Monday, December 1, 2008

The Care And Maintenance of Felt Cowboy Hats

By Ned Dagostino

A felt cowboy hat is not exactly cheap. So it is worth your while to take good care of it. If you take good care of it, it will not only last you longer but it will look every bit as good as it did when you bought it!

Prevention is better than cure! That adage is equally applicable to felt cowboy hats. This means that you should do everything to keep the hat from getting soiled. That includes washing your hands before picking it up. This is important because cleaning a felt cowboy hat is really difficult. Besides, too much cleaning can actually damage the material.

Another point is that you should handle the hat by the brim, not the crown. The hat will lose its shape the more you push and pull the crown. The crown will be cleaner too.

Keep the felt cowboy hat in its own box. If you don't have the box for the hat, then hang the hat on a hat stand. The hat should be stored upside down to help it keep its shape.

Keep the hat away from strong heat sources. The inner sweat band will shrink if it is exposed to heat. That's a sure way of getting rid of your felt cowboy hat!

Getting your felt cowboy hat wet is not going to improve its looks or its shape. Felt does not take kindly to water. It gets all shrunk up, and crumpled, and bedraggled. Felt doesn't get back into shape very easily. If your felt cowboy hat does get wet, the best thing to do is to let it dry out. This must be done naturally. Do not attempt to use a hair drier on it or a blower to get it to dry faster. There is a trick or two in getting your felt cowboy hat to dry out properly. Rest the hat on the sweat band not the brim. Turn the sweat band inside out, so that it forms a sort of collar on which the hat can rest without putting the weight on the brim. You will have to apply a little finishing touch here and there to work the creases out of the hat.

A felt cowboy hat will tolerate a little rain, now and again. But it will really be better if you use a hat cover for those rainy days.

Your felt cowboy hat has a tendency to lose shape real fast and get dirty just as quickly. If you follow these tips, your hat will remain in prime condition for a great many years. Maybe your felt cowboy hat may turn into a real heirloom, yet! - 16650

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