid of. If the inside of the hat is brown also, that's the original color. Why not send it to Fedora for a dye job first? Thats the only way to salvage it other than to put a larger ribbon & live with the color. Good luck

 

[ScottF]

Re-blocking a hat

Well, I just 'finished' re-blocking my first hat using a vintage block. In keeping with my goal of NEVER starting a new thread in this forum, I dug this one up...

I have 're-blocked' using the 'fill it with water and leave in the tub' method, very successfully, but this hat was in really bad shape. It's a Canadian Stetson that was sold as a 7 1/4, but is a 7. The leather sweatband was literally rotten and the liner had been blued into the hat and had brownish-grey goo all over it. In my attempt to salvage it, I removed band, ribbon, liner, filled with water, then stretched over a 7 1/4 block. Not knowing if this was correct, and too lazy to get back on the computer, I removed from the block while still slightly wet, re-flanged the brim using a brim mold, let air-dry, then put back on the block and brushed heavily. So now I have the following hat, still a little small. Makes me wonder what the '7 1/4' block-size really indicates.

The thought was to swipe a thinner fabric sweatband from another hat, along with a ribbon, and use the original liner (which I cleaned). Does this sound like a good approach for this experiment, or is it worth learning how to sew a leather band into it, then stretch? Bottom pic shows original bits, along with stamp cut out of rotten sweatband.

Any suggestions are appreciated, but if this fails, my investment is small and the education has already been worth it. Thanks.

 

[Magus]

Here is a basic naptha walkthrough. Hope it helps.

M

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=31647&highlight=Naptha

 

[ScottF]

Here is a basic naptha walkthrough. Hope it helps.

M

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=31647&highlight=Naptha

Thanks, I guess I should have broken down and started a new thread. I'm really curious what others would suggest doing with an 'empty' hat like this - i.e, what type of sweat, etc. I went ahead and ordered a bunch of ribbon and will use instructions from another thread for that project. The block I have only got it up to about 7 1/8+, but if I had a soft, thin sweatband, I should be okay. That's where I'm kind of stumped.

 

[ScottF]

Here is a basic naptha walkthrough. Hope it helps.

M

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=31647&highlight=Naptha

Great thread - I've been working on another hat, and unable to clean using non-Naptha methods, so I'm about to try yours. Am I supposed to soak the entire hat, leather sweat and ribbon included? Thanks.

 

[Magus]

Great thread - I've been working on another hat, and unable to clean using non-Naptha methods, so I'm about to try yours. Am I supposed to soak the entire hat, leather sweat and ribbon included? Thanks.

Remove the liner first and then put everything in your airtight container and cover it with the Naptha. At least that has worked for me thus far. No hats have been hurt for me and I hope yours comes out well, though I will deny all knowledge of this missive should things go wrong . Remember to give your hat a basic blocking for shape when you first remove it from the soak.

 

[ScottF]

Remove the liner first and then put everything in your airtight container and cover it with the Naptha. At least that has worked for me thus far. No hats have been hurt for me and I hope yours comes out well, though I will deny all knowledge of this missive should things go wrong . Remember to give your hat a basic blocking for shape when you first remove it from the soak.

Thanks Magus. I ended up using the Woolite soaking method, which in this case luckily worked. I'm looking forward to trying the Naptha method on a future hat.