Arctichighlandr
New in Town
- Messages
- 21
- Location
- Alaska
Hi. A few weeks ago I bought an Open Road (Royal) that is probably from the 40's or 50's. The sweatband needs replacing possibly due to my ignorance. It was worn looking but had no damage when I got it but it was dried out. It cracked in a few places when I pulled back the band to look for information underneath. Instead of immediately using Obenauf's leather oil to restore it I lightly steamed the crown to readjust the shape and get it to hold it's new shape better and wore it until the felt was dry (the sweatband however was soaked on the outside from my sweat). When I next put it on I noticed the sweatband had become much more brittle and started tearing with only slight movement.
I tried at this point to use the leather restorer but it was too late. The leather cracked, tore and broke in chucks when I moved the leather to slip strips of a protective paper in behind and when I slipped a finger in to try to coat the inside with the leather oil. I hoped that the preservative would spread to the brittle areas at the sewn in base that I couldn't reach without destroying. Several days later much of the leather was restored but one area looked like it had been eaten through with acid and the brittle areas that I couldn't reach were still brittle and broke with movement. It was uncomfortable to wear with the hard brittle crack pieces that stuck out (and which fell on the forehead area) and I picked at them and broke them off. It's acceptable to wear now but a couple sections of the band is missing and I don't want to damage/stain the felt with sweat.
So I thought I should quiz you guys on what type of sweatband to replace it with, who should I send it to who would do at least an excellent repair and how much it would cost?
I'd like to replace it with a good soft durable high quality leather sweatband but wasn't sure if something equivalent to the original was available and if so where?
I was thinking that it might be good to have the sweatband hand stitched through the original stitch holes for looks and durability? Or hand stitched higher up since the original holes may have been weakened? Or machine stitched? Which method of attachment would be best for looks/durability and what would be the cost difference for the different methods?
I was looking to have one of the venders here do the work since they would all probably do it well. But I'm not sure who still does this and if someone specializes in these or is particularly accomplished in working with sweatbands or what their cost would run. I'd prefer finding the best person or best value for a quality job and would appreciate feedback from anyone who does the work or has had one done by someone here.
I only paid about $50 but love the felt on it more than any other hat I have including a Stratoliner (Royal - probably 50's, possibly 40s'). I'm willing to put some money into it just to keep a quality hat going several more decades but don't want to break the bank since I have to save money towards some other great old hat. It is a hair small on me - even so it's not uncomfortable and seems to conform well to the shape of my head. So I'd probably want it stretched just a little. It's a 7 3/8 and I'm generally a 7 3/8 long oval or 7 1/2 depending on the hat.
I'm also not sure how to tell if the hat needs to be reblocked or stiffened. It changes shape easily without leaving creases but alslo looses its form easily, even after a light steaming
I tried at this point to use the leather restorer but it was too late. The leather cracked, tore and broke in chucks when I moved the leather to slip strips of a protective paper in behind and when I slipped a finger in to try to coat the inside with the leather oil. I hoped that the preservative would spread to the brittle areas at the sewn in base that I couldn't reach without destroying. Several days later much of the leather was restored but one area looked like it had been eaten through with acid and the brittle areas that I couldn't reach were still brittle and broke with movement. It was uncomfortable to wear with the hard brittle crack pieces that stuck out (and which fell on the forehead area) and I picked at them and broke them off. It's acceptable to wear now but a couple sections of the band is missing and I don't want to damage/stain the felt with sweat.
So I thought I should quiz you guys on what type of sweatband to replace it with, who should I send it to who would do at least an excellent repair and how much it would cost?
I'd like to replace it with a good soft durable high quality leather sweatband but wasn't sure if something equivalent to the original was available and if so where?
I was thinking that it might be good to have the sweatband hand stitched through the original stitch holes for looks and durability? Or hand stitched higher up since the original holes may have been weakened? Or machine stitched? Which method of attachment would be best for looks/durability and what would be the cost difference for the different methods?
I was looking to have one of the venders here do the work since they would all probably do it well. But I'm not sure who still does this and if someone specializes in these or is particularly accomplished in working with sweatbands or what their cost would run. I'd prefer finding the best person or best value for a quality job and would appreciate feedback from anyone who does the work or has had one done by someone here.
I only paid about $50 but love the felt on it more than any other hat I have including a Stratoliner (Royal - probably 50's, possibly 40s'). I'm willing to put some money into it just to keep a quality hat going several more decades but don't want to break the bank since I have to save money towards some other great old hat. It is a hair small on me - even so it's not uncomfortable and seems to conform well to the shape of my head. So I'd probably want it stretched just a little. It's a 7 3/8 and I'm generally a 7 3/8 long oval or 7 1/2 depending on the hat.
I'm also not sure how to tell if the hat needs to be reblocked or stiffened. It changes shape easily without leaving creases but alslo looses its form easily, even after a light steaming
fftopic: ps. They also sell what they call "millinery grosgrain", which when it arrives at your house is actually petersham ribbon, with a scalloped edge, as used on women's hats. They do not sell woven edge grosgrain - not that you would know that from their site, since this simple fact is not mentioned anywhere.
