Kate in Arabia Report post Posted July 2, 2011 I'm visiting my father who has two old leather hats he's asked me to "spruce up". Initially he just needed help in replacing the leather string in one that wove around, attaching the brim to the main hat. However, once I did that he took it to the leather shop he uses, they told him they wouldn't finish up the job, rather they gave him the supplies to do it himself. So it has now fallen to me. The first issue is that they have recommended he attach a thin leather strap around the inside, covering the leather strip as it weaves around inside. I'm not 100% sure why, as this was not on the hat before, however they provided the strap and a tube of Barge all-purpose cement. The second issue, and this applies to both the original hat and a second leather hat, is to rejuvenate the brim, which has become worn and is curling up at the edges. For that they gave him a bottle of Fiebing's acrylic resolene and told him to apply it and then shape the hat brim as he wished. This is a tad vague for me. I've searched online for others who may have gone through this, but up to now I have not been able to find anything. Does anyone have experience in this and can point me in the right direction? Thanks in advance... Kate Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirtclod Report post Posted July 3, 2011 Do you any pictures of the inside of the hat ? It will be easier for folks to understand what you want / need to do to fix it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TwinOaks Report post Posted July 3, 2011 The band and the glue is probably to rebuild the hat band, if the leather is in bad condition around the inside of the hat (exposed to lots of sweat and salt, which could dry/crack the leather) it may need the band to prevent splitting the leather. Since the shop wouldn't touch it, it's probably on the verge of "too damaged to fix", but they gave you the materials if you want to fix the hat for nostalgic purposes. For the brim, Resolene is not a conditioner, it's a sealer. You can use olive oil, neatsfoot oil, etc. to condition the leather then apply the resolene to seal it. If you have a store that specializes in car care, look for Lexol (for leather seats) as it's a good conditioner in a spray bottle. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
