ribbon cleaning?

[scottyrocks]

How does one do this? Could I soak it in Oxyclean, and then rinse?

I'm reblocking one of my hats and want to keep all the original parts, which have been stripped off the hat body. The out side of the ribbon is faded and/or dirty, and I want to clean it to see how much of each is present. The underneath side looks great, but I don't want to have to take apart and remake the bow, although I could if I had to.

Will the ribbon shrink or get wavy ripply to the point of being unusable? Is this doable?

Thanks muchly in advance.

 

[gtdean48]

I've used cold water and woollite. Let it soak then gently agitate.

 

[bond]

I've had good quality vintage ribbons shrink on me after washing , now when I do clean them I hang slight weight to ends and let them dry weighted. If that makes sense , seems to work.
Also be careful ironing the ribbon to get wrinkles out as steam and heat can shrink it as well especially if there is silk content .

 

[scottyrocks]

Thanks, guys. I'll use your suggestions.

 

[fedoracentric]

I have found that salt stains never come out of ribbons.

 

[scottyrocks]

This particular ribbon I want to clean is from one of those bound brim Dobbs that were so popular in the '60s. It's black and 2" wide.

The underside is the true black, and the exposed side is brown in comparison. Do (the collective) you think that it is dirt that would wash out, or is it permanently faded?

 

[ManofKent]

This particular ribbon I want to clean is from one of those bound brim Dobbs that were so popular in the '60s. It's black and 2" wide.

The underside is the true black, and the exposed side is brown in comparison. Do (the collective) you think that it is dirt that would wash out, or is it permanently faded?

Faded - black ribbons tend to fade to a copper like brown tone (depending on the original dye),

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Take the ribbon off and filp it. An the bow would have to be filpped too which is a little hard to do. Fading does not wash out.

 

[Landman]

I've used cold water and woollite. Let it soak then gently agitate.

I have had good luck with the method that Tom suggested. After gently hand washing the ribbon then I ironed the ribbon while it was still damp with a warm iron. The iron was not very hot at all and did not cause any shrinkage. After that I laid it out flat and let it dry. You could probably do it with a cold iron because just the weight of the iron is enough to get the wrinkles out of the ribbon.

I cleaned up a black 3/4" Stetson Playboy ribbon this way that had a lot of sweat stains on it and I was amazed at how well it looked afterwards. I tried the same method on a lighter colored ribbon and the results were not as good. You could still see the outline of the sweat stains on the light tan colored ribbon.

If the ribbon is black and lost its even color saturation, maybe you could re-dye it. I have no experience with that but was just an after thought.

Good luck!

 

[-30-]

"I have found that salt stains never come out of ribbons"
QUOTE: fedoracentric.

Vinegar.


Regards,
J T

 

[Raider]

"I have found that salt stains never come out of ribbons"
QUOTE: fedoracentric.

Vinegar.


Regards,
J T

Rubbing alcohol applied with a Q-tip.

 

[scottyrocks]

Thank you for the replies, gents.

I need to refocus this thread on another problem.

The second hat I am doing the same thing to has a sweat band that is disintegrating, and will not survive an R&I without coming apart. Anyone know where to buy a leather sweat band for a fedora? Google is coming up goose-eggs.

 

[gtdean48]

Panama Bob sells sweats I think

 

[scottyrocks]

I just emailed him, thanks.

Anyone else?

 

[John Galt]

Try JW hats.

JW will sell as many or as few as you want, and they are pretty good. Goatskin, I think. The price is good too, $5.00 if I remember correctly.


"Faint hat never won fair lady."