La qualité des chapeaux de feutre

What are the differences between felt hats?

The felt hat can be made of wool felt or hair felt. The difference is important because the raw material does not give the same quality of felt.

In both cases, the hat remains of high quality, pleasant to wear and always made in the tradition of the Chapellerie. However, the hair felt hat is made with more noble materials

There are therefore two categories: wool felt hat and hair felt hat.

Type of felt Wool felt hat Hair felt hat
Origin The raw material used for wool felt is woollen strands, as opposed to the more expensive hair felt.

The raw material used for luxury felt is hairs from hares, domestic rabbits and wild rabbits.

Depending on the work carried out on the surface of the felt, different qualities can be obtained .

short felt : (smooth felt) sanding the felt with sandpaper.

flemish felt : (imitation fur) pulling the hair with a wire brush .

hair felt: (imitation velvet) the hair is pulled with a sea dog skin and then sheared.

Impermeability Not waterproof. Originally, wool felt is not waterproof, but it can be waterproof thanks to processes such as Stetson's Vita Felt Waterproof. It is originally waterproof because of the hair it is made of to resist the rain

How can you tell the difference between hair felt hats and wool felt hats?

You will easily recognize a hair felt hat because the quality is not the same.

Hair felt is softer to the touch while wool felt is rougher.
On the other hand, hair felt is brighter and shinier than wool felt.