STEP BY STEP NAPTHA BATH

[reetpleat]

My pleasure. The sweatband is still as stiff as when I began, but it's now shaped much better. The ribbon/bow is much nicer, but faded around the attaching stitches. The felt looks great and the sweaty areas are much softer and cleaner. But for me to wear it would require replacing the sweat, so I'll probably put it on the bay for a smaller-headed fellow.

I seem to recall comments in other threads that say that when wet, you can stretch out a felta bit. Did you try this? Anyone have an idea how much you could get away with?

 

[mayserwegener]

Great info in this thread!

 

[ScottF]

I seem to recall comments in other threads that say that when wet, you can stretch out a felta bit. Did you try this? Anyone have an idea how much you could get away with?

I'm not a hatter, but as a 'dabbler' with limited tools, here's my view: I only put a wet hat on a stretcher to re-shape the crown - I wet the distorted part only, not the felt near the sweatband. This can give varied results, but for a severely misshapen crown, you have little to lose. I tried it with an old light-blue fedora once and got a disaster that had to be sent to Optimo - basically, the hat was too dusty still, so I had 'drip lines' running down the felt, even after it dried.

If I want to re-size the hat (larger crown), I remove the sweatband and put the wet felt over a block.

 

[Neophyte]

For a second there, I thought you were gonna light a match and throw it in! lol

 

[Spats McGee]

First of all, thanks to RBH for supplying this set of instructions! After months of tiptoeing around the idea of doing a naphta bath on my OR, I finally did it. It's sitting in a bucket on the front porch, soaking in camp fuel. Wish me luck.

 

[DanielJones]

I've used this method on several hats in the past. They come mostly clean. For some of the more stubborn stains like the yellowed sweat, a soft toothbrush while soaking will help break up the excess oils. And after the soak & dry there may be some sweat that didn't come clean, you can try a diluted solution of Hydrogen Peroxide on the stain as sweat is somewhat protein based. It should react & foam it out. Again, a light scrubbing with a soft toothbrush will help lift & loosen the particles. I had good luck with this on a Stetson 20 from the 1950's with no ill effects, but as with any method, it can vary from hat to hat. Proceed with caution.

There is a book that you can get I think called Scientific Hat Making, that you can get on ebay. it is a reproduction of an original 1909 book and it has some great cleaning methods. The HP method is from that book. There is also a solution that can be effectively used on rust in there as well, but I don't know as we can get the chemicals, as I think it is a mild acid. Though you could try a dot of lemon juice on the rust stain and see what happens. Again, proceed with caution.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[BanjoMerlin]

If you don't have a bucket you could always build one of these.

The patent expired a few years ago.

Process:
Put hats inside the squirrel cage. Fill tank part way with gasoline, naptha or other suitable cleaning solution. Turn on top motor at slow speed and hats are rotated through the bath. Turn on bottom motor and hats are sprayed with cleaning solution. Allow to run until hats are clean. Stop the bottom motor, drain the tank of cleaning solution, crank the top motor up to fast and let the hats spin dry.

 

[Mario]

I thought about putting my hats in my washing machine with a few gallons of naptha next I need to clean some of them. No? [huh]

 

[John in Covina]

Machine washing: Naptha is rather flamable if the fumes reached an electrical item and there was a spark you could get a nasty fire going in a hurry.

 

[Mario]

Hmmm....thanks for the info.

As someone asked a fellow lounger just a few days ago: Does your leg hurt?

 

[RobFedoraField]

Empire state hat

I got this empire state hat from "the Bay" (aka where all my money goes as my wife likes to call it).

(eBay photo)

it's a great looking hat, I'm guessing '40's - '50's, real nice stovepipe crown in person, bound brim, but the hat's seen better days and the felt is very soft, but with the amount of dirt and grime on it, I'm wondering if it lived under the empire state building. but anyway, I got a bucket with a lid over the weekend and am getting the naptha this week, so I'll post some before and after pics,

when working with this stuff, do you guys wear gloves or avoid touching the naptha?

Thanks for the great instructions.

 

[buler]

I got this empire state hat from "the Bay" (aka where all my money goes as my wife likes to call it).


it's a great looking hat, I'm guessing '40's - '50's, real nice stovepipe crown in person, bound brim, but the hat's seen better days and the felt is very soft, but with the amount of dirt and grime on it, I'm wondering if it lived under the empire state building. but anyway, I got a bucket with a lid over the weekend and am getting the naptha this week, so I'll post some before and after pics,

when working with this stuff, do you guys wear gloves or avoid touching the naptha?

Thanks for the great instructions.

Wear gloves, eye protection, and respirator mask. Do it in a very well ventilated area. No flame source anywhere nearby. My 2 cents.

B

 

[gtdean48]

Wear gloves, eye protection, and respirator mask. Do it in a very well ventilated area. No flame source anywhere nearby. My 2 cents.

B

:arated: What Bill said. I do it outside, under the barn shed if the weather is not cooperating.

 

[JimWagner]

Several have mentioned that the naptha didn't really get all the sweat stains out. Anyone know what will? (I don't.)

 

[John in Covina]

Sweat has two main components: water which carries all of the water soluable stuff like salts and second body oils. Naptha will disolve grease and oils readily but it will leave behind things that are water soluable. Spraying the sweat stains with warm water and sponging gently may get them out.

 

[DanielJones]

If the water doesn't cut it and there are proteins in said stain, a little diluted hydrogen peroxide will get it out. I use a soft old toothbrush to gently scrub the area. sort of like steam cleaning a carpet.
On that note you might even try a dash of diluted steam cleaning solution on it. If that stuff pulls stains out of renters tan carpet, why not a felt hat. Worth a try anyway.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Undertow]

Wear gloves, eye protection, and respirator mask. Do it in a very well ventilated area. No flame source anywhere nearby. My 2 cents.

Although this seems like common sense, some of us brainiacs don't use our heads too well. :eusa_doh:

Let me tell you right now, wear gloves! Unless you like your hands turning into a chalk board of dry, dusty skin, that is. Also, let your area be WELL ventilated (read OUTDOORS). After I let the hat dry for 2.5 hours outside, I brought it in to finish drying. Just that tiny bit of remaining solution about knocked me on my butt, and the room smelled for an hour. Nasty stuff!

Have any of you looked at what was left over in the solution? Nasty, oily, fatty looking mess. *yucky*

I brushed my hat with a soft sponge first, followed by a stiff bristle brush, then removed the liner and ribbon. Soaked for about 3 hours in naphtha ($10/gallon at local hardware store). Let it dry 3.5 hours. Steamed the crown open and brushed again. Set C-crown crease. Will be sewing in liner and ribbon tonight.

 

[John in Covina]

I have only rinsed some areas on a fedora with Coleman fuel (aka white gas) which worked pretty good.

 

[Cane Rod Maker]

Good question

So far I've soaked 2 hats and they cleaned up decently; I used the Coleman brand fuel; one was more dirty than the other, it had some staining on the felt, and most of it came out. I soaked them for 24+ hours. On another note, absoutely no ill affect on the plastic covering on the Stetson liner when I did that hat this week. You know it works when you see a dirt film on the bottom of the pail which will vary of course. But...

The sweat stains in the Grosgrain did not come out; and you would think they would; heck it's just water and salt no.... So if there is something that will get a sweat stain out of Grosgrain, I'd sure like to know.

What I found amazing is that the fuel evaporated out of the hat in less than a half hour; it left NO odor what so ever.

As far as sweat stains on the liner of the hat; does Woolite for Silk work? And in what proportions would you mix it?

Finally. Is there another fuel type that may work better than Coleman Fuel? And what will get the darn sweat stain out of the Grosgrain???[huh]

Several have mentioned that the naptha didn't really get all the sweat stains out. Anyone know what will? (I don't.)

 

[Pompidou]

For odor removal, spraying my hat liberally with Febreze has always worked for me. Of course, the only odors I've needed to remove are cigarette based, whether it be that fresh cigarette smoke smell, or the old ash tray smell. I can say that Febreze doesn't change the appearance of a hat if used occasionally, but I don't know what it'd do over time. My new cure for the cigarette issue is simply not stand in wafts of constant smoke while wearing it.