Removing spots from an Advintage Fedora

[Bruce Wayne]

Good evening ladies & gentlemen.

I have an Advintage fedora that has some spots on the brim that won't come out with a sponge or a brush.

Any suggestions as to what I should do short of a full clean & block?

Thanks!
Charlie

[Indiana Jeff]

You can try naphtha. If washing with a damp sponge and brushing didn’t work it sounds to me like the spots are oil based.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Bruce Wayne]

You can try naphtha. If washing with a damp sponge and brushing didn’t work it sounds to me like the spots are oil based.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

I probably should have specified that I used a hat sponge.

Do you think that using a wetted sponge might work?

[Indiana Jeff]

Maybe. All depends on what the spots are. If the hat sponge did not work that sounds to me like the spot is soaked into the felt and not strictly on the surface.

A regular wet sponge with a mild detergent could do the trick. It could also discolor the felt.

Adventurebilt always swore by naphtha which is why I originally suggested it.


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Indiana Croft]

First off I apologize for not taking a before and after picture.
But I looked for an older picture I'd taken, and you can see the spot on the right side as your looking at it in the picture.


But my process was using Naphtha.
1st I used a swab to soak the spot, not much happened.
2nd I then over the coarse of couple weeks on my days off was to pour the Naphtha into bowl and with a white cotton rag, wiped it down counter clock wise.
* the spot was begrudgingly getting not so noticeable, but still there.
3rd I had a lid which I tipped slightly down and the lid would sit just inside and i poured in the Naphtha, just enough to really soak the spot, leave for a short while, came back poured a little in (by now the Naphtha had evaporated, which it does quickly oh and make sure you have ventilation to.
I then really rubbed more with cloth, when all was dried, I hit the entire brim with the Naphtha to even it out, as you could see the area that weren't hit.
And this is how it came out, pardon the pun.


I even used the Naphtha on the crown, and it cleaned up nicely, some did get on the ribbon, tried as might not to, but it didn't seem to affect it, probably because Thomas used high quality ribbon.
So this is the stuff ti use for cleaning your hats.

Croft