The different qualities of felt - the qualities of felt hats
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 does not give the same quality of felt.
Dans les deux cas, le chapeau reste de qualité, agréable à porter et toujours fabriqué dans un souci de tradition de la Chapellerie. Toutefois, le chapeau en feutre poil est fabriqué avec des matériaux plus nobles.
There are therefore two categories: the wool felt hat and the fur felt hat.
| Type of felt | Wool felt hat | Fur felt hat |
| Origin | It is strands of wool that constitute the raw material used for wool felt, as opposed to fur felt which is higher-end. |
It is the hair of hares, domestic rabbits, and wild rabbits that constitute the raw material used for luxury felt. Depending on the work done on the surface of the felt, different qualities can be obtained. smooth felt: (smooth felt) sanding the felt with sandpaper. Flemish felt: (fur imitation) hair pulling using a wire brush. felt toupee: (velvet imitation) the hair is pulled using dogfish skin, then sheared. |
| Water resistance | Not water-resistant. Indeed, originally, wool felt is not water-resistant but it can be made so through processes like Vita Felt from the Stetson brand. |
Water-resistant. It is naturally water-resistant due to the fur it's made from to resist rain |
How to distinguish between a fur felt hat and a wool felt hat?
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 the quality of hats: The X system.
On some hats, you will see an inscription on the inner band indicating a number of X's (for example, 20X for Stetson indicates that it contains a percentage of beaver fur).
The rule is simple: the more X's, the more beaver fur (a nobler fur) the hat will have, which is associated with rabbit fur.
The Stetson with 100X is the President hat at Stetson, this headwear is offered to each American President and is made of 100% Beaver fur.
Note that the X does not indicate quality, which is a subjective notion, specific to each individual. It can be the ability of a hat to be foldable and return to its original shape without marks. Vitafelt is one of the best known, which was popularized by Stetson.