Felt Cowboy Hats: Wool vs. Fur, Fit and Care

Felt Cowboy Hats questions

How do you shape a felt cowboy hat?

Steam it. Hold one section over a steaming kettle until the felt softens, bend it with your fingers, and hold it there until it cools and sets. Then move to the next section. Go slowly and keep your fingers clear of the steam. For a full crown re-crease or a brim that's badly warped, a hat shop has the tools to do it cleanly.

How do you clean a felt cowboy hat?

Start with a soft hat brush and go counterclockwise around the hat. For dust, use a damp cloth wrung out well. A lint roller or sticky tape lifts hair and fuzz. For stubborn marks, use a cleaner made for felt hats, tested somewhere hidden first. Skip nylon brushes; American Hat Makers says they're too rough on felt.

What do the X's on a cowboy hat mean?

On fur felt hats, the X number reflects the fur blend: more fine fur, like beaver, means a higher number. Resistol says plainly that the system isn't regulated and that X standards aren't comparable between brands, so a 100X from one maker can match a 1000X from another. Compare X ratings only within one brand. Wool felt hats usually don't carry one.

When is felt hat season?

Tradition says felt from Labor Day to Memorial Day and straw in between. Resistol and American Hat Makers both give that calendar, and Resistol adds that some events call for felt in any season. The honest rule is temperature. If it's cool enough that you'd want a jacket in the evening, felt is right.

Can a felt cowboy hat get wet?

A little rain won't ruin it. Shake off the water, turn the leather sweatband down so air gets in, and let it dry at room temperature, crown down, so the wet brim isn't pressed against anything. Keep it away from heaters and hair dryers; Stetson's care guide warns heat on wet felt can shrink it. Wool felt soaks up more than fur felt, so be quicker with wool.

Can you wear a felt cowboy hat in the summer?

You can, and plenty of people do at night shows, weddings and anywhere with air conditioning. Felt doesn't breathe like straw, so on a hot afternoon it gets warm fast. Resistol notes that some events call for felt in any season. For long days in July sun, a straw hat is the comfortable choice and the traditional one.

Is a 4X or 6X felt cowboy hat worth it?

Only if you compare inside one brand. Resistol says a higher X means more fine fur in the blend and a more durable, water-resistant, longer-lasting hat, but it also says X standards aren't regulated or comparable between brands. A 6X from one maker may not beat a 4X from another. Wool felt hats, including every felt hat in our feed, don't carry an X at all.

Is wool felt or fur felt better?

Fur felt is finer, and makers like Resistol say more fine fur makes a hat more durable and more water resistant, which is why it costs more. Wool felt is sturdy and much easier on a budget. For a first hat, an occasional-wear hat or a hat you plan to beat up, wool is a sensible choice. If you'll wear it every day for years, fur is worth pricing out.

How do you store a felt hat?

Upside down on its crown, or on a hat rack, so nothing presses on the brim. American Hat Makers warns that resting a hat on its brim can warp it. Keep it somewhere dry and cool. A closet shelf works; a car's back window in summer does not. A hat box keeps dust off if you won't wear it for months.

Will a felt hat shrink or stretch?

It can do both. Heat, sweat and humidity can shrink felt, and American Hat Makers says a hat stretcher can bring a shrunken hat back to size. Felt also relaxes a little with wear as the sweatband molds to your head. That's why a felt hat should feel snug on day one rather than loose.

Wool felt or fur felt: which is better?

Both are felt, which means the fibers are matted together rather than woven. The difference is the fiber.

Wool felt is the common one, and it’s what every felt cowboy hat in our launch feed is made of. It’s sturdy and it doesn’t ask much of your wallet. Fur felt uses fine animal fur. Resistol describes its blends as beaver, wild hare and rabbit, with more beaver meaning a tougher, more water-resistant hat and a higher X rating.

If you’re buying your first felt hat, or a hat for a few weddings and the stock show each year, wool does the job. If you’ll wear it daily through wet winters, fur starts to earn its price.

What does the X rating tell you, and what doesn’t it?

The X number on a fur felt hat is a maker’s grade for its fur blend. A higher number means more fine fur. Resistol states that the scale isn’t regulated and isn’t comparable from one brand to the next. So “20X” means something inside a single brand’s lineup and very little across brands. When a felt hat doesn’t list an X, that usually just means it’s wool.

Which color and crease should you pick?

Black and dark brown are the most forgiving felt colors. They hide wear and dress up easily. Silverbelly, sand and white look sharp and show every fingerprint, so they reward people who brush their hats. For the crown, a cattleman crease is the safe classic, and it’s the most common crown shape among the cowboy hats in our feed. The styles guide walks through the rest.

How should a felt hat fit?

Felt molds a little to your head over time, so buy snug, not loose. Measure where the hat will sit and use the store’s chart; ours is on the size chart page. Sizes that fall between two numbers should go up, per American Hat Makers, and take up any slack with an insert.

What care actually matters?

Brush it counterclockwise with a soft brush after dusty days. Keep it on its crown or a rack. Keep it out of heat, which shrinks felt faster than anything else you’ll do to it. If it gets rained on, shake it, turn the sweatband down and let it dry on its own.

How long does a felt cowboy hat last?

Years, if you let it. Resistol ties a higher X to a longer-lasting fur felt hat, and a good wool felt hat outlives its owner’s patience when it’s kept dry, brushed and away from heat. Most felt hats that die young meet a hot dashboard, a soaking followed by a hair dryer, or a crown pinched in the same spot a thousand times until it cracks. Rotate your grip, rest it on its crown, and it’ll keep going.

What’s the best felt cowboy hat for the money?

The one in your exact size, in a color you’ll wear twice a week, from a maker that states its material plainly. For most people that’s a midweight wool felt cattleman in black or brown. Spend more for fur felt only if you’ll wear it hard in wet weather. Our best felt cowboy hats list ranks the feed on sizes in stock, stated build details and price against the median.

How do you get sweat stains out of a cowboy hat?

Catch them early. Wipe the sweatband with a barely damp cloth after hot days and let the hat dry on its crown with the band turned down so air gets in. On felt, a cleaner made for felt hats or a soft hat sponge lifts most marks from the outside; test it on the underside of the brim first. On straw, American Hat Makers suggests cornstarch to soak up grease and sweat, brushed off after it sits. A stain that’s soaked deep into felt is a job for a hat shop.

How do you get rid of the smell in a cowboy hat?

Air, mostly. After every sweaty wear, flip the sweatband down and let the hat breathe overnight somewhere cool, out of a closed closet or truck cab. A wipe of the sweatband with a damp cloth helps. Some people tuck a dry tea bag or a sachet of baking soda in the crown overnight; it can help with the smell, though no hat maker we checked recommends it, so keep it off the felt itself. If the band is beyond saving, a hat shop can replace it.

How do you travel with a cowboy hat on a plane?

Wear it through the airport and onto the plane, then set it crown down in the overhead bin with nothing on top, or hold it on your lap. Packing a felt cowboy hat in a suitcase is how brims get bent. If you must check it, use a proper hat box or hat case with the crown stuffed with soft clothes. Crushable felt hats, which the listing will call packable or crushable, are the exception: those are made to ride in a bag.

Felt Cowboy Hats