Fill a bowl or kitchen sink with cold water and add about a teaspoon of non-bleach mild soap such as Woolite.Make sure you try spot cleaning the hat before attempting a full-on hand washing. When it comes to cleaning a felt hat, it's kind of scary to douse it in water because there's always a risk of ruining it. If necessary, repeat the process and let your hat air dry.Brush away the powder to see if the stain has been lifted.Let the baking soda, cornstarch, or powder absorb the oil and grease for at least 20 minutes.For more stubborn stains, sprinkle cornstarch, baking soda, or baby powder directly onto the soiled areas and mildly rub it in.If the hat is dark, use a dark cloth if the hat is white or a light color, use a white cloth.

Rub the cloth or sponge over the stain in a circular, counterclockwise motion.Be careful with the hat band (especially leather) and any other decorative elements do your best to work around them.You can also add a touch of mild soap if you think it'll help - use your best judgment. Be sure that the cloth or sponge is moistened but not saturated with excess water.

With cool water, lightly dampen a clean cloth or small sponge (a makeup sponge would do) to swipe away dirt.

Even so, you might end up with some stainage that needs extra attention. If you're properly storing your hat and regularly using a hat brush, lint roller, or tape to keep it fresh, the cleaning process is going to be a lot easier than if you let the dust settle over time. Just as you need to be careful when cleaning suede hats, leather hats, or straw hats, it's important to take a gentle approach when cleaning felt hats to avoid damaging them.

Get them professionally cleaned when the time comes.

If you have a fur felt hat, chances are you know that these are considerably more expensive hats, so don't cheap out now. While felt can also be made using animal fur from rabbits, beavers, chinchillas, or other furry creatures, the cleaning instructions we've outlined here are for wool felt hats, not fur felt hats. The wool is then treated using heat, moisture, and pressure that melds the fibers together to create wool felt. It starts with wool, a natural fiber derived from sheep. It just takes three C's: common sense, consistency, and care.įirst of all, let's explain what felt actually is. Dust, debris, sweat stains, body oils, grease stains, and watermarks can wreak havoc on a hat, but cleaning your headgear doesn't have to be a headache. Whether it's your favorite wool felt fedora, cowboy hat, or that vintage stetson you only wear on special occasions, the truth is that hats will get dirty.

How to clean a wool flat cap