News1 min ago
(Not As) Black As Your Hat...
18 Answers
I have some hats that I want to dye black. I've worn pakols for years. Pakols, also known as Pakuls or Khapols, Kapols, Kapors, chitrali topis and Mujahideen caps, are available in black: no problem. My latest acquisitions, however, are not. These Chitrali titfers are made of...? Wool, wool-like or whatever (see below for pictures). http://
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In a nut: I thought it would be a doddle to dye hats in the twenty-first century. I was wrong.
Not knowing exactly the stuff they're made out of isn't much use, but wool seems like the best bet to me; however, dying wool, acrylics and such and such has turned out to be a seemingly insurmountable Everest of a problem.
I visited 'Hobby Craft' in Northampton. The staff, after I'd found out that Dylon, et al, couldn't dye woolly stuff, were as clueless as I, and didn't have any interest in advising me whatsoever, "Try the internet?"...
I contacted an on-line place that could dye 'em black, but they said that I'd have to wait for 'a batch' of stuff they were going to dye black to pile up (or else the 'cost of dye alone would be approx. eighty-five quid...). They would then charge me twenty-quid (sans P&P) for three hats. The cost of living and the cost of dying, eh?
I'd be mega-grateful for any advice. I must admit that I'd rather send 'em off brick red (AKA salmon pink...), green and grey, and receive nice black ones back (I have grim memories of dying stuff black, back in the punk days, late 70s, and managing to dye the lino, work surfaces and most other things black in my mother's kitchen). But I'm willing to do it myself, if needs be.
I wasn't sure where to post this. If this is the wrong section, I'd be grateful for any advice, also.
Paul Gammage.
http://
http://
http://
In a nut: I thought it would be a doddle to dye hats in the twenty-first century. I was wrong.
Not knowing exactly the stuff they're made out of isn't much use, but wool seems like the best bet to me; however, dying wool, acrylics and such and such has turned out to be a seemingly insurmountable Everest of a problem.
I visited 'Hobby Craft' in Northampton. The staff, after I'd found out that Dylon, et al, couldn't dye woolly stuff, were as clueless as I, and didn't have any interest in advising me whatsoever, "Try the internet?"...
I contacted an on-line place that could dye 'em black, but they said that I'd have to wait for 'a batch' of stuff they were going to dye black to pile up (or else the 'cost of dye alone would be approx. eighty-five quid...). They would then charge me twenty-quid (sans P&P) for three hats. The cost of living and the cost of dying, eh?
I'd be mega-grateful for any advice. I must admit that I'd rather send 'em off brick red (AKA salmon pink...), green and grey, and receive nice black ones back (I have grim memories of dying stuff black, back in the punk days, late 70s, and managing to dye the lino, work surfaces and most other things black in my mother's kitchen). But I'm willing to do it myself, if needs be.
I wasn't sure where to post this. If this is the wrong section, I'd be grateful for any advice, also.
Paul Gammage.
Answers
1 to 18 of 18
I would therefore try a good quality ladies black hair dye which does not have to be heated and should not harm wool.
22:30 Sun 17th Feb 2013
well they have been dyed already to be the colour they are, what sort of dying process is used when they are first manufactured?
http://
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Ye gods! Having examined the dying process at http://
Same metal bucket, cooker, mess and scalding black liquid akin to ichor from the armpit of Satan, or, more correctly, Pan.
Same metal bucket, cooker, mess and scalding black liquid akin to ichor from the armpit of Satan, or, more correctly, Pan.
You've got a problem with dyeing wool. To make the dye take, you need it to be hot. Hot water will cause the wool fibres to shrink and felt up. So you would have a tiny, firm hat. In black.
Get some black fleece fabric and needles and thread. Cut open one of your old hats and use it as a pattern. Make a nice new one.
Get some black fleece fabric and needles and thread. Cut open one of your old hats and use it as a pattern. Make a nice new one.
Alias Smith or Jones has hit the snail on the head: the method is still the method.
As for making myself some nice new authentic Chitrali hats... Had I the expected life-span of Methuselah, I might well consider doing something time consuming that I really didn't want to do; however, longevity isn't a family trait - I'll be lucky to reach sixty, methinks.
It's just that the Dylon bumph I've seen involves microwaving: a technological advancement, for me. I understand that the process involves heat, but the metal bucket on the stove stuff seems slightly stone age, smelly and suspect.
Thanks for both of your time and downright decency re., responding to my question.
As for making myself some nice new authentic Chitrali hats... Had I the expected life-span of Methuselah, I might well consider doing something time consuming that I really didn't want to do; however, longevity isn't a family trait - I'll be lucky to reach sixty, methinks.
It's just that the Dylon bumph I've seen involves microwaving: a technological advancement, for me. I understand that the process involves heat, but the metal bucket on the stove stuff seems slightly stone age, smelly and suspect.
Thanks for both of your time and downright decency re., responding to my question.
The hat pictured on eBay is a pakol. I've got black pakols:
"...I've worn pakols for years. Pakols, also known as Pakuls or Khapols, Kapols, Kapors, chitrali topis and Mujahideen caps, are available in black: no problem."
Yet another snippet of my original question that, for me, rather leaves no room for doubt re., my possession of black pakols, methinks.
"...I've worn pakols for years. Pakols, also known as Pakuls or Khapols, Kapols, Kapors, chitrali topis and Mujahideen caps, are available in black: no problem."
Yet another snippet of my original question that, for me, rather leaves no room for doubt re., my possession of black pakols, methinks.
Ha! Yes indeedy! Hair dye is an excellent suggestion. I'm not too bothered if the hats are not jet black as the ace of spades' titfer.
I was thinking about reverse logic: a salmon pink hat accidentally falling into a bowl of black Indian Ink. I could post the question on here: "I have a salmon pink hat that fell into a bowl of black ink. How do I get it a fish-like shade again?"
Answers I might receive might read, "You are well and truly buggered, chap. Getting the aforementioned hat back to glorious salmon pink would, methinks, be a thoroughly futile endeavour that would traumatise you no end."
As for "...studying carefully..." my original message. Ha! It's in plain English. Even the illustrious Mr Fowler would be hard pressed to press me hard re., flowery prose.
I was thinking about reverse logic: a salmon pink hat accidentally falling into a bowl of black Indian Ink. I could post the question on here: "I have a salmon pink hat that fell into a bowl of black ink. How do I get it a fish-like shade again?"
Answers I might receive might read, "You are well and truly buggered, chap. Getting the aforementioned hat back to glorious salmon pink would, methinks, be a thoroughly futile endeavour that would traumatise you no end."
As for "...studying carefully..." my original message. Ha! It's in plain English. Even the illustrious Mr Fowler would be hard pressed to press me hard re., flowery prose.
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