How to clean your bonnet
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- čas přidán 17. 11. 2019
- We rarely think about cleaning our head-dress - and if you wear it daily (as soldiers do) it can get very manky indeed before you notice it.
In this video I show my tried-and-true method for cleaning a bonnet, which works equally well for khaki TOS and balmoral bonnets.
This particular glengarry might well be a century old (good kit lasts a long time) and as it clearly shows the marks of a Sergeants' or officers' cap badge - there isn't a very long list of Sergeant-Pipers in the 1st Bn - it might well have been worn by one of my personal heroes: WO John Gillies MSM or WO1 Ed Essen MBE - in which case I've committed Antiquarian Sacrilege by washing the mud of Vimy and the Somme or the dust of Sicily out of it ( Oops) - but In the absence of provenance I will wear it with pride when I play my pipes (themselves a relic of Tobruk and Alamein)
I really enjoy your videos. Nice collection of bonnets, by the way. I made a glen back in the 1980s, sewing it out of Black Watch (government) tartan. I have been fascinated by them ever since.
First, you won't be removing much lanolin from your bonnet as almost none survives the manufacturing process. All good bonnets, just like berets, fezes, and chechias are knitted from fine wool into a loose bag that is at least twice the size of the final product. By hand they are knitted in the round. Tams, berets, and Balmorals knitted out in a circle and then part way back in towards the centre. Glens, Kilmarnock bonnets, and chechias are knitted out in a circle and then down in a cylindrical fashion (a Glengarry is essentially a differently blocked Kilmarnock). Hummel bonnets have a little bulge around the top but then have parallel sides like a Kilmarnock. Most of these hats are now knitted by machine (Robert Mackie, founder of the current manufacturer patented a bonnet knitting machine.) When knitted this way, they are not done in the round, but knitted sideways with the centre at one end and the brim edge at the other. These are then closed on another knitting machine that makes an invisible seam.
All of these hats, once they have been knitted, are thrown into a hot bath and are mechanically worked to curl up and felt the fibres, shrinking them down in size. They are also then dyed to their final colour. Berets (and presumably Balmorals, although I haven't seen that specific process) are stretched on a two part disk. The other bonnets are blocked on wooden forms where they are pressed with heat to finish the shape. If there be dicing (aka Stillitoe tartan) it is knitted or crocheted in a separate step out of predyed wool, but not loose like the body of the bonnet.
I could yammer on about bonnets, but suffice it to say that gently washing it by hand with Woolite® in cold water and rinsing it well is probably they best course for exactly the reason you give... dirt breaks fibres.
Can you still make glens? there is a huge potential market out there for 'low-rise' glengarrys!
@@robertmacdonaldbespokekilt3063 I have been measuring all the old glens that I can get my hands on and making mock up blocks to hand off to a wood worker. I am ramping up to make proper ones unlike the facsimile I made years ago. I just found grosgrain wide enough for the cocades as well. I am probably one of the few people who wants to make a pilgrimage to Stewarton, Ayrshire, 'the Bonnet Toon.'
I prefer the low ones myself, I don't know why they've been getting taller and taller over the past while. I have seen circa 1860-80 ones that are so tall that the sides meet over the wearer's head. My ideal is probably WWII era issue that are not quite as low as WWI, but nothing like the present. I have also observed that in the UK, the ToS (tam o' shanter or what we Camerons called a combat Balmoral) has shrunk to be smaller than a beret. They look so odd.
@@blacksmith67 That's BRILLIANT - you're heading toward a 'shut up and take my money' situation!
The Jocks of The Highlanders call the new style a 'Battle Bonnet', and it reminds me a little of the 'hummel' bonnet of the18th and 19th century.
Robert MacDonald, Bespoke Kiltmaker Do the Seaforths get their headdress from Mackie of Scotland Ltd (I think the only manufacturer left in Scotland) or from William Scully in Montreal?
Great info for cleaning a Glengarry.
Thank you Sir. Do you recommend the same technique on CF issue berets?
Yes - I first learned this trick when I was handed a brand-new beret when I was a boot recruit back in '75.
It's vital to shape it to your head and then wear it until it's dry.
Robert MacDonald, Bespoke Kiltmaker Thank you very much Sir!
What are your thoughts on non-traditional headwear? To me, anything traditional looks too military. I personally look better, and feel better wearing a full brim.
Howjamean 'non trad' and 'full brim' - do you mean like the old-style Tam o'Shanter (TOS) of the late 1800 - early 1900s?
My own feeling is "If you prefer a certain look, then wear it and dam' anyone else's' opinion!"
@@robertmacdonaldbespokekilt3063 I am thinking along the lines of a Fedora
@@happyheathen7153 Hey, if you look in the mirror and say "YES, that is the look for ME!" then by all means rock it!
Everything’s better with blue bonnet on it…
Great - now I have THAT advertising jingle playing in my head! hahaha
You say not to dry clean wool, I have just purchased a high quality custom made Kilt, made in Scotland from a reputable maker
the label attached inside says "Dry Clean only"
I stand by my recommendation - dry-cleaning is bad for wool, as the solvents will remove the natural oils from the fibres and unless the person standing at the pressing table is thoroughly familiar with kilts(**) most or all of the pleats will be pressed into a wedge-shape.
(** haven't met one yet in over 40 years of looking! )
@@robertmacdonaldbespokekilt3063 Don't get me wrong I am not disputing your advice just thought it was interesting
finding a Dry Cleaner in Adelaide that is familiar with kilts would be a interesting task
@@pijnto No worries - 'text' always comes across as 'terse' ;).
Well, I suppose that 'they have to say SOMETHING' on the label...but I don't see that as responsible advice - but that's the difference between 'retail' (where the vendors' involvement ends at time of sale) and 'Bespoke' (where we maintain an open-ended relationship with the client. )
I just don't see any practical reason to dry-clean a kilt.