White donald duck cap cover

[John R.]

I have a circa 1938 KM donald duck cap with white cover. After years of probably been handled by hundreds of people, it is very dirty and somewhat yellowed. More filthy than anything else.

A problem is that these are of one piece construction. So you can remove the emblems and tally, no problem, but the white top is integral to the frame of the cap. There is no inner lining to the cap, but the leather sweat band and supporting black ring frame is very damaged and cracked and under no circumstances could it get wet.

Normally, I leave a cap alone, but this one is in very poor visual condition that has nothing to do with the wear of the cap by the sailor or gradual yellowing due to aging.

Therefore, you would have to somehow clean the white part of the cap down to the black support ring just enough to remove the worst of the dirt but not enough to make it white again or shrink. I do not think it would shrink in cold water, but the problem is the construction of the cap since the top is not removable.

In this regards, dry cleaning is out since it might turn it gleaming white and ruin the looks of the cap. I just want it to be off white at this point with its basic character intact.

I do know if you attempt to remove a spot of the worst of the dirt stain, it will just grow and make it worse so spot cleaning will not work.

If the top came off, then the issue is not so difficult but it will not come off since it is sewn into the support ring.

Or, just leave it alone and accept the dirt.

I do not consider this patina in the sense of a badge, it is just dirt from lots of post war handling by the family.

Opinions and advice requested.

John

[Paul R.]

It sounds like you already have the answer to your question. We can not at times remove past collectors handling mistakes. In the field of conservation their is no one size treatment for all. With the hat in it's present condition why run a very good change of destorying it. In my line of work sometimes there is nothing that can be done to an artifact item. Most inexperence conservators want to fix everything. They feel defeated if they can save something. As we gain more experiences sometimes it"s better to leave history alone. It's best to keep the hat in a stable enviroiment than try to reverse the neglect of a past collector.
I think now you might understand when we say wear gloves, do not expose it to harsh light and store it in a acid free enviroment. Sorry. Paul

[CWP]

I agree with Paul. It sounds like you have carefully considered the options and could not find a solution that does not risk further damaging the hat or compromising its originality. It sounds like the hat would be best left as it is.