How to clean a felt hat at home

Increasingly, women (and men too) choose hats and bonnets as headwear. They can be worn with classic coats and raincoats, as well as with youth jackets. But it happens that they bought something, but they don’t know how to clean a felt hat at home. And I also don’t know what kind of care is required for felt products.

Our grandmothers remember effective cleaning methods. This is someone who knew how to wear a hat with grace and took care of it without waiting for it to become dusty or greasy. Of course, you can always take it to the dry cleaner. But the service will cost almost the same as what you paid for the headdress upon purchase. And if you consider that you need to clean it constantly, then no amount of money is enough to keep it in order.

There are items in a woman's wardrobe that you should not skimp on: a handbag, shoes, gloves and a hat. These things must be expensive (or original) and of very high quality. Always spotlessly clean and matched in style and color. Since they are not cheap and are bought for more than one season, we will collect tips and recommendations for cleaning hats from dust and dirt.

Felt hats have always differed from ordinary headdresses in their original and bright appearance. However, like regular clothes, they get dirty. Of course, you can dry clean it. However, you can learn how to clean a felt hat yourself. This will save you money.

It should be understood that felt items cannot be washed. If there are stains, you should first determine: where could they come from? Only then can you select the appropriate detergent.

Cleaning felt hats at home begins with removing dust. Using a clothes brush or a vacuum cleaner with a small attachment, carefully remove dust from the surface of the hat.

A simple mixture also helps effectively. You need to take table salt, ammonia and vinegar. The ratios are easy to remember: 1:2:2. Use this mixture to wipe the dirtiest areas.

How to clean a felt hat? The methods described below are the most effective:

Method 1. In order to completely remove dust from a felt hat, you need to mix ammonia and vinegar (regular) in equal proportions. Add some table salt to the resulting mixture (the proportions are indicated above).

Method 2. If the hat has scuffs that sparkle, you will need sandpaper. If there is none, then a brush and salt can easily replace it. The problem area must be treated using any of the above-mentioned items.

Method 3. Many people use another easy method. To do this, you need to mix plain water and ammonia in a 1:1 ratio. Soak a small piece of coarse cloth in the solution and wipe the dirty area on the hat. Remember that you shouldn’t get your felt hat too wet. She may lose her shape.

Removing greasy stains

Some useful tips:

You will need to mix denatured alcohol and ammonia in a ratio of 1/1. Wet a piece of coarse cloth in this solution and wipe the contaminated areas.
Using a solution of table vinegar and water in a ratio of 1/1, remove white limescale stains.
To remove particularly greasy stains, use a stain remover or purified gasoline. Please note that the stain remover is only suitable for cleaning white hats because it leaves a white residue when it dries.
You can also use simple starch to remove grease stains. Take a simple toothbrush, dip it in starch and wipe off the dirt. Leave until completely dry. Then the dry area is cleaned with a brush and wiped against the lint with water and vinegar in a ratio of 1 tsp. per 100 ml respectively. Next, the hat is dried on a jar.

How to bleach?

How to clean a felt hat if it is white? On light or white things, yellowness appears over time. The hat immediately loses its attractive appearance. In order to get rid of yellow spots forever, you need to prepare a mixture: hydrogen peroxide - 3 tbsp. l., ammonia - 1 tsp. Dip the brush into the resulting mixture and carefully clean the yellow areas.

It happens that the yellowness has spread over a large area of the hat. In this case, semolina will come to the rescue. You can also use regular bran. It is necessary to rub the grain from the outside, and from the back to knock it out well. Be sure that after this life-saving procedure, the hat will look like new.

Removing sweat and dust

Sweat stains are cleaned with ammonia. The brush is dipped in alcohol, and the dirty area is thoroughly wiped until completely clean. After this, wipe the cleaned area with a damp cloth.

Dust and sweat individually are quite easy to clean, but together they can form a rather difficult mixture to clean. You can clean such contamination with a saline solution.

To prepare it you need one and a half tablespoons of table salt, 5 tbsp. l. table vinegar, 5 tbsp. l. ammonia. Mix thoroughly until the salt is completely dissolved. For wiping, use a clean white cloth, which is moistened in the solution and wiped dirty places with it.

After this, the hat is wiped with a dry cloth. In general, to prevent such contamination, it is advisable to place a layer of cotton fabric between the inner leather tape.

How to remove raindrops?

Rainy weather is not a felt hat's best friend. Typically, characteristic marks may remain on the product. How to clean a felt hat at home without losing its shape?

Method 1. Stuff the hat tightly and evenly with newspapers. Dry in a dry place, but not very close to a radiator or other heating device.

Method 2. The following method effectively helps with raindrops: you need to hold the hat over boiling water, then smooth the pile with a soft brush. You can also use a regular household steamer. However, bringing it too close to the hat is not recommended.

Method 3. Clean the hat with a medium-hard brush, after wetting it in cool, clean water.

This method will not only help get rid of raindrops, but also restore the original shine to the hat.

Rain spot protection

Of course, everyone knows that you shouldn’t wear felt items in the rain. But if this does happen, you need to know the specifics of removing these stains.

As soon as you return home, immediately stuff your wet hat with crumpled newspaper sheets. This will maintain its shape and quickly draw moisture out of the material. Never leave it near a stove or heating device.

If there are still unsightly water stains left on your dried headdress, try getting rid of them using the same clothes brush and water steam . If you have a special steamer, use it. If you don't have one, heat the water to a boil in a saucepan.

Fighting traces of fat

Traces of grease are the most dangerous and can damage a felt hat. How to clean a felt hat at home? A crust of dried rye bread will help. If you don’t have such a product on hand at home, you can cover the greasy stains with regular salt.

You will have to deal with an old stain that has become ingrained into the felt the old-fashioned way - with purified gasoline. You need to moisten a napkin or rag in it and gently wet the area of contamination. Attention: do not wet, but blot. Otherwise, the pile in this place will be compacted.

Another effective way to combat grease stains: refined gasoline and potato starch. The resulting paste must be applied to oily areas. Once completely dry, simply brush off with a brush. If there are still streaks, moisten the brush in water with added citric acid (juice).

Features of felt items

Real pure wool felt is an ancient material. Our grandmothers and great-grandmothers used it, but even then it was already very old. Felt, a variety of which is felt, appeared in the Neolithic. Of course, over the past centuries it has changed a lot: it has become smoother, thinner, more beautiful.

Felt is produced by felting. The process consists of mechanically compacting wool that has been exposed to hot water. If previously the entire processing cycle was carried out manually, now there is automatic equipment for this.

Unlike felt, which is made from sheep's wool, felt is made from fine goat hair, rabbit or hare down, and fur production waste. Felt can be with a pile or smooth. Pile can have a different texture: from velvety “suede-like” to long-pile, containing noticeable hairs.

Modern industry produces several types of felt:

classic pure wool;
half-woolen, which contains from 40 to 45% synthetics;
acrylic, the starting material for the production of which is recycled plastic.

Classic felt is hypoallergenic; hats made from it are warm and comfortable. However, this natural material easily absorbs moisture in wet weather.

Wool blend is smooth and less likely to get dirty. Not only are hats made from it, but also decorative elements for clothing and shoes, bags and children's toys are made. Acrylic is used for decoration, as a base for jewelry and embroidery.

Color matters

Felt products of dark colors must be cleaned using tobacco decoction: 1 tbsp. l. leaves per 1 liter of water. Moisten a rag in the resulting liquid and gently wipe the stains. The only drawback is that the smell of tobacco remains. You will have to air out the hat for several days.

Felt products in light shades must be cleaned with bran. They need to be rubbed into the fabric and shaken out on the other side by tapping.

Do not use products designed to remove stains from white felt on a colored product. The stain remover should match the color of the hat.

Improving the appearance of products

You can restore the shade of a faded hat with special products that are sold in stores. A coloring spray for suede and nubuck is perfect for these purposes. The main thing here is to choose the right color.

All of the above methods are suitable for cleaning various felt products. This should be taken into account when deciding how to clean a cap at home. After all, you can’t just wash it.

If all your efforts have come to nothing, and you cannot get rid of the stain, then you can try covering it with decorative overlays . For a women's hat, you can use flowers or rhinestones, children will love a beautiful bright-colored patch, and a man's hat can be decorated with an original buckle. All these methods will give your hat a presentable look.

It will look very stylish, and you may even decide to make original models yourself. Then you can learn how to make a felt hat with your own hands. This process is quite complicated, but if you want, you can master it. After all, this business has excellent prospects, since exclusive models are always in demand among fashionistas and fashionistas.

We store it correctly - we use it for a long time

Proper storage is the key to long-term wear. The ideal place to store felt products is a thick cardboard box. It is recommended to stuff the inside of the hat with paper and wrap it in fabric.

Basic rules for wearing felt hats:

You should not hang a felt hat on a hook for a long time. Otherwise, it will simply lose its shape.
Felt hats should not be worn in rain or snow.
Wipe with a brush in the direction of the pile, then stretch it onto a glass jar to dry.
If the hat has become shabby and lost its appearance, then steam will help restore youth. After that, be sure to stroke the pile with a brush.

If the above methods do not help, then chemical special products come to the rescue. Stain removers are presented in a large assortment. Read the terms of use first and be sure to follow them. Remember that you can immediately assess a person based on the condition of the headdress. Therefore, take care of your hats. The main thing is to know how to clean a felt hat at home.

Secrets of care

Caring for felt is not difficult, as is cleaning it from dust, dirt and stains. It would seem that what could be left from water splashes? But no, if the drops are not immediately cleaned from the felt, they will leave untidy whitish marks.

The content of the article

Secrets of care
Dust removal
The hat got caught in the rain
Cleaning from dirt
Additional Tricks

It happens that during the season the hat will not be worn at all. This circumstance does not cancel timely cleaning. Felt is very delicate: specks of dust and specks are attracted to it like a magnet and become firmly embedded in it.

A dusty hat will not make a woman elegant, will not give her charm, and will rather turn her into a laughing stock. And the man in the dust-gray headdress gives the impression of an unkempt loser. A completely bare head is better than a dusty, wrinkled or dirty hat on your head.

Felt Felted wool, which is shaped on special blocks. You can't just pick it up and wash it. Whatever the shape of the hat, it requires careful cleaning and drying.

That's why:

Rule number one. Before placing a felt hat on your head, make sure it is spotlessly clean and has not lost its original shape.
Rule number two. During the off-season, the hat is stored in a hat box. If there is none, wrap it and stuff it with paper. It should lie on the shelf of a lockable closet, royally free (without the proximity of bags and suitcases that could crush it).

Attention

Before putting it away for storage, it is necessary to clean the hat. Exactly the same as before the season, taken out of a box or from a closet shelf.

Now let’s figure out how to clean them, so that the pretentious thing that makes us irresistible does not turn into a shapeless pancake due to improper care.

First of all, let's take into account some points:

Felt doesn't get wet easily, but it really doesn't like dampness.
Wearing a hat in the rain is not recommended. Or you will have to protect it from precipitation with an umbrella.
Immediately upon returning to the room, you will need to shake off and carefully remove the moisture with a clothes brush in the “pile” direction.
Now you need to dry the hat and only then put it on the shelf until the next time you go outside.
It is clear that it cannot be crushed either dry or wet.

What to do if the felt thing gets dirty?

First you need to clean it with a soft brush. You can clean it with a vacuum cleaner with a special attachment. Perhaps this will be enough and you can do without washing.

Felt children's toys should be washed from time to time in any case. They are usually washed by hand.

How to wash felt toys:

fill the washing basin with water, water temperature – 30 degrees;
dissolve washing powder or wool detergent;
lower the toy into the water;
gently squeeze the toy without rubbing, twisting or strong squeezing;
rinse in clean water at 30 degrees 3-4 times;
Squeeze a little, blot with paper or terry towels;
straighten and dry in the fresh air, but not in the cold or in the open sun.

How to wash a woolen beret without shrinking

Do you have a knitted beret in your wardrobe and it got dirty? If it is knitted from woolen threads, then it must be washed according to the same rules as other wool products. It is better to use hand wash. Washing in a washing machine is also allowed. It is necessary to set the mode for woolen items. Wash patterned hats carefully, otherwise they may end up with an interesting abstract pattern.

As you can see, you can clean your favorite wardrobe item in different ways. The best option is hand washing. If there is severe contamination, it is recommended to treat them with soap, pumice, salt, ammonia, etc. First, try cleaning a small piece that is not very noticeable, and then move on to cleaning the entire headdress.

Beret care

First of all, I would like to say that berets are currently very popular among fashionistas and do not lose their strong position among other models of hats. Therefore, when choosing a beret, you need to ask the sellers how to wash the beret and whether regular washing is acceptable for it. If not, you need to familiarize yourself with some tips and tricks that will help you care for your beret.

Necessary products for washing a beret at home

Like any other beret, it tends to shrink during washing. It may also happen that it shrinks greatly in size and you will never be able to wear it again. To prevent this from happening, we recommend that you wash such items correctly. To wash them you will need the following:

water;
detergent;
towel.

Using these products, you can wash your favorite beret-type headdress and continue to enjoy wearing it. Here are some simple tips and tricks that will help you maintain the attractive appearance of your beret.

To avoid damaging the beret by washing, it is best to do it manually. Only then will you be able to get a positive end result and be satisfied with the work done. To wash the beret, you need to pour cold water into the basin, the temperature of which should be no more than 30 degrees. It is best to replace washing powder with liquid detergents or shampoo. Their use will allow you to achieve better results in washing your beret.

After this, you need to soak the beret in prepared water with detergent for 10-15 minutes. After that, proceed directly to washing it. Do not use force to wash your beret. This must be done with special care and caution. After performing these steps, rinse the beret in water at a temperature of 30° and lightly spin it. To prevent the shape of the beret from being deformed, it should not be twisted; a light squeeze will be enough.

After the water has drained from the beret, it should be laid out on a towel, straightened out, and wait until it is completely dry. To preserve the original shape of the beret, experts recommend putting it on a special plate and leaving it until it is completely dry.

How to wash a beret in a washing machine?

If you want to wash your beret using a washing machine, see if it has a function for washing wool items. Then such a procedure will be safe for similar types of fabrics and materials. This will allow the beret to maintain its original shape and remain just as beautiful and attractive. But there are times when you don’t need to unconditionally trust the washing of such delicate items to a washing machine. In particular, this applies to berets that were knitted with one’s own hand.

As for berets purchased in specialized stores, when purchasing them, you need to find a label that should display information from the manufacturer. It usually indicates the type of fabric from which the beret is made, as well as practical recommendations for washing it. After familiarizing yourself with them, you will be able to wash your beret yourself, which, if properly cared for, will not shrink. Also, proper care of the beret and proper washing according to the instructions will prevent the appearance of pellets on its surface, which will not look very attractive on it when worn.

If you are afraid to wash your beret yourself, so as not to spoil its shape and appearance, use the services of a dry cleaner, whose employees will do their job efficiently and quickly.

First stage of cleansing

There are reliable methods that can effectively remove stains from a fur hat. In most cases, it does not make much difference what kind of fur is used - the methods are suitable for mouton, mink, arctic fox, etc.

Before you wash your fur hat at home, you need to figure out how dirty it is. If there are lumps of dirt, deeply embedded, or matted fibers, then mechanical cleaning is required and only then use chemicals.

Mechanical cleaning is carried out using a stiff combing brush. Before brushing the Arctic fox, which usually has fur, you need to wrap a little cotton wool around the brush. This will protect the bottom layer from being pulled out without preventing dirt from being removed.

A product with short pile is best cleaned of dust using wet gauze. The entire surface of the headdress is covered with gauze, and then dust and small dirt are knocked out by patting the inside. They settle on gauze and make it possible to easily carry out chemical exposure.

It is recommended to remove the yellow coating that periodically appears on the surface of a light fur garment. For this, regular potato starch or talc is used. The powder product is applied to the entire product and thoroughly rubbed into the hairs. After a few minutes, you need to shake and knock out the remaining powder by patting the inside with movements. At the end of the procedure, comb with a stiff brush.