The Cairo look

In-depth discussion of the Fedora of Indiana Jones and all other hats appearing in the Indiana Jones movies

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Indiana George
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The Cairo look

Post by Indiana George »

I'm looking for a few pics of any dirty Cairo looking hats. I dusted my hat and want to make sure its right.

George
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Ken
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Post by Ken »

Best advice - use a powder puff to dust the hat using a stipple motion. If you just throw dirt at the hat (well you might be ok with dirt but with Fuller's Earth you really need to do it right) it will go on blotchy.

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Indiana George
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Post by Indiana George »

Actually Ive been having a problem with this hat, the problem being, it just doesnt look like Indy's hat. Part of it was I was babying it, I bashed it but I was also handling it like it was priceless. I couldnt seem to get any life into it. So, I took some cat litter, ground it up to a pine powder, took a paint brush and brushed it on in areas that I felt dirt might settle and the more I did it, the better it looked. I'm not going as a squeaky clean Indiana, I'm going as the slightly dirty (but not Cario dirty) Indiana. Then I took the hat, rolled it up, smashed it a bit and played with the band to loosen it up, and it worked out great ! Most of the stiffness is gone and now it's really starting to form more to my head. Lets face it, the hat in Raiders was very floppy and thats the look I'm going for so I cant have a brand new out of the box looking hat.
It also lightened up the hat a bit witch I wanted anyways..any thoughts?

George
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Post by Oklahoma Jones »

My only thought is that you are on the way to a screen accurate Cairo Indy hat......... :wink:
agent5
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Post by agent5 »

I'd just watch the movie, but here's what I did with mine.

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IndyK
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Post by IndyK »

agent5 wrote:I'd just watch the movie, but here's what I did with mine.
Looks very Cairo to me, good job. Is Your jacket a Raiders lamb?

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Indiana George
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Post by Indiana George »

agent5, was that fullers earth you used? Thanks all

George
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Spooky
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Post by Spooky »

Agent5:
Does the fuller's earth come off completely?
(& how do you clean it off)

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agent5
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Post by agent5 »

Not a Cairo bash, but you get the picture.

Yes, it is fullers and it does come right off of the jacket and the rest of the gear, but on the hat it takes a while for it to all disappear. If you get it cleaned and reblocked every year or two, then it'll completely come out of the hat then. Otherwise you may see remnants of it for a while on the fedora.
Basically, you cannot ruin any of the gear by using it if that's the main concern. BUT, you absolutely MUST get the natural color. The other colors of fullers will stain permanently. Natural will not. I can vouch for that.
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IndyK
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Post by IndyK »

agent5, I try again: Is Your jacket a Wested , Raiders lamb?

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Post by agent5 »

K,
Sorry, yes it is. Raiders, authentic lamb, fully distressed using Rabittooths method.
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