Restoring my Faded Patagonia Hat

I decided to use Rit Dye to restore my favorite Patagonia hat. My black P6 Trucker Hat started to fade about two years after purchasing it in 2015. After wearing it in the ocean, the lake, the pool and everywhere else, you can see how faded it has become. I actually stopped wearing it out in public because of how it looked. So the hat has hung on my over the door coat rack for the past 6 months collecting dust.

If you like to watch videos instead of reading, check out my quick video of the process:

The idea:

The idea to use Rite Dye came about after thinking of ways to dye an old Trek Bicycle mountain bike seat that is on my Trek Alpha 4500. I picked up my Alpha 4500 from my neighbors down the street from us. They were throwing away the mountain bike and I got lucky that it was still there when I drove by. I have not dyed the seat just yet, but once I do I’ll be sure to publish a post about it. I also plan to film the restoration process for the bike and will publish a post for the entire rebuild. Be sure to check back in a few months.

Interesting note: The hat was $23.20 in 2015 and now retails for $29 on REI.com, $35 on Backcountry.com and $60 on Amazon.com. It is crazy to think about the price increase for just this hat. It makes me think about the other items I purchase and how much they have increased or how much their quantity has decreased (shrinkflation).

My faded hat:

Here is my four year old hat (2015-2019). The patch still looks great! It makes me wonder what type of threads they used. Too bad they do not use the same type of threads in the fabric of the two front panels and the bill. Then they would not have a problem with their hats fading.

Steps to Restore your Hat:

1.Wash the hat with soap and water to remove sweat and other buildup. This allows the dye to soak into the fabric. Let the hat completely dry before moving onto the next step.

2.Heat water until it begins to boil. The temperature should be around 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit so by the time you add in the dye, salt and dish detergent it should be about right.

3.Mix in about 1/3 of the Rit Dye, 1/4 cup of salt and a few drops of dish detergent into a bowel.

Use salt when dyeing fabrics containing cotton, rayon, ramie or linen. Use vinegar when dyeing fabrics containing nylon, silk or wool. See Ritdye.com for more information and their directions.

4. Wearing gloves use a rag to transfer the dye over to the hat while the water is still hot.

5. Soak the hat thoroughly with the hot dye mixture and use caution around the logo patch.

6. Let the dye soak into the hat for an hour or so. The first time I only let the dye soak in for 15 minutes or so and it ended up like the picture below.

Result after the first dye job:

7. Rinse the dyed hat with cool water until the runoff water runs clear.

8. Then wash the hat under warm water with a mild detergent to remove any remaining dye.

End. Let it dry and enjoy.

Before and After:

I ended up dyeing the hat three times to get the final result on the right. Each time I waited longer and longer to rinse out the dye. The third and final time I waited over an hour to rinse the dye. The hat doesn’t look perfect, but it looks whole of a lot better than before. It has a weathered look that I like. The final result looks closer to how it looked after wearing it for a year.

*Below is a picture of a brand new hat for comparison.

My thoughts: I am super thrilled with the result. It was only three dollars to restore my hat to an almost like new appearance. However, time will tell all if the Rit dye will last. If it fades faster than I expect (within the next 6 months) I will be sure to update this post with the results.

Thinking about dyeing you hat? Let me know if you have any questions or leave a comment if you have had any experiencing dyeing your own hat.
-theBidon

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