Substitutes for Felt Stiffener?

McFly · Post by **McFly** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 10:25 pm

Hey guys,

I'm working on... shall we say, refurbishing a hat that I've got here, and I don't have felt stiffener but I was wondering if any common, household items might work well enough to use instead. I was going to try hairspray, but you know... thinking about it... that doesn't really sound like a great idea.

Opinions? What could I use?

In Christ,
Shane

Post by **Ken** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 6:57 am

Hair Spray - and as an added bonus will give your hat that summer flower petal freshness scent as well. (I am sure that goes down well when you meet evil Thugess in an underground mine somehwere - of course maybe while theya re distracted laughing, yiou can run away)

Seriously though this is what we were told at Lock and Co by their hatter - hairspray works to hold the shape.

Ken

Swindiana · Post by **Swindiana** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 7:26 am

That's what they told us and what I have tried once, yes.

By Michaelson's advice I'd stick with real stiffner though as he had bad result after longer use I think.

Regards,
Swindiana

CHAUVEL · Post by **CHAUVEL** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 6:44 pm

Only too happy to share with you all exactly what Akubra use in their hats to varying degrees of stiffness, very easy,very cost effective and the industry standard, though seemingly kept "secret". The method used is Blonde Dewaxed Shellac dissolved in methylated spirit (in the US i believe this is called denatured alcohol). About a teaspoonfull of the shellac flakes are dissolved in about a coffee mug of spirit (overnight) and swabbed on with a balled up piece of cotton cloth, sets fully within the hour, if not stiff enough simply swab on another go. Shellac is you may know the basis of french polish, the old method of fine timber finishing now only used in restoration work , violins etc. It is susceptible to heat and moisture, where it loses its stiffness temporarily then firms again on drying, hence the value of light steam for shaping, likewise a hot sweaty day really has the hat conforming to your head shape. Shellac is available at most hardware stores(it's made from a secretion of the LAC beetle in southern India) however the preferred blonde dewaxed variety may require a trip to a specialist furniture restoration supplier

Post by **Michaelson** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 7:01 pm

Swindiana wrote:That's what they told us and what I have tried once, yes.

By Michaelson's advice I'd stick with real stiffner though as he had bad result after longer use I think.

Regards,
Swindiana

True. It builds up over time and use. Regards! Michaelson

Feraud · Post by **Feraud** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 2:19 pm

CHAUVEL wrote:Only too happy to share with you all exactly what Akubra use in their hats to varying degrees of stiffness, very easy,very cost effective and the industry standard, though seemingly kept "secret". The method used is Blonde Dewaxed Shellac dissolved in methylated spirit (in the US i believe this is called denatured alcohol). About a teaspoonfull of the shellac flakes are dissolved in about a coffee mug of spirit (overnight) and swabbed on with a balled up piece of cotton cloth, sets fully within the hour, if not stiff enough simply swab on another go. Shellac is you may know the basis of french polish, the old method of fine timber finishing now only used in restoration work , violins etc. It is susceptible to heat and moisture, where it loses its stiffness temporarily then firms again on drying, hence the value of light steam for shaping, likewise a hot sweaty day really has the hat conforming to your head shape. Shellac is available at most hardware stores(it's made from a secretion of the LAC beetle in southern India) however the preferred blonde dewaxed variety may require a trip to a specialist furniture restoration supplier

So that is why my Akubra was as hard as a helmet when new!

Very interesting. Thank you for the information CHAUVEL.

DanielJones · Post by **DanielJones** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 3:52 pm

Hey McFly! How's things? Scout makes a felt hat stiffener shown here:
http://www.noggintops.com/cgi-bin/webc. ... 5477862.f4

But you can get this product at any western store that carries hats. Boot Barn would be a good start. There may me other places in your area. And they all carry just about everything you may need for your hat care.

Cheers!

Dan

Indiana Jerry · Post by **Indiana Jerry** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 4:24 am

Daniels' dead on w/ this one. I forgot to mention...I picked this stuff up locally! PM me again w/ your location, and if you are nearby, I can steer you to one. Or just go to yahoo/google/whatever and search for the closest Boot Barn to you.

Heck, if you're nearby, you can borrow MINE.

I know it ain't much, but it worked great on my hat (granted, a DP) when I was playing around w/ it.

J

P.S. The guy at the counter didn't even know they CARRIED this stuff. But it's one of their standard products - cowboy hats take a LOT of stiffener.

Flattery · Post by **Flattery** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 1:58 pm

So, the other day, I used a light coat of hairspray on my hat. Only one coat, very light.

Today, it rained a bit, and after my hat dried (it wasn't very wet) there are now little light colored spots and areas on the felt. The felt feels rough, not as soft as it was (I expected this from the spray).

Has anyone here experienced this? Will this go away in time?

Flattery · Post by **Flattery** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 8:04 pm

Post by **Ken** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 8:16 pm

Well in filmign Templars we had some serious remodelling to do in order to turn Jonathan's new looking Indy Akubra into an old looking Clint Eastwood style hat. We used very strong fabric/curtain felt stiffner. This actually left a whitish residue on the felt on appilication (in a thin layer) but this was fine as it added to the look we were trying to acheive.

I think if you let it dry it will probably brush/scrape off

Ken

Harrison_Davies · Post by **Harrison_Davies** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 8:33 pm

Poor poor Jonathon, hope he wasn't too chewed up about that...