Scotch Guard? Scout Felt Hat Protector?

[Akubra Man]

I think that any waterproofing is unneeded for a fur felt hat. I have worn all my hats in snow and rain and never had an issue with them getting wet. They shed water fine and when wet dry out fine.

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

I've used Scotchguard (sp?) and similar camping waterproofer sprays on wool hats in the past. Didn't hurt mine any. Might have helped.

But I wouldn't spray any of this on my fur felt hats. Best to let them do their job as designed. Akubra Man sums up my experience in this area.

 

[Rick Blaine]

At one time hatsdirect offered Scotchguard as an option. David Morgan's website too recomends periodic treatment. I have used a variety of products (Scotchguard, Campdry) on fur felts w/o ill effect... my .o2.

 

[duggap]

If I am not mistaken, I believe Art F. uses some water proofing on his custom beavers before he ships them out. Hope I am not putting words in Art's mouth.[huh]

 

[airspirit]

I used the "fabric" labeled scotchgard on my new hat. I would spray it down nice and damp then let it go touch dry (2 hours or so), lightly brush it with a hat brush to take off the speckles from the spray, then reapply. I did it five times, and by the time I was done you wouldn't know by look that it was applied. One caveat: make sure your pins and whatnot are off your hat, since scotchgard can eat through non-colorsafe dyes and it would be horrible to forget a feather or pin and permanently stain your felt.

 

[Ray-Vigo]

I've Scotchguarded my wool felt hats. Those are the ones I wear when the rain is the worst. I've left the fur felt hats alone.

 

[NonEntity]

I've used ScotchGuard for years on everything from the carpet in my cars to, yes, headgear.

First off, today's environmentally friendly SG does not work as well as the old kind that punched holes in the ozone. I'm sure of this because I recently found an ancient can among the paint in the basement and compared it with a new can in the for-fabric version on two identical leather-billed corduroy ball caps that are practically new.

There may be other changes in the formula, but the propellant in the old stuff aerated it into a finer mist, forced it out with more thrust, and gave me a little buzz, as well. As a result, one application of it rendered the cap utterly waterproof when I put it on and poured a bucket of water over my head. I was pleased with the outcome, or perhaps just slap-happy from inadvertently inhaling the fumes.

In contrast, after one application of the new stuff, the valleys between some of the cord wales became slightly damp. Having seen me dunk a second bucket of water over my head while wearing a poncho with bare legs sticking out on a bright sunny day, an elderly woman walking by with her dog visibly picked up her pace. Her English bull, on the other hand, gazed at me with a rather understanding look.

I let that hat dry out, put on another light application, allowed it to dry, then sprayed on a third and final application. It's now almost as waterproof as the hat with the old stuff on it, but not quite, and with a lot more effort.

One thing I've noticed in using the new stuff on all manner of materials is that it changes the "hand" of it--gives it a coarser texture and stiffens it. This is especially conspicuous when you try to get by with once heavy application, which after it dries will necessitate a vigorous brushing off of the white residue and not make it any more waterproof than two or three light coats that leave no residue.

SG does not seem to affect the breathability of things I've put it on, so that would be no reason to not use it.

In sum, if you heed the caveats mentioned previously, ScotchGuard will render most things almost waterproof and not damage anything that's colorfast, but will alter it's feel at least somewhat. For that reason, I would not hesitate to put it on a wool beret, some of which come "impermeable" brand new, any canvas or wool felt hat, or even a rugged fur felt if I intended to trek in it across the rain-soaked montane forests of Borneo. After all, I'd want my head to be perfectly dry should the headhunters there take a liking to my cranium--it's a die-with-clean-underwear thing type of thing, don't ya know.

But a vintage hat of any kind or a finer fur felt, be it custom-made or off-the-shelf, I would not put anything but the bristles of my brim brush on.

Now, where'd I hide that old can of ScotchGuard? I could use a stiff sniff!

 

[airspirit]

That's a good point: it does change the feel of the felt slightly. It also seemed to make my brim a little snappier, but that might also be my imagination at work.

 

[airspirit]

I got caught in the rain for the first time today after treating my hat like described above. When I got inside I removed the hat (had been out in heavy rain about 3-4 minutes) to find that all the water had beaded up on it like on a freshly waxed car. I turned it upside down, gave it a shake, and almost all the water came off. Less than five minutes later the hat was perfectly dry. I don't know if that will help anyone or not, but thought I'd throw it out there.

 

[Ray-Vigo]

I gave my foul weather litefelt hat a heavy duty treatment with Scotchguard-- multiple layers over the course of two evenings. There was no shrinking or color problems. The hat has become a bit "stiffer" than it was, but it is still quite crushable and soft on the whole. I haven't worn it out in the rain yet though.

 

[Preacher Man]

What about Scotch Guard?

I did a search and couldn't find anything on the subject; if I'm repeating, I'm sorry - please forgive. Here's my question: have any of you treated your hat with Scotch Guard to repel water? Would it have a negative effect on the felt? If you have used it, what were the results? Just wondering. Thanks to you all.

Preacher Man
Philippians 4:13

 

[jpbales]

yes

a lot of people use scotch guard on their hats (and there has been a previous thread about this, but I know how hard it is to find old posts around here ) From my use of it, and what I've heard, it doesn't have any negative effects on the hat (except it's not supposed to be used on leather, so keep it away from the sweatband). If you're worried about waterproofing your hat, you shouldn't have to worry too much if it's felt anyway. The scotch guard should help keep stains away if you dirty up your hat though. I've scotched my hats but I've never had a problem with waterproofing anyway, and I haven't yet had the chance to try and stain my hat either.
Welcome to the lounge,
Jimmy

 

[bd3]

I've not had my hat very long but I used Camp Dry on it in an effort to promote water repelling. If you do try the Camp Dry route, I tried it on a hidden area of the hat to make sure it wouldn't change the color or make it look blotchy. On my hat it didn't change the color much, if any, so I put on 2 good coats letting it dry well between coats.

 

[Matt Deckard]

The Scotch Guiard will soak in though from past experience so will the water. I mentioned it in the Felt hat basics thread.
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=6981

Felt works just like a sponge, and unless you cover it in something water tight, nothing will keep the water from soaking into the felt. I keep my felts product free now. Depending on the quality of the felt it's okay to let it soak through. Better hats will droop less with rainfall after rainfall. Anywho... check out that thread for more info on how water effects hats.

 

[Bob Smalser]

None of that silicone stuff works for very long anyway. Working outdoors all day in a miserable, driving rain is why God gave us tin hoods.

 

[D.W. Suratt]

I used it on both my wool hats, one fur felt hat, and my new cap. It may not make it waterproof, but on the wools I'd rather be safe than sorry. It hasn't hurt any of them.

 

[guillaumeb]

Fur felt rain protection spray

If i ever buy a fur felt hat made from Akruba, which rain protection spray would you recommend ?


I'd like to avoid this problem...

Thank you

 

[danofarlington]

Akubras are built to be rained on, so don't give it a second thought.

And it should never be a problem with the spray. The guy who sold me my can of spray said it wouldn't rain at all if I sprayed it into the air. Guaranteed it, money back.

 

[St. Valentine]

I might be wrong here but isn´t using rain protection spray on a felt hat a thing which shouldn´t be neccessary at all?
The felted wool (or fur) should contain enough natural "grease" to repel water on it´s own. I mean, this is what hats are made for, aren´t they?
I wouldn´t dare spraying my hats with a chemical compound of any kind.

Seeing the pictures of that Akubra I wouldn´t say that this is normal. It looks like a major quality problem of fault within this particular hat.

Frank

 

[zetwal]

The guy who sold me my can of spray said it wouldn't rain at all if I sprayed it into the air.

That's funny!

In scale, it could be literally true. Let's not test the theory ...