“Surely they realize this thread is over a year and a half old, don’t they?” he says to no one in particular… 
John, good threads, like old smelly vests, are awful hard to kill.
I’ve washed my vest at least once since I wrote the first post. Washing machine on gentle cycle. It felt a bit odd at first but when the grime started to appear the vest was back to normal. Haven’t washed it this year and probably won’t until next spring. Still haven’t washed the hat and don’t plan to. That would be a crime.
Next time I might ask about taking bananas on boats.
just say no to bananas!