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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

The Care And Maintenance of Felt Cowboy Hats

By Ned Dagostino

A good quality felt cowboy hat is quite expensive. Apart from the money value there will also be a pride of ownership associated with the hat. Naturally, you won't want to see the hat become unwearable in a year or two. To prevent that from happening you must take good, proper care of the hat. Good and proper care will see the hat last for a good many seasons, its looks gaining character, so to speak.

Prevention is better than cure! That adage is equally applicable to felt cowboy hats. This means that you should do everything to keep the hat from getting soiled. That includes washing your hands before picking it up. This is important because cleaning a felt cowboy hat is really difficult. Besides, too much cleaning can actually damage the material.

Another point is that you should handle the hat by the brim, not the crown. The hat will lose its shape the more you push and pull the crown. The crown will be cleaner too.

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.

If you get caught in a chance drizzle and the hat gets wet, it won't matter much, but don't let that happen too often. If you expect to be out in the rain often, then you'll be wise to buy a hat cover. Use the hat cover whenever you're going out and there is a sign of rain. It will add another year to your hat's life.

The tips given in this article will keep that hat on your head for many, many years! Your hat will be lookin' good, and you'll be lookin' good yourself! As we cowboys always say: A good head in a good hat!

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