Hat care and cleaning

Tips for preserving and maintaining your hats:

You've just acquired a hat and you want to keep it in good condition for as long as possible. Here are some tips to extend the life of your hat.  

First of all, avoid as much as possible grabbing it by the upper crown as is regularly done by hat wearers. Proper maintenance is the key to extending the life of your hat.

For this, the brush remains the main tool for maintaining your headwear, be it a hat or a cap.

Indeed, it allows you to dust off your hat. Take special care to dust off your wool or fur felt hat to maintain its visual appearance as well as its material quality.

Is your headwear dusty and you want to quickly restore its natural shine? Brushing and steam are here to restore the felt's original appearance.

To do this, use a soft brush with gentle bristles and gently brush in a counterclockwise direction.

This hat brush has the advantage of being easily stored at home and also in a suitcase when you travel, and can also be used for your clothes.

For more information, consult our white paper on hat care.

General tips for hat care:

1. Never place your hat flat on a surface.
This could, over time, give a bad shape to the brim of your hat.
It is preferable to turn it upside down, or better, to use a hat box designed for this purpose.

2. To clean a stained straw hat, wipe it with a clean damp cloth.
For a felt hat, use a soft brush always going in a counterclockwise direction.
Repeat as often as necessary. Also, to revive the felt, you can boil a pot of hot water
to produce steam and this will restore the hat's hair to its original state.

3. As heat and perspiration can shrink the hat's internal comfort band,
it is recommended to never leave it near a radiator, a lamp, or on the rear shelf of your vehicle.

4. If your hat has been used in the rain, we advise you to turn the internal comfort band inside out, especially when it's leather, and let it dry without being in contact with the hat.
Avoid leaving your wet hat lying flat.

How to care for a felt hat after rain? If your wool or fur felt hat has gotten wet, your hat risks not only deforming but also, and especially, shrinking while drying (head size).

It is therefore advised to follow the following procedure to keep your headwear intact:

1.  Remove as much water as possible by shaking your headwear to eliminate excess water.
2.  Reshape it as much as possible to its original form
3.  Then stuff it with tissue paper or a dry cloth.
4.  Then, let it dry at room temperature, as far away from heat sources as possible.
5.  Once dry, brush it to clean and restore its former luster, brushing in a counterclockwise direction.

5. Comfort band or leather grosgrain: To air out your internal comfort band, regularly turn it outwards to allow it to dry when the hat is not in use. This is the part of the hat that is directly in contact with the skin. The fabric comfort band should absorb sweat without leaving marks. Indeed, over time, perspiration will get into the felt. To avoid this, you can clean the comfort band with a cloth moistened with cold water and a few drops of ammonia. Then rinse it with clear water. In the case of leather, it is preferable to clean it with a baby wipe to remove perspiration without damaging the leather.

6. On a felt hat, clean grease or moisture stains with talcum powder by gently brushing.
Avoid all liquid cleaners, never put your hat in the washing machine. For cleaning, please send it to us for
a complete cleaning.

7. Take your hat by the front or back brim as often as possible.

8. Cleaning or Reshaping your hat

How to reshape, clean, and restore its original shine in one operation: Steam is the solution

To restore its original shine, place it above steam or use a pot of water and bring this water to a boil until steam is produced. Thus, the steam will have the advantage of restoring its shine, especially for fur felt, and its newer appearance. This steam will also allow you, when brushing counterclockwise, to remove dust.

For straw hats, steam will soften them and prevent them from becoming brittle. 

If you need to reshape it, take it to the point of being damp, it will soften, and you can easily model it by hand, regardless of its material. For the crown, place your hands inside the hat and gently smooth to the desired shape. Otherwise, use a wooden form to restore its shape.

9. Storing your hat

For all hats, it is recommended not to place your hat flat. Over time, the brims could lose their shape. Place it on a hat stand or in a hat box if you have one. Failing that, store it in a closet upside down, with the brim facing the ceiling.