Laundry Day
11. Washing and Bleaching the Hats
Gabriel takes the hats out back in the yard behind his workshop. He fills a wash basin with water, left. Above, he uses a particular type of soap to lather up the hat. The soap is very blue. Everyone calls it “blue soap.” Logical.
A plastic scrub brush is used
to wash the hats inside and out.
Oops. the brush pops out of his hand, left.
Below, he scrubs each hat all over, making sure the entire hat gets a good washing.
As with everything he does, Gabriel takes his time, pays close attention, and does a thorough job.
Below, he puts the washed hats to one side as he continues to wash the others.
Rinse cycle. Gabriel rinses off the soap, adding clean water to make sure it is all out.
The hats at the right are rinsed and ready. Ready for what? To be dried of course.
Can you see that each hat has one area where the brim straw is still long, uncut? These hats have been through the first round of cutting, but Gabriel purposely leaves one area of the straw uncut. He uses the long area of the straw to fold over the clothes line and put a clothes pin on it when he hangs the hats out to dry. (Below)
Unlike with laundry, the bleaching does not occur during the wash cycle. Gabriel’s bleaching set up for the hats is similar to how Simón bleaches the straw. He puts the hats into the barrel, covers it with layers of cloth, then slides a bowl of burning coals and sulfur into the barrel underneath the hats and leaves them overnight.
Surprisingly, the bleaching does not lighten the color of the hats as much as the apaleador does.
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Next: Pound for pound,
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12. The Apaleador Softens the Hats go to
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Text and photos © 1988-2010, B. Brent Black. All rights reserved.
