Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Good Grooming For Your Felt Cowboy Hat

By Ned Dagostino

A felt cowboy hat says a lot of the person whose head is snug inside it. No doubt you spent a lot of time getting the exact right hat that suited you perfectly. A lot of time and money and aggravation! That's quite an investment riding on your head, now, ain't it? Sure you don't want to squander it away out of negligence. You take care of it, good, proper care, the investment will grow richer as the years pass, aging gracefully, acquiring a character of its own. I can see you, ten, twenty years from now, talking about the hat to your grandson, on a chilly night, in the warm glow of a backyard campfire.

Proper care begins with prevention. If the hat doesn't require cleaning or repair, that much remedial care is also avoided. The cardinal rule is: Don't let the hat get dirty! One very simple way to keep the hat from getting dirty is: wash your hands before handling the hat. Cleaning a felt hat is very difficult, and leads to material damage.

Another thing to bear in mind to prevent the hat from getting all messed up is to handle the hat only by the brim, back and front. Resist the temptation to hold it by the crown. Using the brim to pick up the hat or to position it on your head will help to keep the hat in good shape too. An out-of-shape hat will say the same thing about you.

The hat will of course get a little dirty from normal wear. But what about when you're not using it? Do you store the hat away? Do you know the proper way to store a felt cowboy hat? The proper way to store the hat is upside down in its own hat box. This way, your hat will neither get dirty nor out of shape. Lacking a hat box, you may hang the hat on a hat stand, and cover it.

Keep the hat away from strong heat sources. The inner sweat band will shrink if it is exposed to heat. That's a sure way of getting rid of your felt cowboy hat!

Protect the hat from getting wet. Water is enemy number one. In case it does get wet let the hat dry out normally and naturally. Be careful not to try to hasten the process by using a blower or, worse, a hair drier! The brim has a tendency to lose shape when it gets wet. To get the weight of the hat off the brim when you let it stand to dry, turn the sweat band inside out, and rest the hat on the sweat band instead. When the hat dries out, do what you can to reshape the sweat band and the rest of the hat to its original appearance and shape.

A felt cowboy hat will tolerate a little rain, now and again. But it will really be better if you use a hat cover for those rainy days.

Your felt cowboy hat has a tendency to lose shape real fast and get dirty just as quickly. If you follow these tips, your hat will remain in prime condition for a great many years. Maybe your felt cowboy hat may turn into a real heirloom, yet!

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