Bald guy Fed IV question?

[Mike Rivera]

I'm bald on the top and just got a Fed IV. My question is the liner has a plastic piece right in the crown area that touches my head and gets all sweaty and hot.

I understand that cutting it out would have my bare head getting the inside crown felt all sweaty and oily, so that's not good. Couldn't they have put the plastic on the inside of the liner between the liner and the felt?

Any ideas on how to lower the stickiness?

- Mike

 

[fenris]

I'm bald on the top and just got a Fed IV. My question is the liner has a plastic piece right in the crown area that touches my head and gets all sweaty and hot.

I understand that cutting it out would have my bare head getting the inside crown felt all sweaty and oily, so that's not good. Couldn't they have put the plastic on the inside of the liner between the liner and the felt?

Any ideas on how to lower the stickiness?

- Mike

I think the plastic is also there to protect the logo on top... The logo on my Christy's liner smudged and faded because it kept coming in contact with my head... or maybe my sweat is just too acidic.

 

[Pompidou]

My first thought is to line the liner. Maybe put a handkerchief over the plastic? Sounds a lot better than doing surgery on your hat. And it'd be easy enough to toss the kerchief in the wash when it gets funky. All you'd need is some mild two sided tape.

 

[jbucklin]

Try rebashing it with a taller crown-height. It seems like there's plenty of room for that, although I bashed mine with a pretty low crown-height, so I'm not sure how it would work out.

 

[Aureliano]

In my experience, some of my hats have the plastic sewn into the liner on the inside. If you remove it, you can undo the stitches and take the plastic off. The logo will fade over time but I'm sure you can get a replacement from akubra.

 

[Lloyd]

Cut the plastic out. It's the first thing I do with my Akubras, or any other hat with a plastic liner.
Yes you will get the liner sweaty and oily but liners are replaceable.
If you get inside the liner and cut from outside the seam on the plastic you can cut it out cleanly.
Or loose the entire liner, I did that with my Campdraft.

 

[deanzat]

I'm bald. First, I cut the plastic out of my Fed IV. After a while, I removed the liner. I've enjoyed it more since then, but to each his own.

I've cut the plastic out of all my hats - it just wasn't comfortable. I don't care about the logos or anything like that. I'm gonna wear these hats into the ground.

 

[Mahagonny Bill]

The Fed liner is not actually stitched in, just tacked down with glue in a few places. There are several threads where we have discussed removing the liner entirely and the putting it back in when needed. You might try that before doing something drastic like cutting the liner. It comes in awful handy in the winter.

 

[frussell]

Go Commando

Pull that liner out man. You can put it back in anytime. Summer in the southern end of California, that liner is just more fuel for the head sweat factory. I have a box of unused hat liners waiting to be reunited with their hats when it's cold enough. Frank

 

[Woodfluter]

Ditto to the above advice. I've removed the liners on more than half of my Akubras by gently pulling away the glued spots, aided sometimes by a very sharp knife - more to pry than slice. Then you can pop them back in as desired. But regardless, bit by bit, I've cut out all the plastic overlays (small sharp scissors). I've gotten to hate the plastic.

Well, like someone else said, try shaping the crown a bit higher. Some of mine have a C-crown but mostly I like center dents. Easier to make higher with only a little ridge in the center. Really needn't press much on your head I think.

Good luck to ya!

- Bill

 

[Edward]

Has anyone ever tried removing the liner from a Fed and adding eyelets? I've been toying with the idea of looking for a more Fedora, less Safari style hat to wear when travelling to hot climates as an alternative to my Riverina.... the latter is great when I'm in earthtones, or even with blues, but for wearing with a blakc suit, I've been wondering if it would be possible to make a Federation better suited to hot weather. Anyone ever added eyelets? Something I could have easily done at a competent hatters?

 

[BanjoMerlin]

Has anyone ever tried removing the liner from a Fed and adding eyelets?

Never did it to a Fed but it is something we used to have done quite regularly to western hats. Liner out for warm weather enjoying the ventilation and then put the liner back in when it gets colder to block the flow of cold air.

If you can find a hatter that does this sort of thing it is no big deal but I'm not sure I'd want to put my hat up for someone to practice.

BTW, if you take the liner out and your head is in contact with the felt your sweat and skin oil will soak through the felt in time. Dust will adhere to the oily patch on the hat.

 

[Not-Bogart13]

I understand that cutting it out would have my bare head getting the inside crown felt all sweaty and oily, so that's not good.
- Mike

I wouldn't worry to much. I can tell you that having the lining without plastic still protects the hat. I sweat easily and a lot in my hats, but I have found no difference in the protection of the felt, so far. The plastic is more to protect against heavy hair gels and such.

You will find that you sweat less without the plastic. Since liners can be replaced, keep on eye on the condition of the liner. When it starts to get ugly, change it out. That way, the oils from your skin won't ever soak through to the felt.

 

[Mike Rivera]

Wow - thanks for all the advice. I went with frussell and Woodfluter's recommendation to take the liner completely out. Here in California it doesn't get very cold (awake hours it's never much below 40 degrees in the Winter).

It already feels much better! I figured it wasn't worth the trouble to cut out the plastic part. I'm not going to sell it and if I get the inside of the crown really dirty or oily, I'll try to clean it. I did keep it in case I change my mind, but I don't see it ever going back in. Thanks for all the ideas guys.

- Mike

 

[Woodfluter]

I wouldn't worry to much. I can tell you that having the lining without plastic still protects the hat.///
The plastic is more to protect against heavy hair gels and such.

You will find that you sweat less without the plastic. Since liners can be replaced, keep on eye on the condition of the liner. When it starts to get ugly, change it out. That way, the oils from your skin won't ever soak through to the felt.

Second to what Not-Bogart wrote. Also, I don't ever remove the liners on vintage hats, but most of the ones I have don't have the plastic.

If it ever gets dirty and you want to clean it, it's easy if removable, sans glue or stitches. If it's sewn in, you can do what I've done with vintage - pull the liner downward so it hangs below the brim, soak the dirty part in detergent water in a small bowl, rinse well and air dry.

You just don't need the plastic unless you're a Brylcreem kind of guy.

- Bill

 

[AlterEgo]

Perhaps it's too late now that you've already removed the entire lining, but the root cause of the problem still exists: The inside of the top of the crown should clear the top of your head by at least a half inch. Lined or not, plastic or not, you will find that any hat that does not touch the top of your head will be noticeably more comfortable.

It could be that the hat is just too large for your head, allowing it to seat down too far, or maybe the hat fits but you have it pulled down too far with a super-snug fit over your brows.

If these are not the problems, then the best you can do is rebash your Fed IV. A telescope bash can usually be formed so that the dome will clear the top of your head, though that particular crease takes out a bit of the crown height, as well.

Ever thought about a top hat? That would solve the problem, for sure!