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[2jakes]

Has anyone seen a shop that is carrying the Stetson Preakness? One 2 Mini Ranch said they won’t be carrying it and JJs and DelMonico didn’t know anything about the model. Thanks.


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[LuvMyMan]

What is the opinion on treating sweats to keep them supple? I have a 50+ year old Adam I got recently and 4 custom hats that I am thinking of treating. I have Feibing's mink oil liquid on hand and I was thinking of using that sparingly so there is absorption but no bleed into the liner or felt. I want to assure they stay supple and none of them has been sweated in very much yet.
Any experience with this??

A leather conditioner needs to have no wax and light enough to soak into the sweatband. I use Cadillac Boot and Shoe Care conditioner for many reasons. It works well on any smooth finish leather and is not "sticky" after use. If you can turn your sweatband out, then you can apply it on the back side and then let it sit a day and wipe it off with a clean white clothe. If you cannot turn the sweatband out, then put something like tin foil all the way around behind the sweatband to keep the conditioner off your hat body and work the conditioner between the leather and the foil. Please know it take time to have a leather sweatband get dry...and takes time to restore it. If you can be careful and apply this Cadillac to your leather, and sort of rub and work it in, you can get great results. Have had great success on hats with this and very old vintage shoes and western bootd that I have restored. Lexol is not a bad conditioner but it does not work as well as Cadillac. I would stay away from any mink or leather oil treatments as they are too thick to really soak in and revitalize the leather to be super soft and supple the way you desire it to be. As long as your leather is not breaking and flaking, this will be your best bet on what you are wanting for your sweatband.

 

[LuvMyMan]

For some reason I have a column of information showing up on the right of my display. Staff online, members online etc. Anyone know how to get rid of it?

Glad you asked, I thought I was the only person with this problem!

 

[splintercellsz]

A leather conditioner needs to have no wax and light enough to soak into the sweatband. I use Cadillac Boot and Shoe Care conditioner for many reasons. It works well on any smooth finish leather and is not "sticky" after use. If you can turn your sweatband out, then you can apply it on the back side and then let it sit a day and wipe it off with a clean white clothe. If you cannot turn the sweatband out, then put something like tin foil all the way around behind the sweatband to keep the conditioner off your hat body and work the conditioner between the leather and the foil. Please know it take time to have a leather sweatband get dry...and takes time to restore it. If you can be careful and apply this Cadillac to your leather, and sort of rub and work it in, you can get great results. Have had great success on hats with this and very old vintage shoes and western bootd that I have restored. Lexol is not a bad conditioner but it does not work as well as Cadillac. I would stay away from any mink or leather oil treatments as they are too thick to really soak in and revitalize the leather to be super soft and supple the way you desire it to be. As long as your leather is not breaking and flaking, this will be your best bet on what you are wanting for your sweatband.

I use mink oil, on all my hats (1900s-1940s), and the mink oil is absorbed just fine, and all the sweatbands are left soft and malleable.

 

[2jakes]

Glad you asked, I thought I was the only person with this problem!

This must be recent.
If I'm not mistaken, I believe in the past, I had to click on my avatar name to
get that information. I was not aware of this feature until tonight.
Once I scroll down it’s gone, so for me it's no problem.

 

[LuvMyMan]

I don’t recall this being there in the past.
This feature must be a recent addition.

I think it is...sort of a hassle and doing the Control and +++ makes everything on my computer super large! LOL! (might be a good thing for us old blind people...haha!)

 

[Tukwila]

I think it is...sort of a hassle and doing the Control and +++ makes everything on my computer super large! LOL! (might be a good thing for us old blind people...haha!)

I prefer it...

 

[2jakes]

I think it is...sort of a hassle and doing the Control and +++ makes everything on my computer super large! LOL! (might be a good thing for us old blind people...haha!)

Welcome to the club.
Ever since my keyboard started acting up, I went with voice dictation.
I never learn to type.
I was pounding on the keys and eventually wore out some of the letters.
Now I'm using voice dictation.
This is so convenient, except I must watch and be careful what Mac has
typed in sometimes.

 

[LuvMyMan]

Welcome to the club.
Ever since my keyboard started acting up, I went with voice dictation.
I never learn to type.
I was pounding on the keys and eventually wore out some of the letters.
Now I'm using voice dictation.
This is so convenient, except I must watch and be careful what Mac has
typed in sometimes.
View attachment 116193

Oh lord..that could get me in a bunch of trouble...but I had a program like that on my older computer and it helped my Husband send emails. Then we lost our Microphone and eventually had to purchase a new older but hot rodded up newcomputer from an eBay souce and love how this computer works...

 

[LuvMyMan]

I use mink oil, on all my hats (1900s-1940s), and the mink oil is absorbed just fine, and all the sweatbands are left soft and malleable.

I have used mink oil on a lot of leather before we learned about Cadillac...mink oil is something we would use on boots in the winter time now on leather but after using the Cadillac it is what we use and find it has a great result. It is lighter and absorbs into leather very deeply and a lot quicker. One thing original mink oil does have going for it, it has no waxes like some other leather conditioners do but it is thick and leaves a greasy film on leather.

When I resole shoes, I prep my leather blanks with a mix of mink and Cadillac near the edges where I will have to put a groove and spacing punchwheel marks for where I will use my needles to hand sew on the sole to the welt. I do this to soften the leather some so it does not kill my fingers pushing the needles through the leather as it is a hard thing for me to do as it is.

If you ever obtain a old pair of shoes or boots that the leather is dry like a Dorito Tortilla chip and take one to work with mink oil to restore it and the other shoe or boot and use Cadillac..and apply both products for about two days...you will see just how much better the Cadillac performs on the leather. On a leather sweatband the back side is normally a "ruff" side and will suck up a conditioner much deeper than the finished smooth side. Of course you can apply a conditioner on both sides, but the back is going to soak it up faster and deeper.

You seem to be finding some very old vintage hats, if we had any of those here the first thing to do after brushing and sponging them in our home would be the "caddy" on the leather for a day or two to restore the leather. Love the old hats you find...you have been so darned lucky, it is rare for us to find anything that comes close to yours.

 

[LuvMyMan]

I prefer it...

I just noticed I can go big...or small using the keys....now I am liking it a bit more....being a little larger is easy for me to read and see just what I am doing! Of course we have to know the old saying..."first the eyes...then the mind"....LOL!

 

[LuvMyMan]

Thanks
That’s what my old worn out brush is made of
I have read that it’s best to have 2 brushes
One white and one in black for light and dark hats to prevent loose felt and dye transfer

Yeppers...so true...we have about four brushes as some lighter hats like silverbelly can transfer color to bone or ivory color hats and black hats can tranfer to light grey or even brown hats. BUT one time we had a medium brown hat that sort of had some "patina" on it from our hat brush that was used on a black hat for a long time and it actually looked nice.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

A leather conditioner needs to have no wax and light enough to soak into the sweatband. I use Cadillac Boot and Shoe Care conditioner for many reasons. It works well on any smooth finish leather and is not "sticky" after use. If you can turn your sweatband out, then you can apply it on the back side and then let it sit a day and wipe it off with a clean white clothe. If you cannot turn the sweatband out, then put something like tin foil all the way around behind the sweatband to keep the conditioner off your hat body and work the conditioner between the leather and the foil. Please know it take time to have a leather sweatband get dry...and takes time to restore it. If you can be careful and apply this Cadillac to your leather, and sort of rub and work it in, you can get great results. Have had great success on hats with this and very old vintage shoes and western bootd that I have restored. Lexol is not a bad conditioner but it does not work as well as Cadillac. I would stay away from any mink or leather oil treatments as they are too thick to really soak in and revitalize the leather to be super soft and supple the way you desire it to be. As long as your leather is not breaking and flaking, this will be your best bet on what you are wanting for your sweatband.

I agree that wax that only stays on the surface doesn’t do well at conditioning. However, no conditioner repairs damaged leather; if the fibers have broken down there’s no bringing them back. Additionally, if you “soak” leather that is already too far gone it can shrivel like bacon and the stitching can pull through the now softened leather. Attempting to revitalize the leather in those cases will only make it worse.

I’m sure there are lots of products that work. I was not completely happy with neatsfoot oil, Bick 4, or Lexol. I just started using the brand of mink oil that Justin recommends and so far so good. For fine finished shoes I prefer Saphir Renovator. If I don’t care about a high luster shine, and if the leather is really dry, I use Leather Honey.


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[LuvMyMan]

Ok, I found the 2016 catalog on an old Kindle tablet I had laying around. It shows the Stetsonian in Caribou, Black, Light Grey, and Mink.

Forum won't let me upload it....

A few times I have had to "crop" a picture of a hat I took with my cell phone as the website alert stated the file size was too large...I merely cropped a super small amount and then I was able to post the picture. Not sure if you could do that with a catalog but maybe????

 

[LuvMyMan]

I agree that wax that only stays on the surface doesn’t do well at conditioning. However, no conditioner repairs damaged leather; if the fibers have broken down there’s no bringing them back. Additionally, if you “soak” leather that is already too far gone it can shrivel like bacon and the stitching can pull through the now softened leather. Attempting to revitalize the leather in those cases will only make it worse.

I’m sure there are lots of products that work. I was not completely happy with neatsfoot oil, Bick 4, or Lexol. I just started using the brand of mink oil that Justin recommends and so far so good. For fine finished shoes I prefer Saphir Renovator. If I don’t care about a high luster shine, and if the leather is really dry, I use Leather Honey.


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The Bick 4 is actually made by Cadillac but has a slightly different mix of something in it that is sort of watery. Not sure about the brand that Justin uses I will have to check on it, as we have only used the "original mink oil" that comes in that round plastic tub container. The Saphir line of products are very good...have used all of them and continue to do so. But we do use the Caddy even before the Renovator on shoes if we even do use it. For shine you can't beat the Saphir and they are the only company that makes a "for purpose" product for exotic leathers and gator/croc leather that really works...Reptan by Saphir. Some leather conditioners will make the membrane area between the plates of gator/croc leather too soft and it makes the plates work loose. So far the leather honey type of products around our camp are used like mink oil on boots for winter use. Neatsfoot oil we use on baseball gloves and leather goods from the military but not all that much for any other purpose.

 

[LuvMyMan]

I agree that wax that only stays on the surface doesn’t do well at conditioning. However, no conditioner repairs damaged leather; if the fibers have broken down there’s no bringing them back. Additionally, if you “soak” leather that is already too far gone it can shrivel like bacon and the stitching can pull through the now softened leather. Attempting to revitalize the leather in those cases will only make it worse.

I’m sure there are lots of products that work. I was not completely happy with neatsfoot oil, Bick 4, or Lexol. I just started using the brand of mink oil that Justin recommends and so far so good. For fine finished shoes I prefer Saphir Renovator. If I don’t care about a high luster shine, and if the leather is really dry, I use Leather Honey.


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Yep..you are very correct about dry rot leather...once it gets to that stage...it is no good. I attempted to save a pair of women's vintage button dress boot/shoes..perhaps from around the year 1905....the conditioner only made the leather turn into a mess....similar to melting it. But I have had some success with women's vintage button dress boot/shoes from around the same time period that were never worn and no cracking of the leather finish. Anything that old is always a gamble.

 

[LuvMyMan]

Hey Paul:
I have read that Pure Anhydrous Lanolin is the absolute best treatment for leathers. This was after much research concerning what Professional leather people use. Folks in the Preservation as well as Restoration industries. It is quite pricey and i can never find it in other than a 4oz tube for women nursing babies.
May i ask where you source pure lanolin oil? Until then i rely on Pecard Antique Dressing on all leather. Amazing stuff.
Be well. Bowen

Pecard is very good stuff...a bit pricey but does work. "Cookie" in Australia uses it somewhat often.

 

[scottyrocks]

When I resole shoes, I prep my leather blanks with a mix of mink and Cadillac near the edges where I will have to put a groove and spacing punchwheel marks for where I will use my needles to hand sew on the sole to the welt. I do this to soften the leather some so it does not kill my fingers pushing the needles through the leather as it is a hard thing for me to do as it is.

You might try using a slightly tooth-worn pair of pliers to push and pull a sewing needle through thick/tough materials. For me it is a life (well, finger) saver.

I have also used Pecard's, and think it works well.

 

[Redfokker]

You might try using a slightly tooth-worn pair of pliers to push and pull a sewing needle through thick/tough materials. For me it is a life (well, finger) saver.

I have also used Pecard's, and think it works well.

+1 on Pecard's. I got some from Amazon

 

[2jakes]

You might try using a slightly tooth-worn pair of pliers to push and pull a sewing needle through thick/tough materials. For me it is a life (well, finger) saver.

I have also used Pecard's, and think it works well.

Life/finger savers!