Replacing sweatband?

[moehawk]

any way to fix a crumbling sweatband?

Hi all

I was out treasure hunting again today and found a cool Stetson fedora. It is old and beat up, but still in decent shape, except for the sweatband. It is crumbling and beginning to fall apart, and I'd kinda like to preserve it. I have had hats in the past with similar issues and ended up just removing ithe sweats altogether, and always wondered if there was a way to stabilize the leather to keep it from further deterioration. I moisturized it with some leather lotion, but that doesn't seem to be doing much.

Anyone have any solutions to this problem? Many thanks in advance.

 

[LuvMyMan]

There is a point when leather is past saving. The leather sweatband that is crumbling is beyond hope, at least from what we have experienced here in our home. Last year we had a hat come along that was also like what you describe. Being a bit on the close-to-experts in saving or rejuvenating leather, we thought the sweatband could come back to life...but no. Once the leather is at that stage of crumbling, it is how you say, "curtains". All done.

A good tip however is to at least one time a year, apply some quality thin leather conditioner on the leather carefully to help keep the leather in top shape.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Yep have to agree, it's a gonna. It has probably been feasted upon my numerous fungi too like 'dry rot'.
I have seen some old leather artifacts miraculously restored using pure neatsfoot oil but they were just for exhibition purposes & certainly couldn't have been used as they were originally intended.
Congrats on the find, "old & beat up" ...sounds like my kinda hat.

 

[moehawk]

Thanks for the input. I am sad to report that the sweatband basically fell to bits while gently handling the hat to clean and reshape it. I was able to get some photos of it before it deteriorated completely. It actually appeared to be in good shape when I picked up the hat yesterday, but quickly went downhill, kinda like in the last Indiana Jones movie when the mummy of the Spanish explorer was opened...I'm guessing that the hat sat for decades somewhere unused to get to that condition.

My computer is currently having Java issues so I can't post pics on Fotki, but when I get that resolved I will post the photos of the "before" version on the dating Stetsons by liner thread to see if anyone can narrow down an age for me. Till then, peace out y'all

moehawk

 

[Frunobulax]

Just spitballing here, but wouldn't you just measure the line along the reed, making it easier? Use a cloth measuring tape.

Or you could just get them pre-cut from that guy over on Etsy, like I do.

 

[tommyK]

MCG, Why don't you put it inside the hat with it's previous sweatband removed and measure it to fit that way. Or is the hat not a 7 1/2?

 

[Joao Encarnado]

I sewed a new sweatband to the felt I bought from FEPSA. The sweatband was obvious bigger so I started sewing it without trimming it (started a bit after the start of the sweatband +/- half inch). Only when I was almost finishing that I trimmed it because now I knew how it would be in place, put the metal part to secure the ends of the reed and finished sewing. Looks almost perfect like one sewed on a factory/hatter. Only needs to sew both ends but I think I'm not going to bother with that.

 

[Frunobulax]

Hello,

Thanks for your help, I tried using the measuring tape but it is difficult to get an absolutely accurate measure with the tape because the sweat band is curved so when you lay the measuring tape on the sweat it kind of buckles and it seems like this would prevent you from getting an accurate measurement.

Another thought. Cut a length of string to the length of the sweat, at the reed line (the part where the size would be the biggest). Measure the string.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

The ferrule joins the ends of the reed. On the sweatband I put on "my hat" I only put it when I was about to finish sewing. It enters inside the leather surrounding the plastic filament (reed). Pull the reed a lil' bit and put the ferrule. Push the reed inside the sweatband leaving half of the ferrule outside. Take the other end and put the filament inside the ferrule. The ferrule must be hidden inside the leather surrounding the reed.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

The one I had was gifted from John Galt and he sent the ferrule. Don't know if the ones people buy bring it already.

 

[RJR]

Somewhere in your home you probably have a spray can that has a plastic tube on it.Check for size against the reed and carefully snip off a short piece.

 

[Wesslyn]

Re-sewing/Replacing sweatband

I just acquired an old Resistol that I'm absolutely in love with.
However the ebay seller neglected to mention that the sweatband was coming un-sewn towards the front of the hat. Being a Resistol, the "self-conforming" sweatband is pretty comfortable, sans the fact that the front slides up my forehead when I put it on due to it coming loose...
Would it be easy enough to find someone (like my wonderful Grandma) to sew it back in? Or should I send it into a professional hatter? I've read that Optimo replaces sweatbands for fair prices, but I've no idea where to start when it comes to sending in hats for repairs...
Any help or advice would be much appreciated!

 

[gtdean48]

Optimo will most likely ask to replace the sweatband instead of repair, at least they have for all that I have sent them.
If you specify "repair" & they deem it serviceable, they will repair it.
Art Fawcett & Major Mike Moore have both repaired sweats for me over the years.

I'm sure dear Grandma could stitch it back in good enough for wearing which is the main goal.
Hatters use a special sewing machine with a special attachment to sew in sweats.
HTH....

 

[Rick Blaine]

If I were where you are I'd just tool up to the south side of Chicago ("♬...it's the baddest part of town" ♪) and go to Optimo, none better.

 

[Wesslyn]

If I were where you are I'd just tool up to the south side of Chicago ("♬...it's the baddest part of town" ♪) and go to Optimo, none better.

That's what I was thinking. About a 4 hours drive though. Road trip anyone?

 

[Rick Blaine]

I used to go there from Urbana lots, about the same distance, right?

 

[XPLSV]

I have had Optimo do some good work on some vintage hats over the years, but when I recently contacted them about replacing the sweatband in my long oval Knox derby, they informed me they would do a complete refurbishment for $400 but would not simply replace the sweatband. This hat is not in need of any refurbishment...just a sweatband. I think they kind of transitioned to just servicing their own in-house produced hats and now will look at a ca$e by ca$e full blown refurbishment on "family heirloom" hats.