Sudden Sweatband Breakdown

[Bogie1943]

Hi ya fellas, well, most of us here own vintage fedoras and have had to clean some of them or adjust the fit. I have about twenty vintage fedoras, one of which is a fine charcoal Royal Stetson. Now, when I but a vintage peice I always start by treating the sweatband with Picards. Well One day I went and picked up my vintage RS and put it on and I heard a crunch, the sweatband had gone from a mint condition peice to a crumbling, dryed, nothing, this came out of nowhere. Here was the cause, as far as I can tell, well what I do instead of using felt strips behind the sweatband to give a better fit, I used strips of leather, the kind you can get at Wal-Mart for like $5 a sheet. I beleive that the leather strips soaked up all of the moisture from the sweatband leather and dryed it out serverly. Well, I have stopped using leather strips to aid in a better fit, now I only use the felt strips. Using the leather is a bad idea and I am here to say don't even think about it, I know none of you want this to happen to you.

 

[jamespowers]

Is it just felt you use or is it felt backed by thin cork? In the days when our hats were made, they used felt backed cork strips under the band for fit and adjustment. I have one sitting around that was removed from an old Stetson that fit me better without it. It is in worse shape than the sweatband. LOL
If I were to do it today, I think I would use that moleskin stuff that they put on your feet to prevent blisters. It has an adhesvie backing and would stick readily to a cork backing. Just a thought from the mental vacuum. :cool2:

Regards to all,

J