Help with leather band

[Hefwriter]

I know this is a recurring topic at the Lounge, but can anyone help me restore the inside leather band of my fedora? I reshaped a Dobbs Daily (pics to come) but the water used in bashing has caused the band to buckle and distort. Is there any way to smooth it back to its original shape, without the buckling?

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Wow Hef, that's bad news.

Sometimes vintage leather sweatbands (also some new, cheaper ones) don't hold up to moisture - go figure - and need to be replaced. Here's a source (below) if it comes to that but it is a tedious process to sew 'em in.

©Hats By Leko, P.O. Box 170, Odell, OR 97044
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1-541-354-2600 Questions
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info@hatsupply.com

Otherwise, I read somewhere that you can carefully use a steam iron with a cloth between it and the rippled leather to press the thing back to a more smooth disposition. Some have seemingly had success with this but on one old beater of a hat that I tried it on, I kinda' fried a portion of the sweatband with too much heat.

Another option may be to obtain a hat stretcher and re-dampen the leather, then insert the stretcher with just enough tension to flatten out the leather until it dries in proper shape. It would be easy to accidentally increase the size of the hat this way though.

G'luck!

 

[BellyTank]

I wouldn't use heat/steam on the leather, it likes to shrink under heat.
You could try putting some leather conditioner on it and work it gently to get it back. Maybe.


B
T

 

[Magus]

I know this is a recurring topic at the Lounge, but can anyone help me restore the inside leather band of my fedora? I reshaped a Dobbs Daily (pics to come) but the water used in bashing has caused the band to buckle and distort. Is there any way to smooth it back to its original shape, without the buckling?

Ahhhh sorry man. Its a hard learned lesson. I too had this happen and ended up just getting a new band as there was no fixing the old one.

But a a couple of positive learning points come to mind. First. Steam, not water to rebash. Second. Ya gotta flip that leather band down "out of the crown" before rebashing starts.

I wish you the best on the rebuild.

 

[Feraud]

Does the sweatband affect how the hat wears on your head?

 

[Magus]

Fits fine with the new one.