Do you know How To Care For Your UPF Hat? I admit, mine is hanging on a nail on the wall. I thought that was a good idea, well seems there are better ways.
Our sunny days surely call for a hat to keep you more comfortable. Here in Central Texas, we have many sunny days. Our sun is a part of our daily lives.
If you are out during the hours of 10 PM to 4 PM, head cover can make all the difference in being able to protect your skin from the sun. If your hair is thinning on top, beware.
Too many in our part of the world find themselves without enough protection for their heads and faces. Some will try to get by with a cap. While this can help, what about all those UV Rays that are beaming down from the sides? Ears aren’t have no cover, and neither side of your face.
This makes a cap cover only you scalp. You are going to have to put on sunscreen to protect your face, ears, and neck. And reapply often. Man, woman or child will need to remember to reapply sunscreen.
Some caps have oversize brims, and this is better, but a hat with at least a 3-inch brim is even better. A tightly woven wheather straw or fabric, or even felt will keep you safer from those direct rays. You don’t want to wear a hat? Avoid the 10 AM to 4 PM time out in the sun. Or keep raising your risks of skin cancer.
How To Store Your Sun Blocking Hat
Now that you have your hat, how do you care for this hat when it isn’t on your head? I have mine hanging on the wall using the leather string that ties it on to hang by. Should I store it another way? I am thinking about my husbands felt hats that are in the boxes they came in, on the shelf with a lid on the box.
In A Box?
You hat should alway in a storage box. In a box with the crown (top) down and brim up. This position helps perserve the shape of the hat. Most boxes have a hole that allows you to store your hat in this position.
Why?
The crown of your hat is the strongerst part of the hat. The hats crown will help the brim stay in it’s proper shape. If you trun it over, the brim will flatten over time. Hats are not put together to be able to support the crown, band, and reinforcements that create the hat shape.
To Store Multiple Hats
Do You have more than one hat, and not much space to store them?
- Hint for if you have several hats but need to save space. Buy a box that fits your largest hat so that you can nest other similar-shaped hats inside.
- However, don’t nest hats with different shapes or force them to fit. This will cause your hats to loose their oriinal shape. You will end up with misshapen hats.
- A common sense thing to remember if you are storing multiple hats in one box. Put the heaviest hats on the bottom.
Hat Storage Hacks
- Do yiou have lighter weight hats or those with appliques? What about other delicate embellishments? It is better to store these hats alone in their own box.
- Hat boxes are traditionally round. However, square or oblong work well too. The box does need a well fitting lid.
- Don’t squeeze or pack your hats to closely. Not good for shape.
- A very good idea is to lable the boxes so you can quickly identify what’s inside.
- Your Baseball caps, cowboy hats, and derby hats, as well as fedoras usually nest well.
Should You Hang Your Hats?
If you are a seriouss hat wearer, and perfer to have them handy, hanging on a hat rack that has a larger blunt hanger is better than a skinny peg or a nail.
Hanging is not the best way to store your sun hat for long storage periods. Wider brim hats are better if you store rhem in boxes. A plastic cover can help to help keep the hat clean from house dust, bugs and moths.
With felt hats, moth dammage is common when stored on the chest, even brim up. A plastic sleeve of some sort will make it harder for cloth damaging bugs to leave their mark.
I am sorry to say, I have started hat wearing with some very bad habits. Our hats for church , when I was little were in the box, and put back in upon returning home. So many years ago, but as a young girl, I loved wearing hats. Those hats were acessaries, not protection tools like the one I wear now.
This Cleaning Method By Sungrubbies
“Wondering how to clean your sun hatwithout damaging it or making the stain worse? In most cases, the process is pretty straight forward.”
Sungrubbies is a manufacturing company for sun protection clothing.
“This information is to discuss best practices on how to clean a hat and remove stains without damaging it. What you will need is a following:
- A toothbrush or a regular cleaning brush
- Mild soap (think dye free liquid detergent, or dawn clear dish soap, just a few drops will be sufficient)
- A bucket
- 15 minutes of your time”
https://www.sungrubbies.com/blogs/news-articles/how-to-clean-a-hat
Cleaning Your Hat
While Sun grubbies has their suggestions for cleaning our sun hats, I wanted to include some other recommended processes.
Sun hats that we wear now for sun protection usually have tags on them that will have the cleaning instructions for the particular material you have in your hat.
As a general rule, for washable hats, hand wash is the method of choice, using a mild liquid soap or spot wash with a cloth and a bit of detergent mixed with water. Of course, cold water and gentle pressure is better.
Most hats air dry better, and avoid chlorine bleach. If swimming pool water is OK, that will be on the label. Woolite is not recommended, and no dry cleaning.
Gently steam to remove any creases or wrinkles.
How To Wash And Pack Hand Washable And Crush-Resistant Hats
If your hat has a hand washable label, it can usually be shaped with ease while damp. Filling the crown area with crushed newspaper to create a mold of sorts will allow your hat to dry with a good shape.
For cleaning, using a liquid detergent and cold water is the better way to clean the hat. Don’t use warm water, even though the label says it is hand washable.
You can use a hand held dryer on low. Use a large canning jar or even a pickle jar to have the brim up where air can circulate well.
Sitting your hat, on some sort of form that has brim off the ground and allowing to dry in the open air is also usually a safe method of cleaning your hat.
If your hat is durable and crush-resistant, it will probably travel well.
Fabrics that are hand washable can get wet without damage to the weave or colors. These are easy to travel with as well.
To pack your packable hat, push the crown down so that you have a flat hat, Lay flat in you suitecase, so it won’t get folded or creased.
Gently steaming your hat to remove creases or wrinkles upon arrival if needed will freshen the style and make it look great again while it is protecting you from the sun.
How To Wash And Pack Natural Fibers
- As a general rule; handwoven Raffia, Natural Fibers and non-colorfast styles should be spot cleaned without submerging in water.
- Most hat makers recommend; that you spot clean the dirty area with a wet wipe, or a damp cloth only
- Handle with care when packing, if your hat is not crushable. Although their natural materials are durable, spot cleaning and handling with care ensures they last even longer and keep their stylish shape.
- Take care when packing these styles; pack your clothes around the edges of your case leaving the middle of your suitecase free for your hat. Place your hat upside down inside your case. Pack soft underwear, scarves, and other soft accessories inside the crown of the hat.
- Gently steam your hat to remove any creases or wrinkles upon arrival
Choose Hats That Are Made For Packing
Some hats are Ideal for travelling! If you can flatten and pack your hat, theywill bounce right back to the original shape when removed from the luggage and the crown pushed back up.
Refer to the tag when shopping. Pay attention to the fabric features and care chart. There are even packing videos on YouTube!
Features to look for when shopping to assure that you hat will travel well with you;
- Crush Resistant: Push the crown of the hat straight down to flatten out the hat. Lay flat in your suitcase so that it won’t get folded or creased
- Crushable & Foldable Soft sun hats: Some styles can be stuffed in your bag, and you’re ready to go
- Handle with Care: Select styles that should be handled with care, but can still be packed, however, should never be squashed.
- To pack these styles, your clothes go around the edges of your case leaving the middle of your case free for your hat. Remember to place your hat upside down inside your case, and put scarves and other soft accessories inside the hat.
All this worry for my hat, I think a fabric bucket shaped hat will be my hat of choice for traveling.
Tips For How To Extend The Life Of Your Hat
Extend the life of your hat with these simple tips from this article and my experence.
- Store your hat in a hat box when not in use. Any box with a lid that is large enough works
- Never leave your hat in the sun or in the car. Hot temperatures will eventually change the shape, and finishes of any material the hat is made of, even wool felt.
- Avoid hanging your hat on a hook for extended periods of time.
- If your hat gets wet allow it to air dry. If needed, shape gently.
- Handle your hat by the brim instead of the crown.
- If your UPF hat is made from a specially treated fabric or straw, it will retain it’s ability to protect you from the sun a long while.
However, if the material starts to deteriote the quality of the fabric will also decline and it will be a less complete sun block for your skin.
Using the hat care rules will give you a head start for a long life for your sun blocking hat.
Any special care needs will be on the tags that come with the hat. The sun will damage the material of the hat after a while, on your head or in your car.
What Color Hat Is Best?
When choosing your sun blocking hat, the color can help you stay safer from the sun. Darker hats will absorb the sun’s rays, and not let them on your face. However a light under brim will reflect rays back on your face which speeds aging from UVA rays.
A fun color can protect you as long as the fabric is tightly woven and doesn’t let the sun through. Remember the wider brim that protects better. Hats are important in sun protection.
Is Your Umbrella Being Properly Cared For?
Your umbrella will also have care needs that will be on a hang tag when you purchase it. To help your umbrella protect you from the sun longer, remember to give it proper care.
Sun blocking hats and umbrellas are made to have a good long life. Help yourself get your monies worth from your purchase. Color Umbrellas
History Shows Hats Did Protect A Little
I could not resist sharing this image. It shows us that early hats had brims that protected the wearer. Some obviously were made of loosely woven materials and allowed sun through. However, overall this group of ladies would have been somewhat protected from sun damage.
Sami’s Take On How To Care For Your UPF Hat
We have access to many products that can help us take better care of our skin when we are out in the sun.
These products can last a good while, and make our dollars go farther. In our effort to build an effective sun blocking wardrobe, sun hats are important and if we take care of the hats they will last much longer.
The finish and weave of the material in the hat can work for us. We can know that those times we are in the direct sun can leave our heads and faces with a sunburn. A hat can help with this threat. Stay alert to learning about hats, umbrellas and sun blocking clothing that can keep your skin safe.
Help your children develop good, sun safe habits. Set a good example. A responsible approach to skin protection can pay off for you and your family for many years.