Wool and fur felt hats - Manufacturing

 Brixton Collection, to be discovered on the Traclet online store

The art of hat-making relies on specific technology and a significant number of manufacturing phases, which require particular skills. We will only mention the main ones. The complete production cycle still requires 9 to 12 days today. Felts vary in weight according to their quality, with soft and light felt being highly appreciated.

There are different types of felt

• Wool felts are composed of agglomerated wool fibers: merino (rough aspect compared to fur felt), melusine (fluffy felt), feltine.
• Fur felts as well as taupé are of better quality and are made from animal hair.
• The mixed felt, made with a combination of hair and wool fibers. It has a shinier appearance and is more flexible than wool felt.

If wool fibers are fulled, they intertwine, attach to each other by their rough surfaces, and eventually form a felt fabric. Animal hairs do not naturally possess this felting property, except for camel hair (Asian origin of felt). For other types of hair, this property must be developed: the skins, previously stripped of coarse hairs, are impregnated with a solution of mercury nitrate, the "secret". Once the secretion is done, the hair is cut and can be worked.

In the mid-19th century, the first mechanical forming machines appeared: the principle remains the same as manual work, combining mechanical action; the aspirated hairs attach to the surface of a metal cone perforated with holes and covered with a wet cloth. The suction of a vacuum cleaner holds the hairs firmly in place, which are then sprayed with hot water and thus stuck together by centrifugal force. The obtained shape is then strengthened, all fraying hairs on the outside are removed.

This operation is repeated several times until the true felt is obtained, well combed, lustrous, ready for the successive stages of dyeing and finishing.

The essential operations

The "forming"

100 grams of hair are projected onto a large perforated metal cone, then sprayed with hot water. Here, the first shape is born which is about 5 times the size of the future hat. To form, the worker would place a first layer of hair on a wet cloth, the "felt-making cloth", apply a damp paper above, then a second mass of hair. By folding the felt-making cloth, manipulating and pressing it between his hands in all directions, he would obtain two layers of interlaced hairs already having some consistency. These two layers were subjected to a new felting process to join them at their edges and take on the desired bell shape.

The "fulling"

After 5 to 6 hours of repeated passes between rollers sprayed with boiling acidulated water, the hat bodies are permanently felted and reach about 30 to 40 cm. They then become resistant and waterproof.

The "fulling" process is responsible for giving the rough hat body the consistency of true felt, a homogeneous, resistant fabric that is elastic when hot and inextensible when cold. In the past, the fuller would soak the hat body in a vat filled with hot acidulated water. The chemical reaction combined with multiple manipulations and rubbing between hands covered with leather soles, called "manicles", would give the hat body its solidity. These two operations transform a given mass of hair or "capade" into a felt fabric in the shape of a hat body. For centuries, this process was entirely manual.

The felt dyeing operation can, depending on the case, be carried out at different stages of manufacturing, by boiling in a color bath and this, with chemicals and methods allowing perfect penetration of the color into the hair. Dyeing: it calls upon the "chemist" who, by dosing chemical dyes, obtains the desired shade throughout the "cross-section" (thickness) of the felt.

The "blocking"

The dyed felt hat bodies are sanded with fine silex paper if a smooth, short-napped hat is desired or kept with medium-long hair, if a taupé is desired. They are ready to be shaped by the hatter. The felt, impregnated with steam, is placed on a wooden form which it is forced to conform to. To make the brims, the hatter holds the fabric on the bottom of the form with a solid cord and raises, by stretching, the felt located below this string. In most factories, this operation is carried out quickly by mechanical blocking machines (for straw hats as well).

The "shaping"

The shaping process gives the hat its final form. The shaper irons the hat placed on a wooden form with hot irons and a damp cloth. Multiple techniques then ensure the finish - new sanding, shaving to obtain a velvet felt... before applying the ribbon in the trimming workshop -

The "trimming"

Consists of applying borders, leathers, and decorative braids.