Hat maintenance and cleaning

Tips for preserving and maintaining your hats:

You have 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 grasping it by the upper crown as is regularly done by hat wearers. Proper maintenance is the key to prolonging the life of your hat.

For this, the brush remains the main tool for keeping your headwear, whether it's a hat or a cap, in good condition.

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? The brush and steam are there to restore the felt's initial appearance.

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

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

Hat Care - Chapellerie Traclet

Maintenance	Chapellerie Traclet Advice
Quick cleaning	With our soft Traclet brush, gently dust off your headwear to revive its natural shine without damaging the material.
Grease stains & perspiration	Our workshop recommendation: Fuller's earth. Natural and non-toxic, it absorbs grease and refreshes the headband without damaging your Traclet hat.
Reshaping the form	Traclet tip: expose the hat to a light cloud of water vapor. Once well humidified, it softens: then reshape it by hand, regardless of its material.
Transportation (when traveling)	In the suitcase, pad the crown with soft items. Place the Traclet hat upside down between clothes to create a "nest", then place some flat items on top of the brim to secure it.

To go further: consult the Chapellerie Traclet care guides adapted to each material:

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

General advice on 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. Moreover, to bring back the felt, you can boil a pot of hot water
to obtain 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, as well as when it is 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 been wet, your hat may not only become deformed but also, and especially, shrink during drying (head size).

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

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

5. Comfort band or leather sweatband: 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 traces. Indeed, over time, perspiration will get into the felt. To avoid this, it is possible to 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 so that the perspiration is removed without damaging the leather.

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

7. Whenever possible, handle your hat by the front or back brim.

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 boil this water until you get steam. 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 in a counterclockwise direction, to remove dust.

For straw, steam will soften those made of straw, and prevent them from becoming brittle.

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

9. Storing the hat

For any hat, it is recommended 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. If not, store it in a closet upside down, with the brim facing the ceiling.