Caring for your hat
At Courtois Paris, we make the quality of our hats a true promise. Here are the keys to ensuring your headwear will be with you every day, for many years to come.
Daily maintenance
While the excellence of our craftsmanship and high quality of our headwear is important to us, headwear requires a certain amount of daily attention. Its maintenance requires rigor, because depending on the material used, it can be very different. Whether your hat is made of felt, fur, or straw, a noble material requires specific care for a lifespan as exceptional as your headwear!
How to care for your Panama
The Panama straw hats of Maison Courtois are woven by the expert hands of Ecuadorian artisans. Courtois Panamas stand out for their fine weave grades, which are higher or lower depending on the model. Made from the straw fibre known as "paja toquilla", renowned for its strength, the Panama hat nonetheless requires great care.
Handling and storing your hat
When putting on or handling your hat, we strongly advise against pinching it. Hold it by the brim instead! Although your hat has been blocked into shape, pinching it damages the straw, which will eventually crack.
When you are not wearing it, store your Panama flat on a shelf, in its lovely Courtois canvas pouch. This will protect it from dust and help it keep its original shape!
Living with your Panama every day
Heat is the enemy of straw! It dries out the fibre and makes it brittle. We advise against leaving your hat in the blazing sun on the rear shelf of a car, or near a heater, for example. The sun may also slightly fade dyed straws.
Avoid any contact with water or rain. On holiday, accidents happen quickly… If your Panama falls into the water, leave it to dry flat as it is, out of the sun, without speeding up the drying with a heat source (such as a heater).
We recommend occasionally misting your Panama with a fine spray of water. This nourishes the straw so that it keeps all its suppleness.
If your Panama gets stained, do not use detergent, solvent or any other product containing alcohol, which could mark the straw or discolour the hat. The best trick is to rub gently with an eraser or a very soft, dry cloth, taking care not to damage the straw fibre.
Caring for your felt hat
Our hats are made in keeping with hat-making tradition, in the finest qualities of felt, sometimes in unique materials dating from the 19th century. Fedora, cloche, bowler or capeline, the felt hat is more than an accessory – it lies at the very heart of fashion and chic. Here are a few tips for caring for your felt hat.
The material
At Courtois, our felts are made from natural materials. Whether wool, rabbit or beaver fur, they require great care when cleaning. We recommend brushing the nap occasionally to remove dust and avoid damaging the material.
The shape
Felt is not a fragile material, but you should keep an eye on the weather when wearing it. It can handle light rain, but heavy showers less so. To preserve its original shape, it is essential to let your hat dry in the open air, away from any heat source (heater, radiator). As with its summer cousin the Panama, avoid pinching the crown when putting it on or wearing it, so that it does not lose its shape.
How to care for your cap or bucket hat
Linen, cotton, tweed or cashmere: our caps and bucket hats are made in a range of materials according to the season. Here is how to look after them and care for them properly.
Summer caps and bucket hats
To ensure the longevity of your Courtois cap, should it become soiled, we recommend dry cleaning. Using hot water could damage and warp its peak.
When you are not wearing it, we advise filling the crown with tissue paper and storing it in its Courtois Paris fabric pouch to protect it from dust.
Winter caps and bucket hats, other water-resistant materials
Here too, we recommend dry cleaning if you stain your headwear. If it is made of wool felt (e.g. the Carnac model) or corduroy (e.g. the Tim model), you can also remove dust with a brush from time to time to prevent stains.
If you are in any doubt, however, do not take any risks and take your headwear to a professional, such as a dry cleaner. Or give the boutique a call for personalised help!
Reshaping
Because a Courtois hat stays with you for a lifetime, your story becomes ours too.
With this in mind, should misfortune befall your headwear, we will do our best to reshape it. Feel free to come directly to our Paris boutiques, where our teams of hatters and milliners can assess the damage and advise you.
