Hat Liners, love or hate them!

[Silver-Wolf]

Just wondering peoples thoughts on hat linings?

I'm torn personally. While I love the look of them and prefer to have one that not, I do find I sweat more when wearing a hat with one fitted.

I've an old hat I just refurb'd and shrunk down to size (lost a huge amount of weight) the liner didn't survive the resurrection and most likely a good thing as it would have been a dangerous bio-hazard lol.

The hat came up way better than had expected except for the liner lol, so now am wondering as to if I should fit another liner or go without. It's a working hat so it's used to getting sweaty as and abused, I'm thinking the hat owes me nothing, maybe I'll just go without a liner now.

Do you love or hate liners or does it depend upon the hat and it's function, thoughts?

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I like them, and I can’t tell much difference as far as the lined hats feeling hotter in warm weather.

 

[Boomerang]

I see no difference in temperature with or without a liner. I pulled the liner from my beater hat as an experiment, but put it back after a couple of weeks.

The liner of my grandfather's hat was one of the things that made it so very different from my boyhood baseball caps, stocking caps, and plastic army helmets. As a boy, I couldn't wait to own a proper hat with a satin liner. I'm still fixated on that element as a statement of "luxury."

 

[Silver-Wolf]

The liner of my grandfather's hat was one of the things that made it so very different from my boyhood baseball caps, stocking caps, and plastic army helmets. As a boy, I couldn't wait to own a proper hat with a satin liner. I'm still fixated on that element as a statement of "luxury."

Similar thoughts here, I always thought it wasn't a "proper" or quality hat unless it had that luxurious liner. It seemed to be how to define a good hat from cheap I had thought. Though I know this isn't true per say these days as several Akubra's come without linings.

I'm not a fan of ball caps, I have big flapping ears that stick out too much and they don't provide much protection from anything but sun glare. The liner may also be in part why my hat came up so clean as it would have protected the felt from grease etc to some degree. I really like seeing a liner in a hat, I'm just sure I always felt a little more uncomfortable on the stinkers of a day (35c-38c and over) but I guess once it's hot it's well just hot lol (we get upto 50c here in S.A.)

 

[Gobi]

I like the way they look, they make the hat look more complete and luxurious. I just always end up removing them on my work type hats or my every day hats. Taking them out reduces the weight a little, especially those with the thick plastic cover. Also, it bugs me when I can feel the liner touching the top of my hair.
If they made them with actual satin and not the thick synthetic stuff they use today and left off the plastic cover, I might be more inclined to leave them in some of my hats.

 

[Jacora]

Liners seem a little silly to me on hats with vent holes. Unless the liner itself were perfed I suppose. Otherwise why have vent holes? Does anyone think that they add to the appearance of a hat? I've always seen vent holes as a functional attribute, not a style statement.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Liners seem a little silly to me on hats with vent holes. Unless the liner itself were perfed I suppose. Otherwise why have vent holes? Does anyone think that they add to the appearance of a hat? I've always seen vent holes as a functional attribute, not a style statement.

The factory vent holes I’ve seen also went through the liner and the crimped in grommets held the liner in place so it didn’t shift and cover the holes. Other hats with venting, such as derbies, were made without liners.

Every bit helps, but I don’t know how effective 2-3 vent holes are at letting heat out or reducing the humidity inside the hat. None of my hats, including those made for a comformateur, fit with a hermitic seal and the hats “vent” without any holes. Maybe I’m just not able to differentiate based on the small differences in lined and unlined and vents and no vents.

If a hat doesn’t have a liner I want to see a crown patch or a stamp; something that gives it a finished look.

 

[mark balen]

I think the hat liner, from an aesthetic perspective, adds a great deal to the attractiveness of a hat. This is nothing more than a personal preference. I like to the liner for several reasons. First, as manufacturers changed the liner design over time, it often provides historical information and can assist in knowing what era the hat may have been made. Second, the liner often can add beauty to the hat. From a strictly functional or utilitarian perspective, the liner may not add much- a hat without a liner will work fine without a liner. For hats without a liner, as deadlyhandsome said, I still prefer a hat with a patch, imprint, or tip-in showing the manufacturer, even if the hat make is embossed on the sweatband. A purely arsthetic thing
That is my 2 cents worth.

 

[TheGuitarFairy]

Well said, Mark, I love how a good liner looks and appreciate the old school workmanship involved in many of them.
That said, I'm umm, very hair impaired ... liners drive me <crazy> as they always stick to my pate.
I've even gotten to keeping a cotton handkerchief in hat which actually I've really come to enjoy.
Btw what'd you ever end up doing with that O'farrell !?

 

[mark balen]

Have to thank you again for that. I'll send you a pm.

 

[Bkdodgers]

I learned that the purpose (or *a* purpose) of a liner is to protect the hat from the sweat of a bald head. Hair absorbs the sweat, but a hair-impaired (that's for you, @TheGuitarFairy) head could sweat right through the felt, discolor it, etc. For all my lacks, I have an abundance of hair and I also get very hot very quickly and agree with OP that liner seems unnecessary. That being said, like @Boomerang, I loved my (very bald) great grandfather and his flat cap so much that when he died, the family all agreed I should get the cap. I still have it and every once in a while, I'll grab it and I can still smell him in the liner, almost 30 years later.

 

[mark balen]

As we are on the subject of hat liners, several times I would have liked to have had a replacement liner that I could use when refurbishing a hat. I never see vintage or more recent liners for sale or know of any source for them. Anyone else?

 

[Silver-Wolf]

I think seeing as I like liners I'll replace it but, I think I'll remove the plastic/vinyl shield so it's just the material only. It's most likely the plastic that makes it worse and stops that top area from breathing. I'ts not like I use pomade's or other creams and I've got full head of hair.

As we are on the subject of hat liners, several times I would have liked to have had a replacement liner that I could use when refurbishing a hat. I never see vintage or more recent liners for sale or know of any source for them. Anyone else?

I can buy an Akubra replacement liner for $10-$20 online, that's the only one I've seen but then I've never looked for any others.

Edit: wow looksie what a quick Google found me. While not genuine they do offer a range of choices. I can't suggest any of them as I've never had any dealings with them.

https://www.parkinfabrics.co.uk/satin-hat-lining-15cm.html

https://www.etsy.com/listing/739674618/sale-silk-fedora-hat-replacement-liners

https://www.hatsupply.com/ribbons-sweatbands-such/

 

[Rmccamey]

I wish some hatmakes, new and old, would be a little more creative with their liners. I'd love to see the return of some "fashion" liners and I'd kill to find a good supply of modern, pleated liners.

I think the hat liner, from an aesthetic perspective, adds a great deal to the attractiveness of a hat. This is nothing more than a personal preference. I like to the liner for several reasons. First, as manufacturers changed the liner design over time, it often provides historical information and can assist in knowing what era the hat may have been made. Second, the liner often can add beauty to the hat. From a strictly functional or utilitarian perspective, the liner may not add much- a hat without a liner will work fine without a liner. For hats without a liner, as deadlyhandsome said, I still prefer a hat with a patch, imprint, or tip-in showing the manufacturer, even if the hat make is embossed on the sweatband. A purely arsthetic thing
That is my 2 cents worth.

 

[jlee562]

Hatter's Supply House and Leko also sell generic liners. I have some excess silk that I plan on sewing up soon too.

I generally prefer a liner. I have a few unlined hats for variety, but I did liners.

 

[M Brown]

I read somewhere once that liners were originally put in hats to protect the felt from hair oil back when heavy oiling of men's hair was the craze. Makes sense.
However, as for sweat, many lined hats have discolored liners from sweat that travels up from the leather sweat band. So, for the ones that I prefer to protect the liner, I remove it and store it in the box I keep the hat in.
But I do prefer the look of a lined dress hat. For a work hat having no liner
is my preference.

 

[Dm101]

After adding vent holes and removing the liner...my hat is not a sweatbox.
I don't think I'm a liner guy...sweat too much out in the woods.

 

[Silver-Wolf]

As much as I love a good felt and it does protect you best, in the real hot days I reach for the canvas/linen or hemp woven types of hats. That's why I wonder about in this old lid to maybe go Commando for a change.