Vintage Tilley hat restoration - Do’s and Don’ts (Part 1)

The spot on the brim looked like it might be paint or some sort of hardened deposit.  
Began my assault by gently breaking up the surface of the spot with the tip of a sharp knife, carefully teasing the substance from the threads.  Then, I added a little dishwashing soap to a brush and wetted the broken up spot.

Much to my dismay, the soap and water brushing seemed to reactivate whatever the substance was and the stain actually doubled in size, and maybe a bit darker!  Here’s where I made my first mistake….

Thinking that the stain was organic, I decided to squirt a little bit of hydrogen peroxide on the brush and scrub at the spreading stain.  As you can see from the photos, this was NOT a good idea!  Turns out, hydrogen peroxide triggered a reaction between the old, first gen Tilley duck and it immediately assumed that tragic mustard yellow.  Even soaked right though to the underside of the brim!

just out of curiosity and since I had already made a mess of the hat, I decided to put a little non-chlorine bleach near the same spot and, it too, caused the duck cotton to yellow, with perhaps a little whiteness right near the original spot.  

All of this effort has served to confirm my belief that the yellow mustard reaction is entirely the province of Tilley’s first generation cotton duck.  Further supporting this theory, I spritzed both hydrogen peroxide AND nonchlorine bleach on the late 80’s-early 90’s T1 (pictured) and neither treatment produced a similar yellow mustard reaction.

Did Tilley find a new, less fragile source of cotton duck at some point?  Maybe the steaming/shrinking technique was changed?  This is one thing I will ask Alex if we ever meet.  

Tune in to Part 2, where I will show off the results of restoration.  

Yessir!  That early Tilley fabric is incredibly … reactive? Last night, I decided to try a whole range of cleaning products on both the ‘86 hat and a newer T1, probably 90-95 era.  

Everything I tried that was more toxic than mild detergent or dish soap bled mustard yellow on that ‘86 T3!  Oxy-clean, and non-chlorine bleach and hydrogen peroxide were the most immediate offenders but even my wife’s organic hippie spot removers that are mostly vinegar.  I was amazed.
Now, it’s possible that the very used condition of the T3 contributed to the drama.  More research needs doing.

As for the newer 90’s hat…. Nothing much bothered it in the same way.  Hydrogen peroxide did produce some yellowing but it was different than the mustard and seemed limited to the places where sweat had accumulated and not other areas.  Oxy-clean… well, the more I try it, the less I am impressed.  It’s beyond stinky and leaves everything feeling slimy until you have rinsed and rinsed and rinsed it again… and it still smells after.  

Anyway, you guessed correctly!  A dye job was my only remaining option.  

See part 2.