Club Obi Wan

Hey, folks. I can't seem to find anything about this posted anywhere, so I decided to start a thread.

I am a big fan of Steve Delk. Bought a beaver Raiders Adventurebilt, and two vintage fedoras from him in the Cairo Bazaar that he had lying around that were just nice hats.

But I'm guessing he's a smoker, as the two vintage hats I bought from him reeked pretty badly of cigarette smoke, and even the Adventurebilt smells a bit. I've had them airing out for months now, but they're still smokey.

Has anyone ever Febreezed a hat? I'm a little gun shy to do it, just 'cause I've never used it on anything like fur felt. But the smoke smell really bothers me.

Any and all input welcomed! Many thanks!

Rick

Febreeze will work just fine on the hats. Steve said said numerous times that this is a great way to take funky smells outta hats. Oh, and welcome to COW, New Jersey. Check your wallet at the door.

Dave

I thought the same thing that Steve was a smoker. After doing some more research on the forum, I found out that the smell is actually the leftover smell from the alcohol burning that is done at the end of the hat making process. As I understand it, it burns off the little fuzzy hairs that stick out and gives you that smooth fur felt look. Both of my ABs smelled of smoke but the smell aired out before too long by leaving them out of the box and wearing them. I'm not sure about the vintage ones, but if they're around the burning process, maybe that's why?

Good luck getting the smell out of them!

Excelsior!
Riothamus

P.S. Wow, I'm an Archaeologist! When did that happen?!

Thanks for the replies. And mods, sorry I posted in the wrong forum.

I'm pretty sure it's cigarette smoke. My dad was a big-time smoker, and my wife is a former social smoker, so I'm pretty familiar with that smell.

I will try a bit of Febreeze on the hat I care least about (is there one?) and see how it goes.

Cheers!

Rick

Edit: Well, I just took another good sniff of them, and I suppose that it's POSSIBLE that it's part of some process in making the hats, but I'm not entirely persuaded. And why wouldn't my handmade Penman also smell like that? Still smells like cigarettes to me.

Ok, and this might sound crazy...but I had a hat that smelled until I put a dryer sheet inside, inbetween the hat and the lining. It absorbed the odor.

Very odd - I have three of Steve's hats - none of them smelled of cigarette smoke to me.

But they now smell of adventure

I'm sure it's from making and not smoking. I know the difference in the smells, trust me. just leave it air out and if tat does work, free breeze will work fine gut try airing it out first.

Many thanks for all the input. BTW, I was not trying to cast aspersions, or anything. I suppose I should have left Steve's name out of the equation and just said that I have three smelly hats! And who knows, perhaps the vintage hats smelled of smoke when Steve bought them. So I apologize if it sounded like I was trying to blame Steve.

As I said, the hats have been airing out for months, and still smell.

So I will try a light misting of the Febreeze, or perhaps the old costumer's trick of misting with a 1:2 vodka to water solution.

Cheers,

Rick

When it comes to vintage hats. I have yet found one that didn't smell.

None of my hats smell. They don't have noses.

binkmeisterRick wrote:None of my hats smell. They don't have noses.

Why didn't I see this one coming?

My hat has no nose.

How does it smell?

Terrible!

Rick

Whatever you do, don't translate that into German! We don't want to kill off any members.

LJ

I had to febreeze a lid after being in a bar for a while, and the smoke just stuck with it. It didn't do any damage, but i was very light with it.

As for my AB... i loved that smell, but sadly its going away. Its like new car smell And although at first i thought it could be some form of tobacco smoke, it just didn't have the same smell after sniffin' it a few times, and then i remembered steve did something to his lids to finish off the pouncing process, but it really didnt bother me.

I agree with Indy35, when I got my Penman beaver it had a sort of "new hat smell" that faded pretty quickly, but never smelled like cigarette smoke to me. I got an AB rabbit about a month ago and it had the same sort of smell, but in a week or two of normal wear the smell was gone.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Indiana Jeff wrote:I agree with Indy35, when I got my Penman beaver it had a sort of "new hat smell" that faded pretty quickly, but never smelled like cigarette smoke to me. I got an AB rabbit about a month ago and it had the same sort of smell, but in a week or two of normal wear the smell was gone.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

If both the Penman and AB had that same smell and it faded after sometime. It's part of the pouncing process it is in no way from smoking around the hats.

John

That's what I was saying. Both hats smelled the same new coming out of two different shops and neither smelled like cigarette smoke. I figured it was a product of "new felt" and now know it comes from the pouncing process.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

I was confirming your idea.

Well, see, that's my issue and why I started this thread.

As I said earlier, they've been sitting out for some time without any noticeable decrease in odor, so airing them out doesn't seem to be cutting it. And the Penman and AB I bought (both secondhand, BTW, so I have no idea how old they are) don't have a pronounced odor.

Also, if the smell were from part of the pouncing process, wouldn't those vintage hats be WELL over that smell? Unless they were kept somewhere near that process?

Rick

I think that smell you speak of when talking about the 2 vintage hats is the felt has died. It's a musty smoke smell. Both your AB and Penman will have that same smell because we both pre age our felts. That and the fact that part of the pouncing produces that smell.

Let me ask you a question. Are you putting you nose up to the hat to smell it or do you smell it when wearing the hat?

The felt has died? What does that mean? I have other vintage (1970's) fur felt hats that don't smell like that, and as I've said, the AB and Penman don't smell like the vintage fedoras I bought from Steve.

The odor is strong enough to smell when I'm wearing them, especially the greenish tan rabbit fur. Which is why I brought up the whole Febreeze thing.

Didn't mean to take up so much of people's time on this.

Thanks again for your inputs!

Rick

Remember it was me just trying to put things together. The other thing to remember we are pre aging or killing the felt like the vintage hat. For a felt to do this naturally takes some time. That could be why some have the smell and some doesn't .

Question for you. Did you get the AB and Penman directly from us or did you get them 2nd hand?

New Jersey Jones wrote:... the Penman and AB I bought (both secondhand, BTW, so I have no idea how old they are) don't have a pronounced odor.

I was at my shop again today, where the hats are. The AB and Penman really have no odor at all. The Penman has been out on a hat stand, but the AB has been in a box. The vintage hats have been out on hat stands, too. One Steve said was rabbit fur, and I assume the other is beaver, as it is considerably stiffer. And they still both smell smoky. Would rabbit and beaver have different odors from "killing?" They both smell the same to me.

So, my opinion still stands, that the smell on them is lingering cigarette smoke. Or, as another member postulated, perhaps they smell of smoke from being in proximity to Steve working on the pouncing process.

Whatever the odor, it's Febreeze time! Thanks for all the insight, everyone!

Rick

I'm so confused???? Is both or either AB or Penman smell of smoke and did you get them 2nd hand?

Sorry if I confused anyone - I thought I was pretty clear. The hats that smell smoky are the two vintage ones I bought from Steve. One is a greenish tan Borsalino rabbit fur, and the other is a grey/tan HJ which I'm pretty sure is beaver.

Neither the AB nor the Penman have any pronounced odor. I bought them both secondhand.

Cheers!

Rick

I bought a vintage hat from Steve recently and it had the old musty smokey smell but it is not from smoking. I am sure of that.

Keep in mind, ALL of Steve's vintage hats were/are in storage at a storage place in his town, so there's no telling where they may have picked up an odor. Just let them air out, and they will eventually clear up.

The only hat I ever got was from a hat maker in Texas (no longer a member here, and by the rules I can't mention his name) that sent me a brand new beaver hat that REEKED of what I thought was cigarette smoke. He assured me it was not, as he was a non-smoker, and the hat had not been anywhere near tobacco smoke. Apparently it was from the burning process mentioned above.

I eventually had to get rid of the box, as it also smelled of the smoke, and no amount of Fabreeze or baking soda would remove it. The hat, on the other hand, aired out nicely, though if stored for a period of time, you can still detect a hint of the smokey smell when it's first pulled out.

Regards! Michaelson

Gosh, my thread has been christened by the All-knowing, All-seeing Michaelson - I feel honored and slightly nauseous - I mean, humbled.

The boxes Steve sent them in were fine - it's just the hats. Obviously they were not stored in the boxes in which they were sent. Yep, I'll be airing these out for some time! I think I've decided to try vodka/water spray on one, and Febreeze on the other, just to see which one seems to work best. I like throw-back solutions like vodka whenever possible (to say nothing of the positive impact having a bottle of cheap vodka in the shop might have!).

Thanks for all the input here, everyone!

Rick

New Jersey Jones wrote:Gosh, my thread has been christened by the All-knowing, All-seeing Michaelson - I feel honored and slightly nauseous - I mean, humbled.

Huh? I'm not real sure how to take that, Rick.



Michaelson