Warning on Naptha bath!

[Mobile Vulgus]

OK, I did a naptha bath on three of my hats. But I have discovered a major draw back to this method of cleaning hats.

Oh, the hats got clean and they look real good. But now every time I wear them, right where the leather sweatband meets my forehead I break out in red welts. This does NOT happen with any of the other hats I have that I did not use the treatment on!

How's that for a kick in the head? Or at least a welt on the head, anyway.

I am using some mink oil on the sweatbands to see if that is able to solve my problem.

 

[BanjoMerlin]

Did you use naphtha or coleman lantern fuel?

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

Yes,

Yes, the latter. Coleman fuel because not a single store of any kind for 20 miles around had a worker that ever heard the word "naptha" in their lives. I ended up getting the fuel as it was said to be a good substitute. Sorry, should have been clearer about that.

 

[theinterchange]

I wondered what effect leaving the sweatband on during a bath would have on someone with sensitive skin... I probably have my answer.

Randy

 

[buler]

Just curious. Try cleaning it with vinegar (yes, vinegar). You can read all about its cleaning attributes on the web. Then clean the vinegar off with water and apply whatever you normally do to the leather.

B

 

[Cane Rod Maker]

Evaporation

What I don't understand is, if the fuel totally evaporates; how can that cause any problem with sensitivity.

Could it be the chemicals when leather is tanned/treated??

I wondered what effect leaving the sweatband on during a bath would have on someone with sensitive skin... I probably have my answer.

Randy

 

[theinterchange]

Just curious. Try cleaning it with vinegar (yes, vinegar). You can read all about its cleaning attributes on the web. Then clean the vinegar off with water and apply whatever you normally do to the leather.

B

Good suggestion. Many "natural" cleaning products have vinegar in their ingredients list. Can't hurt, if you can stand the smell!

Randy

 

[theinterchange]

What I don't understand is, if the fuel totally evaporates; how can that cause any problem with sensitivity.

Could it be the chemicals when leather is tanned/treated??

I'd have to believe there are trace amounts of the fuel on the sweatband, even if it evaporates. [just thinking out loud on this, not speaking out of experience]

Randy

 

[Mr E Train]

Off topic, but who has two thumbs and likes buler's new avatar? This guy!

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

This forehead-break-out thing happened to me once when I was impatient to wear the hat and plonked it on my head too soon. Even though the fuel had completely evaporated from the felt, I think it must've lingered in the sweatband for a whle longer. Leave it for a couple of days; if it's still burning your coconut after that, try the vinegar.

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

Thanks

Will be trying all the above. As to the drying period. I did the naptha bath over a week ago but still getting the redness.

Plus I've been dealing with leather for a long time. I used to make pistol holsters and western wear items in leather and I've handled raw leather, the tanning products, and finished leathers of all kinds and never had a reaction. So, I don't think it is the leather itself.

Plus this isn't happening with any o my other dozens of hats. Just the three that had the naptha treatment.

I will try the vinegar, too.

 

[Rat Pack]

Yes, the latter. Coleman fuel because not a single store of any kind for 20 miles around had a worker that ever heard the word "naptha"

While not available in large volume, Ronsonol Lighter Fluid is naptha.

 

[tonyb]

Yes, the latter. Coleman fuel because not a single store of any kind for 20 miles around had a worker that ever heard the word "naptha" in their lives. I ended up getting the fuel as it was said to be a good substitute. Sorry, should have been clearer about that.

Home improvement warehouse stores (Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.) should have something called VM&P (varnish maker's and painter's) naphtha.

We've been over the precautions many times, but they bear repeating: Naphtha is highly flammable and toxic. And it smells it. So, unless you crave unending grief from those with whom you reside, don't use naphtha where the fumes might find their way into living areas. Don't let any source of ignition anywhere near the stuff, don't let it come into direct contact with your person (wear rubber gloves and eye protection, etc.) and don't inhale the fumes (use it only in a well-ventilated area, out of doors, perhaps).

 

[BanjoMerlin]

Just wondering, did you flip the sweatbands out when the hats were drying?

 

[Brad Bowers]

Home improvement warehouse stores (Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.) should have something called VM&P (varnish maker's and painter's) naphtha.

My local Sherwin-Williams paint store carries it for about half the price or less of that at Home Depot and Lowe's. That's where I buy it now.

Brad

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

More...

More good tips. Thanks everyone.

 

[Mobile Vulgus]

Anotehr question

Once you guys use the naptha, what do you do with it? You can't keep using it over and over on all different hats of the color in it will likely stain the next hat, right? So what do you do with it once its used and played out?

 

[tonyb]

Once you guys use the naptha, what do you do with it? You can't keep using it over and over on all different hats of the color in it will likely stain the next hat, right? So what do you do with it once its used and played out?

Use one batch for dark hats and a separate batch for light hats. (Brown hats in particular seem prone to bleeding dye.) Let the solids settle to the bottom of the naphtha bath and then try to separate the junk out somehow. If you had a device that tapped at the bottom, you could drain off the bottom little bit and not be out much. Or you can pour the naphtha through a paper coffee filter, as I have done numerous times.

To get rid of the spent stuff, that portion of it that hasn't evaporated, I recommend taking it your local hazardous waste disposal facility. We have one right nearby; it takes paint and solvents and motor oil and batteries and whatnot.

 

[tonyb]

My local Sherwin-Williams paint store carries it for about half the price or less of that at Home Depot and Lowe's. That's where I buy it now.

Brad

Good tip. I'll have to check that out. Go where the pros go, and all that.

I haven't bought any naphtha in quite some time, but as I recall it was some teens of dollars per gallon at the Lowe's store. Not cheap.

I don't use naphtha as much as I used to. If I'm going to strip a hat down and reblock it and all, I may as well use water-based cleaning solutions, seeing how they are often every bit as effective, or even more so, than the toxic stuff, and they cost a whole lot less. The advantage to naphtha is that it is unlikely to visibly damage the components of the hat other than the felt -- the satin and ribbon and especially the leather -- and water very well may do serious damage. And if you clean with water you'll almost certainly have to block the body. Not so with naphtha.

Buler's tip -- using vinegar -- is a good one as well. Vinegar is especially effective for dissolving sweat stains.

 

[John in Covina]

Naptha is one of the original dry cleaning fluids and is a very strong solvent that works really well on grease and oils, but it doesn't dissolve and wash everything away. The grease / body oils and the dirt attached to it will get lifted out but other things won't. This is why the dry cleaner wants to know about stuff like food spills. Sugars and carbohydrates don't dissolve in Naptha or dry cleaning fluid and creates stains when they get carmalized by the steam press.

Some salt stains don't come out with the naptha bath maybe.
Anyway, the thing is chances are the Napth has evaporated but there is now a concentration of stuff in the sweat band that was "left behind" and it is strong enough to irritate.

I'd try sponging it with water and change the water out a lot. You might flip the sweat band down and try rinsing it out with water. After that you can use one of the suggested leather treatments to condition it so it doesn't dry out and crack.