Club Obi Wan

I bought a vintage hat from a guy on ebay for a grand total of $16 [including s&h] this past week. It was a "Templeform" by Stylepark. I didn't expect much, I just wanted it for kicking around.. plus forgive me but it's a stingy brim!

I got it in the mail today and there were a few issues out of the box. First is, it reeks of cigarette smoke, second the size advertised was wrong [by 2 sizes!]. The sizing issue is minimal, and I think a bit of sizing foam will remedy.








Anyone have suggestions about removing smoke odors? Anyone have an opinion.. good or bad let it fly, you won't offend.

Randy

P.S I forgot to mention, the feather's outta here!

Hi

I got once a hat with this smoke odor problem. It was a vintage hat a friend from the States sent me as a present; and he had forewarned me (he is a smoker, and all his hats are so affected), just in case this was unacceptable. Well, when it arrived, the odor was certainly strong, no doubt because of it having been in the box for a couple of weeks. I just "aired" the hat for some days (after getting rid of the box ), and that was all.

I would guess you could also put the hat in a box, with some odor-absorbing product.

Regards!

First of all, if the sizing was off considerably from what was advertised, that should be a reason for returning it for a refund if you choose to do so. As for the cigarette stench, the only thing I know of is to let it air out indefinitely, and even so, I'm not sure how much will come out if it was in a smoking environment for a long period of time.

I think the size should be ok with foam/tape whatever you want to call it. I have some that was included with my Federation. If it doesn't do the trick, it will be returned.

The smoke factor is what concerns me most. The seller said it come from an estate sale, so it may or may not be his fault on that end.. BUT, if it come from an estate smelling of cigarettes and I were selling it, I'd state that in the listing for those who have allergies to be forewarned.

Randy

Not sure if you guys in the states have something called Fabreeze. Its a spray and I think they do one for tobacco smells. Also I read a while back that putting an item in a freezer over night gets rid of strong smells . Not sure if this would be o.k for the hat though.

matt black wrote:Not sure if you guys in the states have something called Fabreeze. Its a spray and I think they do one for tobacco smells. Also I read a while back that putting an item in a freezer over night gets rid of strong smells . Not sure if this would be o.k for the hat though.

Fabreeze makes me ill, commits murder to my sinuses. It'd be a good idea otherwise

Randy

It doesn't work all that good on tobacco smells either.

If you're going to keep the hat, first thing I'd do is get rid of the box. That smell is trapped in the cardboard, and all you're doing is reintroducing the smell back into the felt everytime you put the hat in to store it.

I'd next find a nice sunny spot on your porch (away from critters) and just let the hat sun. You'll be amazed just how quickly cigarette smell gets cleared out by naturally airing. It may take several days, but it works.

You can also put charcoal (not the type with lighter fluid, of course, just plain old charcoal) in a sock and place it and the hat in a CLEAN box and leave the hat in storage for several days. The charcoal will absorb the smell without introducing any new odors or masking smells to your hat.

There's a couple things you can try....but only if you're keeping the hat.

Regards! Michaelson

The charcoal trick really does work. I got a really nice wool coat from my brother who is a smoker. I went to my pet supply store and bought a few boxes of the charcoal used in aquarium filters. I sprinkled the coat pretty heavily with it and set it outside in my screened-in porch for a couple of days. The charcoal took the smell right out. It didn't discolor the material, and it brushed right off the coat, both inside and out.

There is a chemical spray called Ozium that takes smoke odors out of fabric. I don't know if it would harm the felt, though.

Michaelson is amazing!! He really does know things!

When I got my 2 Adventurebilts, they both smelled of smoke (not horrible, but if I got really close to the hat I could smell it!), and it just went away after a few days of just wearing the hat like normal!

Shane

The size is way off, I would return it. I just purchased a similar hat off of ebay for $25, so they are out there, usually the smaller the size, the cheaper they are since most folks have larger heads today. I guess I'll post a pic when it comes in the mail. I purchased it as a Sinatra type hat.

Rex, I was buying this as a Sinatraesque hat! I'm starting to think it'd be easier/smarter to resell it giving the public notice of the smoke odor issue. Otherwise, it's a nice little hat I'd love to keep in my collection. The seller was clueless about hats as he kept talking about felt fur, and stated his ignorance in the listing. He failed either to mention the tag I show above. That or he didn't know you can turn down the sweatband. In the guy's defense, I think it was the latter.

Randy

P.S. For classification's sake. Would anyone care to say what they think the hat style is? Is it a fedora or more of a homberg? I personally think it's more hombergish.

Randy,

It probably would be less of a hassle to just resell it. At times it can be a pain to contact the seller and negotiate with them. You never know exactly what treatment you are going to get when dealing with one. Yeah, if you're a collector it may be worth just keeping it and doing what Michaelson says, or if you happen to have an ozone machine handy that would expedite the process somewhat.

Great choice for a Sinatraesque hat from my recent research! I personally don't think a black hat would look good on me, and I know he favored a variety of other colored hats. Someone can correct me, but I think Hombergs have a funny outer upturned brim (Kris Kringle hat).



I would imagine yours is more of the stingy brim fedora variety? It's also very similar to one favored by Harry S. Truman. However, the Truman link states that his hat was a Homberg.
http://tu.nu/Yfp3

Here's a pic of the one I purchased, an old royal stetson. eBay item no. 270412487851 Just closed on it yesterday in fact.

Yours is a stingy brim fedora (or I believe it may also be referred to as a "trilby" in the UK). The Kringle hat is a homberg.

Ok, I was unclear on what categorized a homberg, basically it's more of a derbyish brim.

randy

Yep, it's mainly in the brim, although the homberg has a center dent for a bash, as opposed to the derby's open crown dome.

Speaking of 'vintage' hats and smoking.......does anyone know who makes the hats for 'Mad Men' on AMC........some cool looking, Sinatra type hats there ....

I sent the seller a message to see what his reaction to this was.. I've heard nothing, odd since I had quick response when asking questions about it before I bid. I was going to just let it slide and resell since it's such a trivial dollar amount, but decided to see what he had to say for himself.

Randy

Ok, I got a reply [well MANY] from the seller. I can't get him to quit sending me messages, and it's getting borderline creepy!

Randy

theinterchange wrote:Ok, I got a reply [well MANY] from the seller. I can't get him to quit sending me messages, and it's getting borderline creepy!

Randy

Like I said, you never know what you are going to get with communication with a vendor after a sale. Well, at least in this case they are responsive. I think with the new eBay feedback, vendors have gone from being less responsive to panicking and overdoing it. One guy claimed if I gave him anything less than maximum possible stars for each area of service that he would be way down in the searches for several months.

bigrex wrote:I think with the new eBay feedback, vendors have gone from being less responsive to panicking and overdoing it. One guy claimed if I gave him anything less than maximum possible stars for each area of service that he would be way down in the searches for several months.

It's a pretty touchy thing, that new feeback system. I have slightly less than a full 5 star in communication.. and I email my buyers within an hour or so of the auction close, then again when I ship the item, and if there's a delay in feedback recieved I send another to make sure they got it. [I'd love to know what joker knocked me down.]

Randy

P.S. I suppose it's time to put a lid on this thead. Anything more and it'll be a rambling waste of space!