DIY Waterproofing for Hats

Want the full walkthrough? See our hat care hub.

In this video, we’re going to show you how to waterproof your Conner Hat, including how to waterproof a wool felt hat and other types. Our preferred hat waterproofing spray is a product called Nikwax. We sell it here on our website. It’s non-toxic, and it does a fantastic job. And I’m going to show you how to waterproof a leather hat, a straw hat, and a cloth hat as well.

The first hat I’m going to show you how to waterproof is a wool hat, specifically how to waterproof a felt cowboy hat. (0:30) So the directions on the back say hold the spray nozzle about five centimeters from the product that you’re waterproofing. I prefer to move it a little bit further back, you want to spray generously so it’s really even. Just keep going around, even-even-even. Keep in mind this is non-toxic, so you don’t have to worry about breathing any of this stuff in or getting it on your skin. Totally harmless. So you can tell it’s basically all over the hat, ensuring a thorough hat waterproofing. (1:00) You can do this a few times if you’d like. I like to spray it, and then I take a nice cloth and just rub the whole thing down and rub it in. If there’s any drips or anything that could be kind of making it uneven, this will even everything out and make it really nice. Once that’s all wiped down, you can do it over any leather or any material on the hat. Let it dry naturally. (1:30) And then if you feel like you want to do it again, go for it. If not, that should be perfectly waterproof in a downpour.

So I’m going to do two materials at once here, demonstrating how to waterproof a straw hat and a cloth hat. On any kind of cloth or straw, just take it. Now you’re going to notice that this cloth is going to get a little bit wet looking, so just keep it pretty far away on this one. Make it nice and even. You’ll see there’s a couple of drips on this hat, but that’s ok. Just take it and wipe it down. Now this one is probably the scariest one to waterproof because you’ll see little droplets that look like they're stained, but it’s not. It’s going to dry clear, but it’s good to give it that wipe down. (3:00) Same with the straw hat, for effective hat waterproofing. Give it a bit of a spray all the way around, nice and even. Wipe it down, and you’ve just waterproofed your hats. You’re good to get out in the rain. If you need to do it again, go for it. It’s all non-toxic as I said, and that’s our Nikwax waterproof spray that you can pick right up here on our site.