- Hatter Eldrick Jacobs repairs a battered 70-year-old hat that has been passed down through three generations.
- Repairs include felt cleaning, reblocking, brim trimming, and hat recrowning.
- The client chose to preserve the hat’s hole in order to preserve the memory of the previous wearer.
Electric drink: My name is Eldrick Jacobs. He has been making and repairing hats for about three years or more. Today, we will repair a hat that is over 70 years old while preserving its texture.
First, dismantle the hat. Use a seam ripper and then a snipper. The felt is in very good condition, but you have to be very careful not to puncture the felt or tear anything that doesn’t need to be broken. This hat belonged to my client’s grandfather. And when he died, he passed it on to his father. Maintains the features and patina of the cap and holes. The client wants to keep the holes to maintain continuity from generation to generation. The hat has a story, and he wants to tell it while wearing it.
Then clean the felt. It uses a small amount of alcohol and a small amount of water. Then use a hat brush to brush off any debris that may be on the surface of the felt, so the alcohol he does two things. By slightly melting the bioresin inside the felt, it makes the felt more flexible and manageable and removes any bacteria that may be on the surface of the felt. Mold that may be present. Then use the sponge to work a little deeper into the felt.
For hat bands, spray alcohol again. This allows you to go over with another sponge and actually clean the hat band and loose threads. Just like felt, we want it to retain the characteristics it has acquired over the years. After doing that, take a snipper and cut off any loose threads.
Now turn your attention to reblocking the felt. Reblocking is the most important part of recreating hats. Heat the felt with steam and stretch it over the block. We are choosing a block that gives the circumference of the client’s head. And once you’ve stretched it over the block, grab the hat knot and pusher downer. This is the tool he uses to bring the hat knot to the bottom of the hat block, where he creates a 90 degree break angle between the crown and the felt. If the felt itself begins to collapse, there is no way to repair the hat, especially around the break line. This causes problems when reblocking hats.
I use a collar cutter. This allows you to determine the width or length of the brim. This brim should be adjusted down 0.5 inch. The overall shape remains the same, but the hat frames the client’s face nicely.
Then use fine sandpaper to smooth the edges. The process of cutting the brim doesn’t always give a clean edge, so sandpaper can be used to create a sharp edge on the hat.
Finally, create a sweatband. Old sweatbands cannot be reused. Only reeds remain. Therefore, the sweatband should be replaced with new leather. A sweatband is very important to maintain the integrity of your hat. It really holds the hat together. But more importantly, it allows a barrier between the wearer’s forehead and the felt itself.
And finally, shape the crown of the hat. Use steam again. Steam can really open felt fibers. He has two materials that make up felt. Individual fur fibers and bioresin. Felt without bioresin is very flimsy and doesn’t have much structure. We can actually open it up and soften it a bit to get the desired shape.
I’m thrilled with this particular restoration.My clients are overjoyed to have a hat that looks and feels like their grandfather’s hat and has the patina and character that comes with the 70 Plus I think you’ll be pleased. -Old hat. The only reason you should return this hat to our store is if the hat needs maintenance, especially the sweatband. In general, this hat will last as long as my client wants to wear a ha.
