How to wash & dry a wool Balmoral cap?

[Pleater]

Try hair shampoo - you can even use one with conditioner, though I think that it doesn't wash quite as well.

Use just warm water and try to get it about the same temperature each time you wash or rinse. It is better if the hat - or whatever - is really dirty, to wash it several times, gently slooshing the warm water and detergent through the fabric until the water is discoloured and then drawing a new lot, and wash any scummy residue away between washes too.

If there is a decoration sewn onto the hat you might consider removing it and washing it separately if it is at all delicate, and if it will come off easily. It will reduce the wear and tear.

Wool prefers an acid pH so a splosh of white vinegar in the last rinse - it should be the 4th or 5th, really rinse out the detergent, will keep it happy. Squeeze the hat gently, then wrap it in a towel and squeeze several times changing to a bit of dry towel in between.

Leave to dry with a towel pressed into the hat to hold it the right shape, and smoothing out creases when still damp is easier than after it has dried out.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[fcgeil]

Thanks for the tips, Anne. We can always count on you!

[unixken]

Thanks, Ann. As it happens, I'd attempted a washing of the hat a few hours earlier than your response. I used a mild shampoo (no conditioner). I "slooshed" and "sloshed" the hat clean, using lots of fresh water. I used cool tap water through the whole process.

To dry, I laid out the hat on a soft folded towel, as if it were on my head, and let the majority of the water be wicked from the hat by the towel. After a couple hours, when the majority of the water was absorbed by the towel, I then put the hat on my head while it was damp (but no longer drenched), to ensure the headband still fit. So far, so good.

The lay of the hat may not be quite what a complete "jocking" would yield, but I will say the hat came clean, stayed together, and I didn't destroy my $80 hat in the process.

[SlackerDrummer]

It will take a lot more than soap and water to destroy one of those bonnets!

[unixken]

It will take a lot more than soap and water to destroy one of those bonnets!

That's comforting to hear.

Whenever it comes to wool garments of any kind, I keep thinking back to a day years ago when I was still in high school, when I'd stacked a few of my good wool sweaters aside to take to the cleaners. My brother, not realizing they were wool, threw them all in the laundry. Needless to say, every one of them shrank about 5 sizes, and I ended up giving them to some neighbor kids, since not a one of them fit me any more.

In the case of this hat, I wear a large hat size (7 3/4), and my fear of laundering the hat in any way was that it would shrink so badly I'd have to toss it. Fortunately, that didn't happen. The hat held up just fine, and it still fits perfectly.

[Tobus]

To felt/shrink wool three things need to be applied - soap, agitation and heat - if you can avoid having all three at the same time then your wool item should be safe.

I wasn't aware soap was required for felting. I thought only heat, water, and agitation were needed?