Hat Care

David Morgan is pleased to offer a wide range of quality hats including Akubra fur felt hats from Australia, Panama hats, Tilley hats, and Conner Hats. Here are care instructions for the hats we carry.

Additional information can be found by viewing our YouTube video:

Wearing and Caring for your Akubra 

Akubra Hats are made to be worn by active outdoors people. They are made to give full satisfaction during years of service, through sun and rain. There is no need to baby your Akubra, but if you treat it with understanding, it will look better and last longer.

Do not pick up your hat by pinching the crown, either at the top or front. Pinching will flex the felt, and eventually cause a hole or crack to develop in the felt. It is best to pick up the hat either by the front and back of the brim, or by placing the thumbs inside the leather sweat band at the sides with the fingers just touching the outside of the brim, as shown below.

Rain or sun do not harm a pure fur felt hat. There is no need for plastic rain covers — these merely keep the felt from breathing properly and so make your head uncomfortable. Do not heat a wet hat. Heat will shrink the felt, as well as the leather. Stand the hat upside down on its crown, or hang on a hook in a cool place and let it dry naturally. Wet felt retains the shape in which it dries, so make sure the brim and crown are shaped as you want them before drying. Do not leave a hat standing flat on its brim, as this will distort the brim. Never put your hat on the back ledge of your car or truck in the sun, as the heat may shrink and damage the leather sweatband. If your hats must of necessity be dried or stored under warm conditions, regular use of a Hat Stretcher will be beneficial.

Dust and grime are bound to accumulate on a hat under any normal conditions. Dust can be removed by brushing with a  soft brush. Always brush with the nap, in a counterclockwise direction. Dust can also be removed by wiping the hat with a damp (not wet) towel.

A braided leather hat band, such as our Fancy Edge Hat Band, sets off a hat well. When fitting a band, a stitch on each side to hold it in place is good practice.

Chin straps ensure against loss of your hat in wind or brush. Most of our Akubras have chin strap hooks set inside the crown. Just slip the end of the strap through the gap between leather and crown, and set the strap over the hooks. [Attaching A Chin Strap to Your Akubra]. For hats without chin strap hooks, our Stampede String works well, as does the Akubra Breakaway Chin Strap.

Renovation of Your Akubra Hat

With a little care, an Akubra hat should last years. If your Akubra meets with an accident, or suffers abuse, consider having it renovated.

A good quality fur felt hat can be cleaned and renovated successfully. In a full renovation the hat is disassembled — the hat band, sweatband, lining and edge binding on the brim (if any) are removed. The felt is then dry cleaned and re-blocked to size and shape. The hat is then reassembled, using the old bands and lining, if they are in good condition after cleaning, or new bands and lining. In a partial renovation the hat may be spot cleaned and re-blocked to size and shape. Holes in the felt, as those caused by picking up the hat by the front pinch or edge of the crown, cannot be repaired.

Hat renovators, once common in most cities and towns, are now few in number. We have noted some of our Akubra Dealers who still offer this service, and we provide a list of known Hat Renovators. If you do not have a hatter locally, we suggest you contact one of these renovators.

Panama Hat Care

With reasonable care, Panama hats will last well. While extremely light fine weaves may be folded and rolled, the firmer weaves we offer should not be crushed. Pick the hat up by the brim, not by the crown or the peak, even though the peak is reinforced.

Panama hats are designed for protection from the sun. Do not wear them as a rain hat. If you are caught in a shower and your Panama gets wet, let it dry naturally without heat, with crown and brim in the proper shape.

When you put your hat down temporarily place it on its crown, so as not to distort the brim. Store the hat on a hat rack or supported at the sweat band in a hat box.

Use a soft brush to remove dust.

Care of Tilley Hats

Please see the individual hats for care instructions, as care varies with the material used. The hemp and cotton hats are washable. Machine wash, air dry. Do not bleach. If your hats must of necessity be dried or stored under warm conditions, regular use of a Hat Stretcher will be beneficial. For more information please refer to Tilley Hats.

For more information …

Please follow the links below for more information about hat care, Akubra hats and related items.

We invite you to watch our YouTube Videos pertaining to hats including how to measure your head for a hat, care and bashing an open crown hat.

Hat Sizing
Hat Renovators
Hat FAQs
Bashing Your Open Crown Akubra
Hat Manual (pdf)

Repacking Your Akubra
Returns/Reorder Form (pdf)

Akubra Hats
Fedoras & City Hats

A great resource for those interested in hats is Henry L. Ermatinger’s book, Scientific Hat Finishing and Renovating, published in 1919 and now available online through the Open Library. The full title of this profusely illustrated book is Scientific hat finishing and renovating; a complete and profusely illustrated course of instruction, enabling the novice to acquire the art of finishing and remodeling hats of all varieties according to tested and approved methods