Scotch Guard? Scout Felt Hat Protector?

[Richard]

scotchgard on a felt hat?

Is that an ok thing to do? I'd rather be ina dry hat than a soaking wet hat. Is there any reason not to scotchgard a hat? I noted that in the tilley instructions they say to scotchgard their hats every now and again

 

[jamespowers]

Is that an ok thing to do? I'd rather be ina dry hat than a soaking wet hat. Is there any reason not to scotchgard a hat? I noted that in the tilley instructions they say to scotchgard their hats every now and again

I suppose it depends on the hat. Most all of my vintage hats will keep my head dry in the rain. These have not been scotchguarded. They just have a particular resistance to water.
Now your modern felts definitely need to be scotchguarded. They are like a collander. The felt is not tight and water resistant at all. This excludes custom made modern hats though. We are talking Stetsons, Borsalinos and other factory made hats.

Regards to all,

J

 

[Dave Keith]

I agree with jamespowers that my vintage hats made of pure fur felt are impervious to rain. In addition, I must have gotten lucky, because my two Borsalinos of recent manufacture are equal in rain shedding quality.

Although I haven't just stood out in a downpour, both have been worn during fairly vigorous showers with protection on par with the vintage.

Based on my limited experience, I would not Scotchguard any of my fur felts unless they proved unworthy in a shower. The one wool felt hat that I own (and do not wear anymore) might be a candidate for treatment, however.

Dave

 

[Mycroft]

This may be a bad source, but the women in Disney World who I bought my Indy wool "fedora," said to scotchguard it. I didn't and it went bad in the rain. Also, I thought scotchguard was illegal now?

 

[Andykev]

The wool Indy fedora's need glue and stiffner in them to hold up in any wet situation.

Beaver or blended fur felt is naturally resistant to water, but not water proof.

Schotchguard by 3M is not illegal. I would NOT spray it on my hat however. I prefer the true hat stiffner products.

http://www.3m.com/us/home_leisure/scotchgard/app_diy_protector.jhtml

 

[BellyTank]

Nasty 3M Goop

They're supposed to have/or are phasing it out because it's really nasty shite-

http://www.chemicalindustryarchives.org/dirtysecrets/scotchgard/1.asp

I had assumed the 'original' Scotchgard HAS been phased out and if the brand/product IS available, then it's surely a safer replacement compound.
We hope.

But it's been the coating on McDonalds' burger wrappers for many years- and many other places you never heard of-
-glad I don't eat McD's garbage food.

Keep it under your hat.

 

[Michaelson]

In my area (Tennessee), the brown can Scotchgard for leather is pretty hard to find now. The green can and red can are still readily available. Regards. Michaelson

 

[tonyb]

ScotchGard, anyone?

What's the learned opinion on applying ScotchGard to fur felts? Good? Bad? A bit of each? I've heard a salesperson at a hat retailer advise buyers of wool felts to use it. A staffer at this same store once told me that fur felts lose some water-repellency in the cleaning process, although I've yet to hear that confirmed elsewhere.

 

[Raindog]

Akubra offer a Scotchguard protection on all their felts, so I think it must be Ok.
As to which scotchguard to use, I'll leave that to more informed members!


Jeff.

 

[Bebop]

I have never used Scotchguard on a hat because it has never really worked that well on my sofa or any other object I have used it on. I use Scout Rain and Stain Repellent. It does work and I have never had a problem with it on a hat. I think alot of the better quality hats are pretty weather proof without adding anything to them.

 

[Andykev]

Pray not, spray not, fear not.

When I lay my head down every night,
I say this prayer,
With all my might.

Don't spray Scotchguard upon your hat,
I pray you won't even think of that.

If you have a felt that is very good,
Then it should shed water, is that understood?

Putting on the felt such chemical spray,
Will wreck the fibers, need more I say?

If you plan on being in a downpour of rain,
A plastic protector is the name of the game.

 

[besdor]

NO NO NO !! Please No !!! Unless you want the hat to feel and look like sandpaper . Scotchguard is good for wool only ,not fur felt.:cool2:

 

[varga49]

When I lay my head down every night,
I say this prayer,
With all my might.

Don't spray Scotchguard upon your hat,
I pray you won't even think of that.

If you have a felt that is very good,
Then it should shed water, is that understood?

Putting on the felt such chemical spray,
Will wreck the fibers, need more I say?

If you plan on being in a downpour of rain,
A plastic protector is the name of the game.

Wow! Nice little informative ditty!...Did you just come up with that? I've never had any luck with scotchguard on automobile seats, clothing, furniture, etc! I'd never put scotch guard on any of my hats!

 

[SHARPETOYS]

I'd say never!

I have talked to several hatters on this stuff they said never use it and its hard to get out when you need your fedora cleaned.

 

[Uncle Vern]

If you Google around the net enough, you'll find that a few years ago, 3M quietly began tinkering wih the ingredients of Scotchgard--something to to with carcinogens. That doesn't surprise me. Armor-all belongs in that category--you can see the film it exudes all over the inside of your windshield, and it's probably inside your lungs.
Just the idea of of blasting a nice felt fur hat with Scotchgard seems like a spooky thing to do. I bought an old Open Road on eBay that had been Scotchgarded. The brim felt like cardboard. Repeated steamings, brushings and manipulations eventually loosened the hat up, but the felt still doesn't look or feel exactly right, and it probably never will.
When I first got interested in hats, I was fixated on the look of them, so I took the phrase "a good John B. Stetson" to mean that it was a nice-looking lid. It took me a while to realize that what that phrase really meant was that it was a fully functional felt working tool--water repellent, and even when saturated, capable of absorbing a ton of water without leaking into the wearer's face. And the hat doesn't necessarilly have to be pure beaver--I have an old rabbit fur cowboy hat that does its job admirably, but then, they made better felt 50 years ago. Scotchgarding a good hat is redundant--it's already waterproof. If it's not, you've got a lousy hat.

 

[fedoralover]

Not me!!

I've heard of people doing it and saying it didn't hurt anything, but when I did it, it definitely changed the feel of the felt. I never do it anymore. The felt will dry out and it won't hurt anything, unless it's a newer felt and you stay out in the rain for hours. But then you should be wearing something else anyway.

fedoralover

 

[Kaleponi Craig]

I've used "Scout Felt Hat Rain and Stain Protector" on my Adventurebilt a couple of times, to no ill effect. Maybe this is different, as it is just for felt hats. But reading your comments, I may not use it again...KC

 

[Biltmore Bob]

Ditto...

. Scotchgarding a good hat is redundant--it's already waterproof. If it's not, you've got a lousy hat.

...my feelings exactly! Far as I'm concerned, felt was made to be rained on.

 

[jake_fink]

Andykev said:
When I lay my head down every night,
I say this prayer,
With all my might.

Don't spray Scotchguard upon your hat,
I pray you won't even think of that.

If you have a felt that is very good,
Then it should shed water, is that understood?

Putting on the felt such chemical spray,
Will wreck the fibers, need more I say?

If you plan on being in a downpour of rain,
A plastic protector is the name of the game.

I've been humming this to myself all day. :cheers1:

 

[Mycroft]

When I lay my head down every night,
I say this prayer,
With all my might.

Don't spray Scotchguard upon your hat,
I pray you won't even think of that.

If you have a felt that is very good,
Then it should shed water, is that understood?

Putting on the felt such chemical spray,
Will wreck the fibers, need more I say?

If you plan on being in a downpour of rain,
A plastic protector is the name of the game.

Wow, do you do toasts and birthday parties, Mr. Poet who we did not know it? Anyhow, how good is good felt fur?