STEP BY STEP NAPTHA BATH

[Short Balding Guy]

Frank/Miami; I am no expert, but have cleaned the felt of many felt hats. You can check out my post were I detailed the cleaning of a vintage Stratoliner here; http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?8329-The-Stratoliner-Society-photos/page63&highlight=stratoliner+society)%20Thread%20(post%20#630) .

Alan's carefull and gentle method of cleaning th ribbon is the same method I have used. It has had some results with the ribbon cleaning. The ribbons are much more delicate. I tend to stay away from cleaning the ribbons. I take the tact of appreciating how they have aged and survived, vs. trying any magic to restire their youth.

I do need to acknowledge that any cleaning method could accelerate the demise of a hat approaching it's "senior years." Use caution. I tried all the methods on hats that I use for yard work. Only the animals in the yard and my wife would ever be seeing my "test hats."

Best in your cleaning folks. Loving my clean hats, Eric -

 

[gtdean48]

I only wish that more of the people in the know had responded

When folks in the know like buler cover the topic there is no need for more people to respond. You got the answers to your query....

 

[fashion frank]

Funny you should suggest that.

I only wish that more of the people in the know had responded



First of all, I'm sad to say I'm not one of those in the know. However, there is a store in JP called Salmagundi that might be able to help. They are extremely friendly and they reblocked and rebound my Whippet and it looks fantastic.

Hope it helps.

Miamibruno thanks for responding to this thread even if the last post was over a month ago.
I had done just what you suggested here ,and I went to Salmagundi, and Jesten is awesome .
He tried to get the rust looking spots off of the brim and cleaned it up a bit but it is what it is.
Nice to meet you and thanks for weighting in .

All the Best ,Fashion Frank

P.S. Thanks Short Balding Guy for also weighting in here ,I'm taking your advise when it comes to this, I guess I have a few more "work hats" than I had before LOL !

 

[fashion frank]

When folks in the know like buler cover the topic there is no need for more people to respond. You got the answers to your query....

WOW, thanks for posting that it was so helpfull.

All the Best ,Fashion Frank

 

[alanfgag]

WOW, thanks for posting that it was so helpfull.

All the Best ,Fashion Frank

Sometimes the quality of reply is more important the the quantity. There are Lounge members who bring a great amount of experience and knowledge to the table. Some post less frequently than others so newer members may not know them as well. When you receive a knowledgable reply to a question you've asked from one of our most experienced members, you might not have a chorus of additional answers following it.

 

[mayserwegener]

Side note: I have found that soda water (club soda) can be helpful with discolored ribbon.

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Yes,Buler is the man I think his advise was very wise as always. Ribbons of any type do to the nature of the material will trap and hold stains move than Fur felt. It would be best to have a pro handle this. That is such a nice Mallory I would have sent it to Drew or Optimo to straight out. Vintage hats require special care they have made it this far they need our watchful care to make them last longer.

 

[rlk]

If your hat is pre-30's do not touch(contact) the ribbon at all or get it wet--silk that looks perfect can splinter at the touch of anything, perhaps even by the power of thinking about cleaning. You might get away with it on occasion but the odds are heavily against you and you can't go back and fix it.
This was a delicate fabric more than 80 years ago.

 

[mayserwegener]

I haven't encounter such problems with carbonated water + silk ribbon but I am sure it can happen. I have encountered problems with sweatbands (dye bleed, cracking) using Naptha so I stay away from it. There is always a risk (no matter who is doing it) so better to be conservative especially with the rare old ones.

 

[RBH]

WOW, thanks for posting that it was so helpfull.

All the Best ,Fashion Frank

I ask you not to start again in this thread.

Thanks.

 

[Luscombe]

Ebay Stetson Fedora

My ebay light grey Fur Felt Stetson arrived the other day. It was in pretty good shape but a bit dirty on top of the crown and the side of the brim. Reviewed this thread to see how to clean it. I do not have any blocks or hat equipment, just an average Joe with an old dirty felt fedora.

So I picked up a plastic bucket, lid and gallon of camp fuel (white gas) and took the plunge last night. Rolled the leather band out set the hat in the bucket, crown down and poured the white gas on it. In for a penny, in for a pound. Thought, WTH did I just do!!!

Put the lid on the bucket and sloshed the container around. Left the hat in for about three hours and sloshed it every 30 minutes or so. All of this was done outside after dark in the rain, fun. Took the hat out and hung it up out side protected from the rain. When I went to bed at 11, I moved it to the garage. There was still a light odor but not bad.

This morning I brought it in the house, still a very very faint odor, and looked it over. The dirt stains were less perceptible than before but still there. Thought that was a waste of time and $.

Took the hat to an old hat maker at Sacketts in Jasper, GA to have hime look it over and see if he cold adjust it down from 7-1/2 to 7-3/8 for me. Well, he got out a yellow sponge thingy and started to brush off the hat working all around top and bottom. When he was done, it looked cleaner and could not see the smudges on the crown or brim, WOW! So, the camp fuel bath worked, the hat just needed some hand scrubbing with the right tools.

There was no discernable damage to the ribbon or sweat band. Dave tought the $40 ebay score was a great buy as the hat was not damaged and he said they retailed for around $225.

Regarding the sizing adjustment, he used some small pieces of foam behind the sweat band to tighten the hat on my head. Not the elegant solution I was hoping for but functional for ow. I will wear the hat for awhile before I decide to have a better sweat band installed and the felt shrunk down to my size.

Thanks for this helpful guideline on how to clean fur felts. Have to say there was some trepidation with doing this the first time.

I will post an after photo later today. Did not take a before photo.

 

[John in Covina]

I'd worry about putting white gas in a plastic bucket, some chemicals will disolve plastic. Also the leather sweat you may consider putting some type of leather conditioner on it. The Naptha bath can dry out the leather as it disolves grease and oils. There are some stains that it won't take out because it won't disolve them, those are water soluble. Like salt from sweat.

The use of white gas and other chemicals to clean hats goes back probably 100-150 years as a precursor to dry cleaning. Back then getting candle wax out of a fur felt was probably more common.

 

[fashion frank]

Thanks for the Input

Hey I was very interested in reading your story and thanks for enlightening us all.
I bought the gas but as yet I haven't done it as I like you ,were kind of skiddish about doing it ,so the more that you hear
from other people and their results it takes away the anxiety of doing it yourself.
also its great when you can just put some foam tape inside the sweatband instead of having to stretch the hat which I have done on a few ,most hold their shape ,but one I have a Botany 500 that went back to its original size.

on a side note I see your from Atlanta ,
I grew up in Marietta and still have family out in Dallas Ga. and Smyrna Ga.

In closing welcome to the Forum there are a great bunch of people on here and they will always help you out .

All the Best ,Fashion Frank

 

[buler]

Put the lid on the bucket and sloshed the container around. Left the hat in for about three hours and sloshed it every 30 minutes or so. All of this was done outside after dark in the rain, fun. Took the hat out and hung it up out side protected from the rain. When I went to bed at 11, I moved it to the garage. There was still a light odor but not bad.

I believe I've stated this earlier in this thread, but if not, my opinion is no sloshing. If you were to look in the bottom of the naptha after leaving the hat soak for 3 hours you probably would have seen lots of dirt. Now when you slosh the naptha around, your spreading that dirt out on the hat again.

Just my observation.

B

 

[Luscombe]

http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b489/Luscombe19408A/IMG_3043_zps86621e5f.jpg

http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b489/Luscombe19408A/IMG_3042_zpse5923895.jpg

http://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b489/Luscombe19408A/IMG_3041_zpsa372dff9.jpg

These are photos after the dunking and brushing.
No perceptible damage to sweatband or ribbon.
I will treat the sweatband with leather conditioner.

I am rather pleased with the outcome.

Just checked the bottom of the bucket. No problem with the plastic deteriorating. There was a bit of dirt and grime suspended in the fluid. More than I anticipated.

I get that sloshing the hat around may reintroduce the dirt but I think it is worth sloshing around as the sloshing will loosen up the dirt. When I took the hat out of the bucket, I shook it off before hanging it out. I think the brushing when it was dry, removed the surface dirt.

 

[barrowjh]

I use Coleman fuel and I heat it up. Electric stove top, bring water to a boil, move the pan off the stove, set a glass jar of the fuel in the water (lid loose) and let the fuel pick up some heat from the water. Then I take the jar out on the porch and pour it through the crown, dripping from the crown into a plastic basin, and use a paintbrush to spread some of the fuel over all the felt (sweatband turned out, of course). This doesn't take care of all stains, but it does dissolve grease from too many hand grips on the crown crease. Not that I would fear there being any lice or other critters in the felt, but I believe the fuel bath is certain death to them if such were hiding therein.

I will pour any fuel that hasn't evaporated back through a washrag over a funnel and maintain a Coleman can of this 'used' fuel, and find uses for it to clean some things. I generally only do this (fuel bath) once on a hat. Sometimes an Ebay hat is so pristine that I skip this, but most of the time a new acquisition means a fuel bath.

Prior to that I will use Scout's cleaner for dark hats (about like a spray carpet cleaner) to work on a particular stain on any color of hat. I do not use the Scout's for light hats - even on white hats- it has some white silica in it, I think, and unless your hat is a bright white felt already, the silica will white-spot the felt and then you are cleaning out the silica. The subsequent fuel bath eliminates any moisture circles / shadows from using the Scout's. Prior to the Scout's I use the vacuum cleaner to pull off loose dust.

 

[fashion frank]

Hello Luscombe,thanks for the pictures and your results.

It's funny how some people have bad results and others don't.
Did you prep the sweatband with mink oil or something like that or did you just give them the treatment.
I ask because I had some hats deep cleaned and I prepped the sweats and it helped keep them intact.

Glad you made out ok and again very interesting on your results .

All the Best ,Fashion Frank

 

[fashion frank]

I use Coleman fuel and I heat it up. Electric stove top, bring water to a boil, move the pan off the stove, set a glass jar of the fuel in the water (lid loose) and let the fuel pick up some heat from the water. Then I take the jar out on the porch and pour it through the crown, dripping from the crown into a plastic basin, and use a paintbrush to spread some of the fuel over all the felt (sweatband turned out, of course). This doesn't take care of all stains, but it does dissolve grease from too many hand grips on the crown crease.

Hi Barrowjh ,that very interesting , do you think that heating up the fuel helps with the dislodging of the oils more than if the fuel was just cold right out of the can and of course I assume that your not heating to anywhere near a flash point?

Most of the hats that I am contemplating doing this to are what you describe ,human oils on the crown and or brim that a steaming might not get out .
I also like the idea of the paintbrush and also just pouring it through the crown area and then brushing the brim etc. with
the brush and avoiding the sweatband ,unlike what I have read already about others just putting the hat in a bucket and
then pouring the fuel completely over the hat .
Thanks for sharing with us a twist on the fuel method.

All the Best ,Fashion Frank

 

[John in Covina]

The tempurature thing is an interesting question. Some chemicals become more active at higher temps, however volitile chemiclas are often used at low temps to keep the evaporation rate down. There are some degreasing solutions that the EPA makes the users construct refrigeration units to minimize the evaporation.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

Fuel & heat can equal BOOM! I'd be really careful about any of that!