Original felt color under the ribbon.

[indy81]

I am fixing to reblock a hat I made and had not realized how much the felt had faded until after taking the ribbon off. Is that typical? Do I need to do a thorough cleaning with naptha first before reblocking? Will that help bring back the original color of the hat body too?


'81

[Indiana Jeff]

I should think that the fading is normal. As an example, Steve has his felts made a little dark so they can fade into a nice Indy color. Don't know about bringing the color back, but I would recommend a good naptha bath if you're going to do a reblock anyway. If you're putting the same size ribbon on after the reblock the fading shouldn't be an issue anyway. By the way...

Let's see some before, during and after pictures. I'd like to see how faded the felt looks. You mentioned you made this hat, did you reblock an exsisting hat or start with a raw body?

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[indy81]

Here's some pics. I had already taken the ribbon and liner off but I laid the ribbon on just to show the difference. This was my first hat that I made. It's made out of a raw body and blocked on one of my own blocks. It hasn't been reblocked since I initially made it back in 2009. It's had a fair share of sun. I'll post more pics as the cleaning goes along.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5809680509/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5809677863/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5809675593/

These next pics you can really see the color fade line.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5809673379/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5810235182/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5809667023/

Let's see if these work first before I post the rest.

[Indiana Jeff]

Your pictures are listed as private.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[indy81]

Okay, I have them turned to public now. So anyone should be able to see them. Thanks for letting me know Jeff.


Here are the "during" photos:

This is what my lumberyard/hardware store had. I remember someone here on COW mentioning this stuff.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5810326104/
I only bought 2 quarts of the naptha and that didn't fill the bucket very well. I had to turn the hat a lot.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5809762689/
It didn't take long to soak the hat. Almost as soon as I put the hat into the naptha it soaked right through.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5809764609/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5809766289/
As it hangs to dry you can still see the area where the ribbon covered the felt.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5809768255/

I probably left it in the naptha for an hour or more. Then just hung it up out of the way outside to drip dry and air out. Might be aired out enough tonight when I get home to reblock it. I thought about putting it on the block fully saturated with naptha and letting it dry that way, but I didn't know what that solution would do to my block. I didn't necessarily want to have to re-make my block if it deteriated the wood.

'81

[Indiana Jeff]

Ah, much better.

The felt has faded quite a bit, though it doesn't look as faded in the outside shot of your hat drying. Fine looking lid overall.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[indy81]

Ah, much better.

The felt has faded quite a bit, though it doesn't look as faded in the outside shot of your hat drying. Fine looking lid overall.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Thanks for the compliment! Yeah it's lost a lot of the original color. I wasn't too happy with the felt I used on this one as it's rather thick and has a harder time keeping the bash just the way I wanted. I have made a second one for my grandpa using a pure beaver blend and it's just gorgeous overall....may have to post that in it's own thread lol.

Here are some pics of the reblock I did to it. There is still the difference in felt colors but it has improved in my eyes. I'm going to have to do some pouncing to touch it up a bit.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5814467883/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5815036578/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5814469197/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5814469773/

'81

[Indiana Jeff]

Looking good. The fading seems less prominent in the last photo, but that could be the lighting. A bit of pouncing should help even things out more and once the ribbon is back on I'm sure you won't be able to tell at all.

Definitely let's see the hat you made for grandpa!


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[indy81]

It's looking a lot better after I pounced it. You're right Jeff with the ribbon back on it makes it look much better and I wouldn't have even been able to tell it was faded in the first place.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5818294591/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5818863136/

Almost have my hat back together. I should be able to finish it tonight...after the yard gets mowed. I'll have to get those pics of the hat I made for Grandpa. That's a good story and it deserves it's own thread, so keep a look out. I'll definately show you all how my hat turned out too.

Regards,
'81

[indy81]

Here are the final pics after all that process.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5829297184/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5829298592/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5828750963/
These two pics came out a little grainy.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5829300464/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35772688@N05/5828752125/

So overall, I didn't really gain much of the original color from under the ribbon back, but it did make the felt look a lot better to have cleaned, pounced, and reblocked it. I learned a lot too. Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did!

Best Regards,
'81