Stubborn Fuller's Earth - Help!!

[McFly]

Hey there! I recently noticed something kind of disturbing about my fedora... see, I put Fuller's Earth on it quite some time ago - a long, long time ago in fact. Usually, if I put Fuller's on there, I can smack the hat around a little and it'll puff off and the hat will be clean and nice looking again. Well... I'm thinking that the longer you leave this stuff on, the harder it gets to take off again. This stuff just won't come off now.

Anybody had this problem before? What should I do? The nearest hat cleaner is a few hours away, and so I can't just go down there and drop off the hat. I was thinking of buying one of those $2 hat cleaning brushes from Todd, but I don't know if that'll help.

Any ideas??

In Christ,
Shane

[Kentucky Blues]

Well, I don't know if it'll help, but buying the brush can't hurt, and it'll probably come in handy for other hat cleaning needs. And if there's anything around there worth while, maybe you can go to the cleaners a couple hours away, and then find something to do in the mean time

-Daryl

[Fedora]

Invest in a good horsehair crown brush, and also a brim brush. The supply houses also sell a cleaning sponge. If it were my hat, I would first give it a good brushing, followed by wiping it down with a slightly damp cloth, or sponge. Do not saturate the felt, just enough dampness to clean the hat. Apparently the Fuller's Earth has penetrated the felt and this is why it will not brush off easily. This should not require a professional cleaning though. It is only superficial. You will not hurt the hat in your attempts if the hat used good felt. Fedora

[McFly]

So I should get 2 brushes - one for the crown and one for the brim? Then do I brush the Akubra counter-clockwise? Is there a special direction I have to brush it?

Thanks though - that's really helpful. I'll give that a shot as soon as I can get those brushes...

In Christ,
Shane

[Michaelson]

Counter clockwise when working the top of the hat, both crown qnd brim....clockwise when working the brim from underneath.

Regards! Michaelson

[McFly]

I can just use the same brush for the brim and the crown right? Steve's post sort of makes it seem like I'd need 2 brushes, but I'm sure I could just use the same one.

Thanks, Michaelson!

EDIT: Apparently the brush at Todd's site is made of horsehair, and it's only $1.99 - I think I'll try and get that one. Looks good to me.

In Christ,
Shane

[Michaelson]

I've only used one brush...but can see the value of two with different bristle thickness.

Regards! Michaelson

[Fedora]

The brim brush has shorter bristles. To get the dust off, the crown brush works better for me because it has long soft bristles. Yoo can beat the hat with the long bristles in a counter clockwise motion to get most of it off, and the soft bristles will not raise the nap up too much. Fedora

[Michaelson]

I use a clothes brush that has long, soft bristles....so I get the best of both worlds out of one brush.

Regards! Michaelson

[binkmeisterRick]

I use a toothbrush. It leaves a minty taste in the felt afterwards. 8-[

[Kilgour Trout]

Bink You're INSANE!!!!!

The nurse in the next office just came into to see
what all the laughing was....

One of these days, you are going to get me fired eh!
It's OK though, I was able to explain that it was a little dental Hygiene humour....whew....Very Professional eh.

Kilgour

[Michaelson]

Don't encourage him, Kilgour.

Regard! Michaelson

[Farnham54]

What about one of them sticky roll things that I often use to 'touch up' my suit? What are the thoughts on using them on a hat?

Cheers
Craig (the king of using non-conventional hat cleaning methods--recall the Laundry Starch thread!)

[binkmeisterRick]

What about one of them sticky roll things that I often use to 'touch up' my suit? What are the thoughts on using them on a hat?

I don't know about a hat, but they make lousy toothbrushes.