Different felt qualities - felt hat qualities
What are the differences between wool felt and fur felt hats?
The felt hat can be either wool felt or fur felt. The difference is important because the raw material doesn't give the same felt quality.
In both cases, the hat remains quality, pleasant to wear, and always manufactured with respect for hat-making tradition. However, the fur felt hat is made with nobler materials.
There are therefore two categories: the wool felt hat and the fur felt hat.
| Type of felt | Wool felt hat | Fur felt hat |
| Origin | These are strands of wool which constitute the raw material used for wool felt, in contrast to the higher-end fur felt. |
It's the fur from hares, domestic rabbits, and wild rabbits that constitutes the raw material used for luxury felt. Depending on the work done on the felt surface, different qualities can be obtained. smooth felt: (smooth felt) sanding the felt with sandpaper. Flemish felt: (fur imitation) pulling of the fur using a metal brush. taupe felt: (velvet imitation) the fur is pulled using dogfish skin, then sheared. |
| Water resistance | Not waterproof. Indeed, originally, the wool felt is not waterproof but it can be made waterproof through processes like Vita Felt by Stetson. |
Waterproof. It is naturally waterproof due to the fur it's made from to resist rain |
How to distinguish between fur felt hats and wool felt hats?
You will easily recognize a fur felt hat because the quality is not the same.
The fur is indeed softer to the touch while wool felt is rougher.
Moreover, fur felt has a more luminous and shiny appearance than wool felt.
How to judge the quality of a hat's felt?
Some brands like Stetson and Bulhide use a rating system to try to judge hat qualities: The X system.
On some hats, you will see an inscription on the inner band indicating a number of X's (20X for example at Stetson indicates that it has a percentage of beaver fur).
The rule is simple: the more X's, the more beaver fur (nobler fur) the hat will have, which is combined with rabbit fur.
The Stetson with 100X is the President hat at Stetson, this headwear is offered to each American President and is made from 100% Beaver fur.
Note that the X does not indicate quality, which is a subjective notion, unique to each person. It can be a hat's ability to be foldable and return to its original shape without marks. Vitafelt is one of the most well-known, which was popularized by Stetson.