Scotch Guard? Scout Felt Hat Protector?

[TheDane]

Beavers & bunnies are already water resistant naturally...

But a felt body is anything but "natural". It is "boiled" in tons of 200° hot water - added different chemicals - and sometimes even bleached. Not many natural oils survive in a felt body, but most hatters add some oil during finishing ("luring"). The nature of fur felt make it quite waterproof, but it's not due to the animals' natural oils, making their fur waterproof

 

[Golden]

kk

thanks all

mbbe I just ride it out then...



-joshuah

 

[alanfgag]

I think most have a few hats set aside for bad weather. Raindrops will not hurt a good fur felt hat. But a thorough soaking will penetrate and is to be avoided.

 

[Nyah]

I hope fur felt isn't waterproof. One of the draws of felt, for me, is that it's breathable, like a sweater or wool socks. I perceived that it was, at least. I wear my Akubra outside in the rain and all is good. Any garment that's waterproof is also sweat-inducing, which in turn can stink.

 

[Seth Duzan]

I've considered wearing my Disney in a light to mild rain so that I can do a little maintenance shaping on it the last couple of weeks the way the weather has been... Lol. However I have also considered getting a wool hat to have around for inclimate weather

 

[DJH]

Golden, you might want to have a chat with John Penman. His custom hats have some waterproofing added which causes water to bead on the felt rather than soak into it.

I've tried to reshape hats I've had made by John and the old "soak in the shower" trick doesn't work. John used to sell his waterproofing spray on his site, but I don't think he does now - I believe because of shipping restrictions on the product.

 

[diabolicaldog]

A hat rain cover can be bought...

I use one of these if I have to go out in heavy rain, I refer to it as the condom. In the past I have worn many hats(work beaters) to destruction and found avoiding those really heavy soakings helps prolong the life and shape significantly. I also change the bash on the Akubra Bobby to a cattle-mans crease to avoid the built in swimming pool effect.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

Shepler's wanted to send me one hat raincover for $50... (the raincover costed less than $5)... I still have none.

 

[Seb Lucas]

I thought felt was waterproof. I've never had a problem getting my hats wet. They dry.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

I thought felt was waterproof. I've never had a problem getting my hats wet. They dry.

The fact that felt can hold rain no one can deny but there is a point when it will get soaked, water will get through and that is not my definition of waterproof.
If a boat was "waterproof" as a felt hat, it would sink.

 

[gtdean48]

Wet fur felt will tend to revert to its initial form = the cone.
The shellac will get lose but the fur fibers will get tighter until reaching a "dead felt" state.
That tightening of the felt & loss of blocking is what happens to fur felt with repetitive soakings.
It is also why blocking was a service back in the day for quality fur felt hats.
Wool doesn't have the barbs on the fur fibers like beaver, nutria, hare or rabbit.
You can Scotchguard any fabric. I wouldn't do my fur felt hats...nor let my top shelf ones get soaked repeatedly....

 

[Edward]

I've never seen a furfelt suffer the extreme broom droop i've seen on wool hats exposed to extremes of wet weather. Within reason, though, I wouldn't buy a furfelt hat I wouldn't wear in rain.

 

[Nyah]

The hood on a rain slicker is waterproof. If you substituted that for your furfelt fedora, you'd likely notice sweat developing before long.

 

[Greyryder]

I got a fur hat, so that I didn't have to worry about getting it wet. I expect a hat to protect my head from the elements. But, I don't tend to stay out in heavy drenching rain, either. If I was going to be in heavy rain that much, I'd probably get an oilskin outback hat. They're made with waterproofing, and are cheaper to replace. I want one, anyway, for things I wouldn't want to subject a nicer hat to; grease, dirt, smoke.

 

[1mach1]

How many times are you out in a severe rain long enough to damage a fur felt? If you plan on working outside in rain, I would suggest some other kind of head wear.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

IT all depends on where you are. My first Stetson didn't suffer much with rain in my country. Can't say the same for the 3 times I went to the UK. It almost had no time to dry there...

 

[Zombie_61]

Rain is one of the reasons I like my Akubra hats. My first one, which I bought in 2008, has survived three or four California downpours (enough to soak the felt, but not quite all the way through) with no apparent ill effects, and I expect the other three will as well when their time comes. One of the primary functions of a hat is to protect your head from the elements; if I have to be concerned about a hat getting wet, I don't want it.

 

[gtdean48]

How many times are you out in a severe rain long enough to damage a fur felt? If you plan on working outside in rain, I would suggest some other kind of head wear.

Quite often when feeding the ponies with the rains....main reason I have a couple of beater Resistol westerns & Akubras....rotate thru them to spread the fun around...

 

[Joao Encarnado]

Rain is one of the reasons I like my Akubra hats. My first one, which I bought in 2008, has survived three or four California downpours (enough to soak the felt, but not quite all the way through) with no apparent ill effects, and I expect the other three will as well when their time comes. One of the primary functions of a hat is to protect your head from the elements; if I have to be concerned about a hat getting wet, I don't want it.

I too like my hats because of the protection they offer, but there are some I don't want to get wet (a spray is OK), for downpours I have others (beaters) and I have an umbrella in the car and another one in my house.

 

[Landman]

Rain is one of the reasons I like my Akubra hats. My first one, which I bought in 2008, has survived three or four California downpours (enough to soak the felt, but not quite all the way through) with no apparent ill effects...

I have had the same experience with my Akubras. I have worn a Campdraft in a very heavy rain to the point the outside of the felt was soaked evenly but the inside was still dry. It had no adverse effects on the hat and in fact I was able to refine the shape slightly while it was wet. It actually looked and fit me better after the soaking and reshaping. I did put it on a band block to prevent the sweatband from shrinking.

On the other hand, I had an older 3X Stetson that got soak all the way through the felt and the hat lost it's shape and was never the same. I think the key is to not let the felt get soaked all the way through or you will lose the original blocking of the hat.